Who Says Money doesn't grow on Trees?

Some of you may be wondering why Danielle and I are taking a picture around a tree in Jeremiah's room. But after I tell you more about this particular tree, you will wish you had a tree just like this one.

After reminiscing over my childhood, and in fact my short adulthood, common quotes from my Dad came to mind- "What? Do you think money grows on trees?" or "I guess I will have to water the money tree when we get home." After a huge surprise this weekend, I have to say to my Dad that these trees REALLY do exist.

As many of you know, preparing for a first child is a little overwhelming. Ok, maybe that was an understatement, it's VERY overwhelming. You think to yourself, how are we ever going to get all the stuff we need for this new arrival. In many cases, I have to bow my head and repent for not trusting in the Lord's provision. For He is the one who created Jeremiah in Danielle's womb, and He will be the One who provides for him. As many of you also know, the Lord's provision comes through many different avenues. This past weekend, we had the opportunity to experience God's gracious provision through an amazing gift from Family members.

Although life in medical school rarely allows you to have a weekend off, I actually had some time free this past weekend. Most of the time when I have time off like this, one of the first things I think of is if my parents could come down to Mobile. As my parents were preparing to leave Dothan for a weekend in Mobile, I called my mom to see how things were going. She seemed so excited and ready to get down here. She told me that they had a surprise coming with them. I tell you what, it doesn't matter how old you get, you always get excited about surprises. I called Danielle and told her the news. We then started are usual thought process of trying to figure out what was on its way. Of course, when you have GiGi as a grandmom, the first thing you think about is baby clothes. And as you can tell from previous posts, we ABSOLUTELY need more clothes (YEAH RIGHT!). We also thought that it could be something off our registry or something like that. Nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to see coming through our front door.

As my parents busted through our front door, we see my mom holding the tree pictured above. It was so beautiful with the light blue painted basket and the white tree limbs. It also came with a precious poem that my Aunt Faye wrote. If you look closely at the tree limbs, you may notice that things were attached. The little things you are seeing are actually little miniature diapers with the names of many of my Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc. After looking at it, I thought to myself how much time and effort went into making this gift. It was amazing, beautiful, and so generous. After noticing the miniature diapers, I wanted to get a closer peak to see how they were made. And to my surprise, something GREEN was inside. I looked over at Danielle and said- "I think there is money in all of these." We then looked even closer and realized that there was budding money diapers on every branch of this little dream tree. In fact, it had blossomed 17 little diapers that had something a lot better than what's usually associated with diapers. It actually made me think to myself- "I am going to be a rich man if this is what Jeremiah produces in his diapers!"

Well, all joking aside, this was one of the most unique gifts Danielle and I have ever received. It is such a blessing to have such loving family. When I think about this gift and how much we need to trust the Lord for His provision, it reminds me of one of my favorite songs- "Come thou fount of every blessing." One of the verses speaks of raising an Ebeneezer. I have always thought that wording was weird until I did a little reading on it. Actually, once in the Old Testament, the Jewish people raised up a stone of remembrance to remind themselves of God's faithfulness after they had just crossed a river. They called that stone Ebeneezer. I can truly say, that when thinking about relying on the Lord's provision for Jeremiah, this tree will be one of our Ebeneezer's.

Danielle and I wanted to personally thank each and every one of you who participated in making this gift a stone of remembrance of God's faithfulness and provision.