The Dogwood

Friends,

 Our little Diva is becoming a bit of a stroller snob.  We acknowledge that.  Now, E has always been interested in being outdoors and loves nothing more than reclining in her bouncer on the back patio, listening to the birds, or watching her brother and sister play basketball or fill water balloons, etc.    She loves being outside  and experiencing all the new sounds and sights.  Her new favorite activity is to go on walks with Kathryn in the mornings in her new “limousine”.  A few weeks ago, we finally caved in a bought a jogging stroller for Elizabeth after her therapists and others thought that Elizabeth had gained enough upper body strength to sit in a reclined position.  (It’s the baby steps, I guess.)  Once E got in that thing, it was like we turned on a new light.  She loves it!  It is a smooth ride (the previous stroller was some modified tubular pixie stick thing with plastic wheels that let her car seat/carrier sit on it.  It was like pushing an old coffee table with only square wheels…no wonder E hated it.  We didn’t know how good pushing a stroller could be until we got the new one!) and E can sit up enough to see what is going by.   She is vocal about her seemingly constant desire now to go on walks with the stroller. (the pusher of the stroller is apparently not very important…only that there be one!  She is not picky about who accompanies her on her new sojourns.)  We have enjoyed seeing E get out and about and like her new “mobility”.   She thinks she is rollin’ now, I guess.

A few weeks ago, when the Spring flowers were all in bloom here in East Texas, Kathryn came home from one of her walks with some branches of white dogwood that she had cut.  They were really pretty and she put them in a large vase on our breakfast room table.   I thought they looked very nice, but Elizabeth was completely entranced by them.    I have literally never seen Elizabeth be so completely interested in something before.  She would sit in her bouncer on the breakfast room table and just stare at the dogwood blooms right next to her.  Many times she would then smile and grin as if she had just thought of something funny.  This went on for hours.  She was mesmerized.  She would kick (which means she is happy and excited) whenever she could be near the blossoms.  She would “talk” to them—making sounds and being very forceful with her vocalizations. (Apparently, the dogwood flowers needed to be informed about something VERY important!)  All in all, it was a fun, completely unexpected time of joy for E and we loved watching it.  It was a moment of watching Elizabeth have unbridled joy in God’s creation that Kathryn and I loved getting to witness.   Of course, we took a picture, here it is:

Well, we moved on with everything and E’s birthday came along.   We had a really wonderful time  at a little family party for Elizabeth and  enjoyed celebrating the absolute wonder of Elizabeth’s time here so far.  E loved the cacophony of everyone being around and I think also reveled in the attention.  Once a diva… you know.  Anyway, as everyone was arriving, my mom and dad pulled me aside and asked me to help get E’s gift out of their car.  I protested a bit as I thought Kathryn and I had been pretty clear that E didn’t need anything, and they didn’t need to get a gift. (That protest was met with my mom’s best “Whatever, Matt, we don’t listen to you on silly things anyway…” look.) So, I proceeded to help them with the gift.  I’ll fully admit I got a little misty eyed when I saw the gift.  My parents had gotten her a dogwood tree for us to plant.  So simple, and yet so amazing.  We had instructions to plant it where Elizabeth could look at it and watch with wonder as it grew along with her.   Really cool.

Well, as Kathryn and I collapsed after the party finally shut down (seriously, Elizabeth’s grandparents and great-grandparents know how to have a good time---and won’t ever be the first to leave  an event!   In a moment of unbelievable irony, I think Uncle Jon was the first to go…and that NEVER happens! ;)) we looked at each other and kinda broke down.  Not in a bad way—but happy tears of getting to a milestone that no one ever thought we could get to.  Elizabeth continued to amaze and surprise and her 2^nd birthday was a great day of reminders that we need to just get out of the way sometimes to let God and His wonders free.  It was a little moment in time to thank God for His grace and for the time we have had with Elizabeth and the wonderful times we will have in the future.   And through my silly tears, I saw that dogwood tree with a pink bow on it…

Many of you know the story of the dogwood.  Depending upon what you have heard in churches or beyond, many people think that the wood of the dogwood tree was what was used to crucify Jesus.  I don’t know if I believe that, or if it is that important what type of wood it was, but it is interesting to think about.  Further, we have all been taught in Sunday School about how the flowers of the dogwood—those same flowers that Elizabeth simply could not get enough of—are a startling natural symbol of Christ’s sacrifice.  The flowers usually bloom around Easter every year.  The flowers usually have four petals in the form of a cross, with  indentions at the tips of the petals that signify the nails that were driven into Jesus’ hands and feet.   If you look closely at the indentions, you will see a faint red stain around them, signifying the Blood spilt for your sake.  In the center of the bloom you will see a green bloom that looks like the crown of thorns placed upon Jesus’ head.  Sometimes seemingly random things,  just aren’t random at all…

 Now, any of you that read this blog know that I am not a big believer in random coincidence.  Too much has happened in my life to allow me to glibly explain away events as cosmic accidents.  Everything is purposeful and I gain great comfort in that.  If you choose to believe that God is not real and that all these random happenstances are just odd unrelated instances given importance by a shortsighted, desperate person clinging to the faith of his father in order to give false order to entropy, then I feel very bad for you.   (And, pssst…I would aver to you that it takes far more “faith” to ignore the clear connections in every day and every person that point us heavenward!)   Anyway, I know with deep fundamental clarity that the dogwood is by no means a botanical accident.  It was created to show others the beauty and wonder of its Maker.  The symbolism woven into its flowers is a comforting nudge leading one to understand the mystery of its Creator.  When it blooms, its tells its story with beauty and wonder.   

Oh, and one more thing… the dogwood is a notoriously slow-growing tree.  It won’t ever get very big and seems almost…glacial…in its growth pattern.   Hmmmmm…  And, yet when it blooms it all its glory, it uses all its strength to tell the story in many ways of the grace and wonder of God and His perfect creation.  And, my Elizabeth was completely entranced with it.  She “talked” with it like a kindred spirit and was content to look at it for hours.  That’s no accident, ladies and gentlemen.  God is unfathomably cool. 

‘Nuff said.