“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him will bare much fruit.” – John 15:1

I have a peach tree in my front yard and last Spring the entire tree basically produced only two good peaches and they both splattered to the ground before I could ever taste them. Not knowing much about caring for fruit trees, I asked a friend who seemed to be the green-thumb-type what I should do to ensure the tree would produce more fruit this Spring. My friend explained that all the tree really needed was some regular fertilizing, watering and some extra TLC. And that’s exactly was I did from last Spring until now.

I was so excited when I noticed small peach buds beginning to cover the branches recently. Why just the other day, I went to my peach tree, gently touched the many budding peaches on the biggest and main branch of the tree and whispered in my tender-love and care voice, soon the peaches will ripen and I will make tons of peach pie. Then came the wind.

A day after having my brief but intimate conversation with my peach tree, a big gusty wind blew threw town and the next thing I knew, the biggest branch that held many smaller branches, covered with developing peaches broke off the from the tree and was completely damaged.

My heart sank. An entire years worth of extra TLC and the dream of making dozens of peach pies to share with others were gone with the wind. Seeing broken branches, torn bark and scattered green peach buds all over the driveway, I figured all hope was lost.

I was just about to give up on the idea of ever making delicious homemade pies from my own tree when I stopped at the base of the tree and looked up. There, way up high on smaller branches than the one that had broken off, I saw green peach buds. The higher I looked the more peaches I saw. I couldn’t believe!

Despite the main branch being broken off the tree was standing strong and producing much fruit at the top. Sure the tree was injured but it wasn’t stopping it from baring what it was meant to bare–peaches. I tried to count how many there were to figure out if my peach pie dream could continue but there were too many peach buds to count. Again, I whispered in my best TLC voice, but this time I said, Awe, thanks God.

As I wait for the peaches to ripen and my homemade pie baking-fest to being, I think of John 15:1 “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him will bare much fruit.”

When we make God our foundation, even when strong winds blow through our lives and toss us around, like my peach tree, we can still stand strong and bare much fruit because we are rooted in Jesus, our vine.