coddling has resulted in trees that expect to be waited on hand and foot. whenever a cold wind blows in, they tremble and chatter their branches. sissy trees.

　　funny things about those trees of dr. gibbs’. adversity and deprivation seemed to benefit them in ways comfort and ease never could.every night before i go to bed, i check on my two sons. i stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. i often pray for them. mostly i pray that their lives will be easy. but lately i’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer.this change has to do with the inevitability of cold winds that hit us at the core. i know my children are going to encounter hardship, and i’m praying they won’t be naive. there’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere.

　　so i’m changing my prayer. because life is tough, whether we want it to be or not. too many times we pray for ease, but that’s a prayer seldom met. what we need to do is pray for roots that reach deep into the eternal, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won’t be swept asunder.