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While at the Farmers Market with a friend, I saw a man selling Apple trees.

I have always wanted fruit trees on our property, but my husband’s question has always been, “Where would you put them?”

To my delight, this man was selling dwarf apple trees, ones that don’t get that big.

I asked him what they needed. He told me how to plant them and there needed to be two of them to cross pollinate.

I bought two small trees and brought them home. I was so happy to finally get fruit trees! The man said they were a year old, and they should have fruit by next year.

I was thinking about these wonderful little trees, and that what they need is so much like what we need as Christians.

When we’re new in the Lord, we don’t bear much fruit yet, we’re just little, needing lots of nurturing and care. The big trees around us that are bearing lots of fruit look so gigantic, and we can’t wait until we can bear fruit like that. We need time to grow in the Lord and sit at his feet before that happens.

We also need each other. We need other people around who will encourage us and help us to be the best we can be. And we need these people close by; standing off alone probably isn’t the best thing for us.

Each one of us has a purpose.  Just because you see a tree bearing fruit, and you don’t seem to be there yet, doesn’t mean you’ll never have any. It just means you need to sit at the feet of Jesus, let him pour into you and find out his plan for your life.

As I look at my two little trees sitting on my kitchen table, I notice that they don’t look like much now. But I know what they are going to be. Each one will produce a different kind of apple. And I can’t wait to taste the fruit.