The Tree
A few years ago my wife brought home a tree from the nursery and asked me to plant it. "It's a weeping cherry tree" she declared proudly. Will it have cherries I asked her. She informed me that it wouldn't, which in my opinion made it a waste, BUT, she's my wife, and I planted it anyway. As I dug a hole for it and set it in the ground, I noticed it had a decided bow in it. It had obviously been rooted from a branch, and to say the least, it wasn't a very straight branch. In my infinite horticultural wisdom, (read ignorance) I took a 1" diameter piece of PVC pipe and taped the tree to it in order to make it straight. It wasn't pretty, and I'm not sure if it was the right thing to do, but the tree began to grow. Who'd have thunk it??? Me, growing something? For about three years the tree stood there looking ugly with this big white PVC pipe strapped to it's ever growing trunk. Funny thing though, sometime around the fourth year it began to produce these long curved branches that draped clear to the ground. As the summer progressed they thickened and formed this almost impenetrable umbrella of leaves and branches. Mowing under it became an exercise in sado-masochism. It's branches were as stiff as iron and it looked like a mop left upside down in the weather. Glenda loved it, I hated it, and it continued to grow despite me.
Every winter when the leaves were gone I would say to myself that I would pull the piece of PVC from the trunk. Believe me, it was no longer needed. I did this for about nine years until I finally cut away the branches during the winter and pulled with all my strength at the weathered PVC pipe. Like the tree itself, it refused to budge. The base of the tree had grown around it making it a permanent fixture of the tree. About three years ago we moved to another house and the tree didn't last much longer. The new owner cut it down (didn't want to fight the branches.) One day they asked me why I'd put the PVC in there in the first place and I told them about it's bent nature. They remarked how solid the tree was, and how I thought that silly piece of PVC pipe could change anything. I explained to them that it wasn't always that way, There were a few years when it was pliable and swayed in the breeze.
Being self-aware is like that old tree. I believe a man can change. If you catch yourself now, do a real self evaluation, you can discover your 'bend'. The word of God is the rod we need to help us evaluate our nature. I know from first hand experience. Like that weeping cherry tree, I've seen what the straight rod of God's word has done to straighten my bend. My nature hasn't changed, but my bend has. Each year my life follows more closely the path laid before me by God's word. What binds me to that word is the loving ties of my wife, my children, and the numerous people of my faith fellowship. My bent was long ago straightened, but my roots have grown around the Word of God. I'm not much to look at, and I'm a little difficult to mow around, but I no longer bend or sway with the storms of life. What we are when we are saplings, or cuttings can be molded, and even trained into a tree of life. Being self aware means knowing what your nature is, and having the wisdom from the word of God to modify your nature so that your family can grow. As a leadership quality, self-awareness makes it easier for you to know how your nature affects those around you. Your decisions, your actions, your ticks, and your responses to those around you are governed by your nature. While you are and will be you, God can change your bend. God knows what you are, and He knows what you can be. He knows how to make you the best father for your kids.
Our children will love our stability, but they will need us to be aware of how we affect them. I can see a little of myself in each of my adult children. My likes and dislikes have been transmitted, but some have been rejected. Thankfully my children have discarded the worse traits, and embraced the sweeter nature of their mother. Not one of them is a duplicate of me. Oh, they may have some of my features, or they may like some of the stuff I like, but they are truly their own self. I hope they are aware of who and what they are so that their children can be their own selves.
As a little side note, DON'T PLANT A WEEPING CHERRY TREE!!!
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