The Promise

When I was a little girl my grandmother had a dogwood tree with white flowers on it in her front yard. I liked it because it was small like me. Well small compared to the other massive oak tree that also lived in her front yard. As many grandmothers do, she loved sharing stories with me. As a young child I ate each one of them up! There is one story however that stayed with me to this day...

The Legend of the Dogwood:

As legend has it, the cross on which Jesus was crucified was made from a dogwood tree. God decreed that the dogwood tree would from that day forth never grow large enough to be used to make a cross. Thus, the dogwood tree is a small, under story tree. The flower of the dogwood has four petals which makes the shape of a cross. On the outer edge of each petal, a piercing mark with red on each tip, symbolizing the blood Christ shed on the cross. The center of the flower resembles the crown of thorns. The dogwood blooms in April when Easter Sunday marks the resurrection of Christ after the Crucifixion.



It was around Easter when the dogwood was in bloom that my grandmother shared this story with me in her front yard. I remember looking at the flower of the dogwood tree with wide eyes and thinking it was a believable story. As a grown adult I've concluded that if the legend of the dogwood isn't true, the story of Christ's death on the cross is. Well to me it is and is the core of my faith. I let God flood my life with his love in my early twenties when I gave my heart to Jesus.

But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us. Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ's blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God. ~Romans 5:7-9

I titled this blog posting "The Promise" because of the dogwood flower, and if you look closer you can see my wedding rings in the background. At our wedding my husband vow to the love me this way,

Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...
Ephesians 5:25

This photo's composition shows two symbols of love, my wedding ring in the background and the dogwood tree's flower in the forefront. Though the petals of the dogwood tree in my yard were not perfect I took the picture anyway. It made for great subject matter. While uploading the picture for what I thought was going to be a Wordless Wednesday; this posting unraveled without much thought. It wasn't premeditated when I snapped the shot. I think I'm going to get this picture developed and frame it. To me, it's a reminder to love extravagantly. But it doesn't stop there. It's a reminder that I'm loved extravagantly by my husband and by God.

I applaud my grandmother and tip my hat to my grandfather who celebrated their wedding anniversary earlier this month. Many, many many years married!

What are your thoughts on this picture and the Legend of the Dogwood? Drop me a comment or email.