Display of God’s faithful provision through a fallen tree

In our front yard there used to be a Bradford pare tree, but when it started blooming this Spring and Summer, we noticed that it seemed to be dying because it was quite sparsely leaved. So, we decided that we would chop it down and replace it with a fruiting tree 😀

I knew I would chop it down sometime this Summer, and as mid-July started approaching I realized that I needed to get to it. My initial plan was to climb up the trunk part way, and hand-saw each limb off one at a time (since most limbs on a Bradford pare tree are quite small). This way I could avoid having branches hit the power lines or any part of the house. Stephanie and a friend of ours who lives in the neighborhood were going to help out.

Well, July 14 was about a week away and I thought I would chop down the tree. Even my father-in-law was offering to come down from Atlanta with a chain saw. It was his birthday on the 14th and he–along with my mother-in-law, and a number of Stephanie’s relatives–was going to be here to celebrate his birthday anyway. But, for some unknown reason I couldn’t settle on whether or not to chop the tree down–let alone when to chop it down. So it didn’t get chopped down.

On the 14th, we had a great time celebrating my father-in-laws birthday. Most of the relatives were leaving because they wanted to get home before a storm was to pass through, and the sky was already threatening to storm. No sooner had we stepped back inside when it got windy outside and my father-in-law shouted “whoa!”–the pare tree had just fallen down in a 3-minute gust of wind!!!

But that’s not the amazing part: it fell perfectly! It missed my in-law’s van; it missed my car on the street; it missed the power lines; it missed the house; a branch missed a lamp by six inches; and it fell just after everyone left and there was no one outside!! To make matters even better the tree snapped at the roots, so I didn’t even have a stump to deal with!! So it’s quite evident that the Lord decided to chop the tree down for me! (And I’m glad He did, too, since the roots looked rotten and who knows what would have happened if I had tried to climb it and chop it down!)

 

BUT WAIT…if you keep reading, you’ll be even more amazed!

So now I have this tree in my yard that I need to deal with, and for various reasons it stayed out there till Thursday. That morning I had two unsolicited offers to chop up the tree–which I turned down because I didn’t want to pay to have it removed and I thought I could do it myself. So that afternoon I get started sawing away at the tree because I’d like to get it done by Friday morning for the garbage pick-up.

I had just about gotten through all of the smaller branches and I was wondering how much time it would take to do the thicker branches and trunk with a small hand saw. Then, lo and behold, a man walks up to me and says I was expending too much energy on a hot day. It turned out he was one of my neighbors from two doors down. He asked if I would mind him helping me chop up the tree with a chain saw. I said I would be glad for the help but that I couldn’t offer any payment for his work. He didn’t care, saying that’s what neighbors were for, and went off to get his chain saw.

Well, moments later, another neighbor pulls up in his pickup and pulls out his chain saw, saying he’d been waiting all week for me to start chopping up the tree so that he could come help me. “This beats falling asleep in the lazy boy in front of the tv,” he said. Then my other neighbor showed up again and the two of them chopped up the rest of the tree for me! I was practically speechless and exceedingly thankful! One of the men goes to a Baptist church nearby with one of my colleagues from work, and we got to talking about some of the missions trips he had been on. It was all in all a great time!

 

BUT WAIT…if you keep reading, you’ll be even more amazed!

The Augusta website states that they will only take branches that are 4″ in diameter or less. Well, I certainly had a number of branches that were larger than that. On top of that, I had at least three large piles of chopped-up tree that needed to be disposed of. I thought they would only take one pile at a time, and that it would take weeks for all of those piles to be taken away. I was fine with that, but I hoped they might take more at one time.

 

On Friday afternoon, Stephanie looked out the window and saw the yard-waste garbage truck stop in front of our house. Four men popped out and seemed to be shaking their heads with the amount of tree there was to pick up. I wondered if they might be more willing to take more of it if I went out to help them, so I did! I told them I was sorry for all of the piles and asked if they would mind if I helped. They thanked me for their help and–would you believe it–they took all of the piles and wood–even the large pieces of trunk! Needless to say I was very thankful!

 

To sum everything up:

1. God perfectly chopped down the tree for us–even getting rid of the stump!
2. God provided two neighbors to help chop up the largest parts of the tree
3. God provided for all of the tree to be hauled off at the same time!

 

If there is anything I learned from all of this, it is that God’s provision for everything–including the disposal of a tree (which seems to insignificant)–is perfectly timed, perfectly provided, and awesome!!!

Here are some pictures of the fallen tree for your enjoyment!