“Do you see the tree? So strong, so tall. It reaches so high? Do you think you could tip it over?” I asked.
My daughter softly replied, “no.”
I continued, “What about your dad? He’s bigger. Could he knock it down?”
“No,” she giggled.
“Well,” I pondered. “What if it was just setting there flat on the ground? Do you think it could be knocked over then?”
“Yeah,” she answered quickly.
“So,” I continued. “What is it that makes the tree stay strong, where it can’t be knocked down?”
She easily replied, “the roots.”
My eight year old had been battling insomnia and fear for months. She experienced difficulty going to sleep one night, and then it spiraled from there. She began to dread bedtime, worried she’d be unable to sleep. We tried changing her schedule, getting her up earlier, cutting out sugar, and new bedtime routines. We were doing everything we could do, but it was like once the fear made its way into her spirit, it was a difficult thing to dispel. We had taken to praying specifically for rest every night before bed, and while it helped, her fear remained.
We sat together, and she held the piece of tree branch I had given her from the front yard. I had given it to her to serve as a reminder. When she was afraid, she could look at it and remember. Remember that she was a tree.
I explained, “just like how the tree is strong because it is rooted in the ground, you are strong because you are rooted in God.”
She nodded, her eyes glued to the piece of wood.
I continued, “storms come. They blow the tree, but it doesn’t fall. Some branches may fall off, but it doesn’t topple over. It stands strong in the storm. Because of the deep roots.”
She turned the piece of weathered branch over in her small fingers.
“The tree didn’t start big, you know,” I explained. “It began as a tiny thing, but over time it grew. It remained rooted in the ground, and every day it grew taller, stronger, bigger. The storms came, but it continued to grow. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mommy,” she replied. Then she hugged me.
“You are a tree,” I spoke in truth. “You remain rooted in God, and He will help you grow tall and strong. Nothing will be able to blow you over.”
She squeezed me tighter.
“When you are afraid,” I explained, “I want you to look at that piece of branch and remember, you are a tree.”
You are a tree.
Lisa Pierce says
What a great metaphor to help a child (or anyone) understand being rooted in Christ. Thank you for sharing. I pray her insomnia has been uprooted.
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thank you!