A Tree of Life... Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 It has been a long winter in Indiana. Really long, I think. More than any other year, perhaps, I was eager to turn off the heater at home, open the windows, and let the smell of flowering trees and freshly mowed grass enter our home and cleanse the air. On those rainy and cold days in March, I kept my eye on the days ahead, and I remembered the power of hope. The daffodills will bloom, I trusted, and Spring will come. I trust this like the air I breathe each day, as if God will of course usher in a new season. The tree(s) of life have arrived, now, in late April. As I sit over lunch with one of the young ladies we serve in our ministry, I am also encouraged by bits of her dream coming to fulfillment...a taste of the tree of life. Due to boredom, Tessa dropped out of Manual High School at age 16 and let the wind take her (through toxic male relationships and difficult family events) through the next few years, until she hit a breaking point and got a glimpse of the possibilities God might offer her. She has taken many tangible forward steps in the past year. Tessa took and passed her GED exam last year, earning an honor's diploma. As she and I began to build a more secure relationship, Tessa began to respond to the challenges ahead. She got a job (with benefits!) where she has now worked for almost one year. She has pressed into difficult discussions about her early loss and trauma. She wants to volunteer and give back. She plays in a softball league and is beginning to live a "normal" life where she does not worry about where she will stay tonight or how she will eat. Tessa is also beginning to display her hunger for God and to wonder how knowing Him will change the way she lives. Last week, at lunch, after a tour at Lincoln Technical Institute, Tessa beamed as she shared her new-found revelation that automotive work is her true vocational dream. Later that week, she was accepted into their program! She, like me, tasted a momentary "dream fulfilled" and was able to see past the long winter and into the Spring to come. Friends, please pray for Tessa as she enters this exciting season of her life. Pray for more "dreams fulfilled" for her life. Please also pray, with me, that she would ultimately come to trust fully in the Hope of Jesus, who restores and repairs our sick hearts.