Between the Roots??

Okay. What does "between the roots" mean? Well, it's not a happy thing to remember, but I'll tell you, anyway.

I'm going to bet that I'm not alone in having a "less than perfect" childhood. I didn't live with any brothers or sisters and alcoholism ravaged the parent I lived with. Life was uncertain, depending on decisions the adults made, good or bad.

I walked 6 blocks to school. (but when it snowed, someone usually gave me a ride---I don't have any "walked 3 miles to school in the snow" stories.)

I would often be a little early, and it was school policy to have the students wait outside on the school grounds until the first bell rang. I carried a lot of shame with me, even as a kid, so I was often a loner.

The school had been there forever. My mother had even gone to that neighborhood school as a child. It had GIANT trees that stood tall and strong in front of the school. One tree that I remember had two huge roots that stuck out of the ground and formed what looked like low chair arms leading from the tree into the soil. I would go to the tree and sit in between the two roots, alone, until it was time to go into the school. I think it felt safe there. The big arms of the roots on either side of my tiny body and the big, strong tree at my back. Somehow, it was comforting. Mornings brought with them the memories of the previous night and the fears of the day to come. I needed what reassurance I could get.

Even then, God was taking care of me and little by little I came to understand that He was real--that I could pray and ask for help. I DO have some stories about that...they'll come on another day.

What was really the truth about everything? I'd only been alive on this earth just a few years and already life was filled with conflicting realities. What should have been right was all wrong. Was being a Christian really what it looked like to my hurting eyes? Or was it something different?

I had to find out for myself. God was there all the time.

Don't give up if life seems wrecked to you right now. If nothing's right that should be, there's hope. Don't give up.

---Myra