I've written about our old peach tree before.
It's stood outside the kitchen window in Due West.
For many, many years.
Some of you remember our story about it.
When we first laid eyes on this hundred year old house.
Two years ago now.
Scott had no interest.
Whatsoever.
In buying it.
Much less renovating it.
And moving to Due West.
He dug in deep.
And would not budge.
As determined as I've ever seen him.
And I was close to just giving in......and giving up.
But things changed over the course of a few weeks.
And a big reason they changed.
Was because of that tree.
Long story short.
While I was campaigning hard to buy and renovate.
God was working.
In our circumstances.
And on my husband.
Softening his heart toward the idea.
In a way.
That was personal.
And intentional.
And Scott relented.
He agreed on a second walk through the property.
And to a home inspection on the old place.
To rule it in.
Or rule it out.
It could have gone either way.
But, as God would have it.
The peach tree was discovered at the kitchen window that day.
In early July.
Looking very much like this.
Covered in peaches.
Surprising.
It must have just been a coincidence.
If you believe in those.
But, as it turns out.
My husband is more than a little fond of peaches.
And....... when he eye balled that peach tree.
The tide truly began to turn.
And you know much of what followed.
We did buy the house.
And renovate it.
We protected that bent, little peach tree.
During demo.
And construction.
When trees had to be cut around it.
And cars and trucks pulled in and out.
It stood there.
Old and bent.
Right in the middle of our drive way.
Over the last two years.
Our little tree lost growth in all but three limbs.
We still saw a few peaches back in June.
But the trunk of the bent old peach tree.
Became more and more decayed.
Almost completely hollowed out near the top.
We knew it was all but done.
This week.
Scott and I have been on vacation.
Let me rephrase.
We've taken the week off from work.
And taken on a big clean up.
In our back yard.
As we studied the old peach tree this morning.
We knew it was time to let it go.
We picked up all the peach pits laying at its feet.
And talked about a good spot to plant them.
To see the legacy of this old tree.
Continue on for another generation or two.
And before we talked ourselves out of it.
The chain saw came out.
And the bent, little old tree came down.
I gathered the wood for a special project.
And carefully began stacking the pieces.
That's when Scott called me over to see.
Incredible!
As he started to take down the last portion.
A cross.
Right in the middle of our peach tree.
Directly in the center.
And not until the tree came down.
Would it be discovered.
The cross.
I tell you what.
I've seen God show up in my life.
In indisputable ways.
But this was meant just for us.
A symbol of his sacrifice.
Hidden carefully.
In a very personal way.
In a very special place.
And revealed.
So we wouldn't miss it.
Extraordinary.
