Jack Pine
Dear Friends,
Is God good and is He trustworthy? I believe He is. It’s taken me most of a decade to reach that conclusion, but I now have an unshakable conviction. How did that happen? In a word: pain. That statement may not only seem counterintuitive but perhaps even offensive at first. After all, pain is what causes each one of us to doubt the existence of God, let alone His heart toward us. Yet personal experience has shown me there’s new life to be birthed in a charred landscape.
A year ago I came across an unassuming, crooked, Charlie Brown-like tree called Jack Pine, and have been enamored ever since. It’s the most beautiful symbol of love I know save the cross itself. In comparison to the mythological phoenix who rose from the ashes, the jack pine tree is both real and more than a survivor. Everything from the difficult soil in which it grows to its serotinous cones that only open in fire reveals intentional design by an intentional Creator.
If you’ve been through some fires or are going through one now, I just want to say to you today there is hope and He has a plan. If you’d like to learn more about why I believe that is true, please click on the video below to watch Jack Pine: A Story of Love and Fire. I’ve partnered with the Retreat at Hidden Treasure, a ministry dedicated to helping folks uncover their God-given purpose, so that once you watch the story about a tree named Jack, you can utilize the tools and articles on their online community site to discover your story. Friends, we all have painful things happen to us, but pain doesn’t negate God’s goodness. He’s actually right there in the middle of it, protecting and sealing us, working all of it in conformity with the purpose of His will (Ephesians 1:11).
With Much Love,
Heidi Meares
Video best viewed full screen
Video of Heidi’s Jack Pine message to over 500 women during “Girls Night Out“
Recorded at McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Virginia
June 8, 2012
