A Father's Advice
Agnes’ garden was looking rather bleak during the winter months. There had been a lot of rain and the trees and shrubs looked sad and bedraggled. But she told her friend that she still got a lot of pleasure from it.
“I will follow my father’s advice,“ she said. “He used to tell me I should always put a bird table where it can be seen from the kitchen window. That way the garden is never empty.”
Sure enough, her friend could see, that even though there were no flowers, the birds fluttering down to feed at the table and then flying off to perch on a nearby branch, meant that even in winter, Agnes’ garden was always alive.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
(Proverbs 3:5)
Someone once well said: “Only in Winter, do we know the Pine and the Cypress to be evergreen.”
There are people we know who seem as substantial as an oak in full leaf, or as flattering as a maple in its Autumn colours, but come a bad spell, they shrink to a mere skeleton of their former glory. True friends are the evergreens, who will still be there to give shelter, whatever the weather.
Jesus says to all who will trust and obey Him:
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)