The Tree

Jason and I moved into our home in Minocqua in August 2025.

There was a beautiful oak tree in the back yard. It was the only tree in the yard. All of the other trees surrounded the yard. We noticed that the tree was split and upon closer evaluation could see that it was split from the top to the base in 3 places. *This got me thinking about how a lot of us are like this tree. On the outside, beautiful, but on closer examination, there are some deep wounds that are there.

It was sad for both of us but we knew that leaving a tree like this would be dangerous for the greenhouse that was right next to it and the tree was only going to get bigger, making it harder to remove. *Why wait to work on the wounds that have festered for all of these years? We're only going to get older, causing issues to grow and multiply, and making them harder to work through.

Jason knew that this tree was a difficult "drop" because of the splits and the trees location (next to the greenhouse). He set his pride aside and called for someone with more training, tools, and experience to come and help him. *We don't need to walk into the season of healing alone but battling our pride and humbling ourselves can be harder than it seems. Reaching out to someone that has more training, tools, and experience can help to get us on the right track faster.

The arborist called back and offered his services on a day that neither of us was expecting. *Often times, the timing that God chooses for us to heal is not what we would have chosen. After evaluating the situation the arborist said that this would be a "process" and that we could go at it in stages. *Healing does happen in stages! There isn't a magic cure. God unveils things in us as He knows that we can handle them and work through them. It takes a lifetime.

The first step was to remove all of the small branches that held alot of the leaves. This would help to take the weight off of the larger branches and hopefully stop the tree from splitting while he was working on it. *In the healing process that we walk with people through, we start with all of the fluff, the things that people use to hide the pain, the behaviors that have become "normal" since childhood but in adulthood they are not working and keeping them in chains. Learning to see these things. as they are. helps a person to surrender them and this makes it possible for them to see the bigger issues that they stemmed from. Sometimes what holds us back from even starting the process is the fear that we will split in two or that we wont be able to handle it but this is false fear that remains from being a little person. With some help, you can get through big things as a grown up. Before we could start the second step of the tree removal we had to clean up all of the piles of leaves and branches that had been cut down. *There are multiple periods of clean up during the healing journey. Cleaning up is not fun. It often times is when we are compelled to repent to God and to others about the path of destruction that we created.

The second step was to take off the larger branches. This was not as simple as it would seem. You see, the branches had to be taken off in an order that would not unbalance the the weight on the trunk and cause it to split. *This is another reason why it is helpful to walk into deep healing with someone that has some training, tools and experience. God is our Great Physician and His timing is perfect for us. Letting Him guide us as we walk with people through the hard things allows Him to choose what "branches" need to come down and in what order.

After the arborist was finished with this step, the trunk remained. He told Jason "You can handle it on your own from here". *Going through deep healing with intentionality should bring us to a place where we are more comfortable handling life on our own, with God as our helper.

Jason had to wait for the right timing to cut the trunk so that he would have plenty of time to clean up and remove all of the wood. When the timing was right and he cut it down, it hit the ground with such force that the earth shook. When it hit the tree split wide open and then we could see the terrible rot that taken over the inside. It was black and completely hollow. If we would have left it, it could have been disastrous. *Healing should shake things up and cause massive change in our lives. If we choose not to work on things in our life and let them go, they will not just go away. This rot comes out in all kinds of ways in our lives and effects everyone around us in disastrous ways.

Everything was cleaned up but now the stump remained and in order for us to be able to use that part of the yard for things, we would need to remove the stump and all of the roots beneath the ground. This required another person with training, tools, and experience. We hired a man that had a stump grinder. *As I watched him working with the machine, I was overwhelmed with the connections that God revealed through the whole process of taking this tree down. He first worked through the entire stump and then cleaned up the area and made a pile of the saw dust. He then started working through the roots under the ground and in that process there were lots of rocks and things that slowed him down. He would have to stop the machine and go and remove things so that he could continue the process. The rocks were placed in a pile and the dirt was put in a pile. The sawdust was used for compost. The rocks were used in landscaping. The dirt was used to smooth out the area and get it ready to replant the grass around it. *As we dig to get at the roots of issues in our lives there are things that get thrown at us that could slow us down or stop us completely, if we are not intentional about our process. All of the things that happen to slow us down and all of the things that we dig up can be used for a purpose when we are "whole". This is our testimony and it is meant to be used to help others. In alot of ways our testimony beautifies us.

The next part of the process was to plant the grass seed. When we went into winter, the seed had come up but it was sparse and not very plush and beautiful yet. *These seeds planted are all of the messages and insight and love that we were given along the way. It takes time for all of the seeds to take root and for us to see the beauty on the top side BUT they will grow with the proper water and "SON". THEY WILL GROW!

I'm not sure if this story is as clear to all of you as it is to me but I did share it with the group that went through our retreat in the fall of 2025 and they all seemed to connect to it. I share it because this is the heart and soul of Upper Room Ministry and this is the great honor that we have, to walk hand in hand with individuals that are ready to do the hard things.

I will try to remember to take a picture of the spot this spring when all of the grass comes up.

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