After the seed for this amazing tree is planted, you see absolutely nothing, for four years except for a tiny shoot coming out of the bulb. During those four years, all the growth is underground in a massive fibrous root structure that spreads deep and wide in the earth. Then in the fifth year, the Chinese bamboo tree grows up to eighty feet!
Chinese Bamboo Tree
Miracle of the Chinese Bamboo Tree
Everything you do in your family, keep in mind the miracle of the Chinese bamboo tree. Many things in family life can be compared to the Chinese bamboo tree. We work hard to invest time and effort into our families, you do everything you possibly can to nurture growth, without seeing any progress for weeks, months or even years. But if you are patient and keep on nurturing and working, the "fifth year" will come, and you will be astonished at the growth and change you see taking place.
Chinese bamboo tree
Never, Never give up
Patience is faith in action. Patience is emotional diligence. It is the willingness to suffer inside so that others can grow. Patience reveals love and it gives birth to understanding. Even as we become aware of our suffering in love, we learn about ourselves and our own weaknesses and motives.
To rephrase Winston Churchill, we must "Never, never, NEVER, give up!"
There was a little girl who would always run out into the front garden. Her mother would go out, hug her and invite her back into the house. One day when the little girl did this, her mother forgot to go outside and invite her in, because she was very busy that day. The little girl was waiting and eventually went back into the house. Her mother hugged her and told her she was glad that she was back. The little girl said: "Mommy always come to fetch me, but not today!" she was obviously very upset.
Inside each of us is this deep longing for "home," for the love and comfort, for rich satisfying relationships and interactions of quality family life. We must never give up, no matter how far we feel we've gotten off track, we can always take steps to correct the course. No matter how far away a son or a daughter seems to be, even gone off the tracks. Never lose hope or give up.
Your children are bone of your bone, flesh of your flesh, whether physically by birth or emotionally by the bonding of the family commitment you have made. Like the prodigal son, they will eventually return to be reclaimed by their parents, in the warmth of their home.
Your destination within reach
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The metaphor of the airplane reminds us that the destination is within reach. The journey can be enriching and joyful,
the journey is part of the destination, because in the family, as in life, how you travel is as important as where you arrive.
Shakespear wrote:
"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in misery.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures."
We must take the tide now, for despite the trends in society we all know deep inside that family is supremely important.
Our greatest joys and our deepest heartaches surround what is happening in our family life. It is said that; "No mother is happier than her most unhappy child." We want things to be right and experience the joy we know deep inside is possible and natural in family life, but when there is a gap between the vision of the rich and beautiful family life we want to have, we get discouraged and feel off track, the situation becomes hopeless, we feel that there is no way we can have the family life we so desperately want.
Remember there is hope, tremendous hope! The key is to remember to keep working from the inside out and to keep on getting back on track when we feel derailed.
Life is good when family relationships are good
We are all part of a family
Life is good when the family relationship is good. Our circumstances are not the same. Through divorce or the death of a spouse, you may be attempting to raise your children alone. You may be a grandparent with your children all grown up. You may be an aunt or an uncle, a brother or a sister, or a cousin. No matter where you fit in, remember you are part of the family, the family where you will find love and shelter.