The Boring Life of an Evergreen (guest post)

**Alicia contacted me regarding writing a guest post for my blog- with the beginning of school and the craziness that follows, I knew that this week would be perfect.  She emailed me the following post (and "coincidentally"- which I don't believe in) when I read the post- it couldn't have come at a better time!

The Boring Life of an Evergreen

We were driving when my husband randomly spoke out, “Evergreens have such a boring life, always the same no matter what the season.” It was an arbitrary comment but made me think of all the other trees throughout the year. Every season the trees foliate, flourish, lose their leaves, and then start again growing more beautiful each year. They grow with the seasons just as we do.

Life is packed with the good times (summer), the bad (winter), and the transitions in between. Our trials are what make us stronger and more beautiful than ever. Without them we would be living a boring life of an evergreen. 

In retrospect, the seasons are good for us but still we complain and dread every time winter comes to take away our leaves. We doubt spring will ever come and we become hopeless in our despair. While trials are different for everyone, we all go through them. 

I always try to remind myself in those hard times that God is my refiner. Malachi 3:3 says, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” 

When silver is extracted it comes with all its impurities. Refining it is a complicated process. The refiner must hold the silver over the hottest part of the fire to burn away the impurities but if the silver is in the fire a second too long it would be ruined. The refiner knows when the silver is pure when he can see his reflection in it.

God knows our seasons and won’t leave us in winter a second too long. In this life, we all go through the difficult trials so that at the end our refiner can see his reflection in us. 

BIO: Alicia Lawrence is a content coordinator that works for a web design company. In her free time, she enjoys blogging at MarCom Land and helping others through addiction and withdrawal.

**as I have mentioned before- I believe that part of a healthy life is found in all aspects of life and that includes your spiritual life as well as the mental part of life.  We all go through ups and downs but through it all He is with us!