Roots

When you hear the word “roots” of what do you think? About every 6 weeks I think of something that needs to be taken care of (and quickly) before people figure out that I am actually older than 29!!! (denial is a good thing!) In the spring, when we lived in the country, roots were the things we had to cut through before we could plant our beautiful annuals. When I taught English, Roots, was the title of a novel that needed to be read for AR credit!! Today, I am contemplating other roots…those I cannot seem to cover, dig up or read about. These roots are deeply ingrained in me and as much as I would like to forget some of them, I can’t. You know what I am talking about!!! These roots are our growing up times…the people, the places, the sights and smells of our youth!

I did not have the privilege of growing up in one place, so my roots have traveled from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico. Having grown up as an Air Force brat, I learned early not to dig too deeply into a place for I would not be there long…that is until my daddy retired and we settled on the Mississippi Gulf Coast…more specifically, Long Beach. It was here I experienced my first encounter with roots! I was in Junior High and had moved in on people who had known each other since birth…plus I was from……(said in whispered tones) California!!! Parents were afraid to let their children hang with me because I was from……California. Roots are hard to establish when you are not a native plant…hard but not impossible.

I was determined to become rooted in this environment….I even tried to say, “ya’ll” like the rest of them, but they knew! This was hard ground but after a couple of months, parents relaxed and I began to be a part of this place but more than that, this place became a part of me!! I was active in the First Baptist Church of Long Beach and my spiritual roots grew for there were adults who invested time and energy into this tall gangly kid from…..California!! My friendship roots grew deep for these are friends I still have today! It was a place I began to call ‘Home” because it was where my parents were. Before I knew it, I had become a Mississippian and finally had earthly roots.

It is because of these roots that I became a little depressed after Katrina…devastation nearly washed away all the things I had grown accustom to seeing on this beach. I almost thought everything was gone, but that is the funny thing about “roots!” They run deep…below the devastation, below the storms. They are safe and secure and cannot be destroyed!

This next week, I will be going back to this place I have called home. I will take my granddaughter and we will walk in the sand. She will not remember what had been there…because she never saw it. She will enjoy what is built new and fresh since the devastation. We will eat in new restaurants and shop in new stores. There will be one thing that we will do, however, that I did with my mother and my daughter…we will go the Friendship Oak! We will walk under its massive branches and wonder in the fact that it has endured Camille, Katrina, and countless other storms since the 1400’s. Why? Because of its roots. They are deeply and firmly planted within the soil that will not move. I will look at this tree as a symbol of my life in Christ. He is my true and eternal home. As we become rooted in Him we will be able to withstand all that life throws at us. John 15:1-8. The promise is, “As long as we remain in Him…rooted and established.”

So, today, I am thinking about roots! I am rejoicing that next week I not only can share some earthly roots with my grand, but I will, while standing under that tree, be able to share some spiritual roots, too!

What do you think about when you hear the word, Roots? Please, share!