The Tale of the Snow Covered Tree

I have not taken the time to go through the rest of November and all the Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities but these thought have been on my mind for a few days and I thought I needed to get them out.

Since it has been so cold and snowy in Provo and that is where we have been that is where my reflections have led me. There was a group of pine trees going up the roa close to my mom's house that started me thinking.  Those trees don't look exactly like the ones in this picture but the feeling is the same. I feel like this pine tree right here above in the center of this picture.  Now you can see that it is not completely alone but does have some other pine trees in close proximity.  Other observance about this pine tree are that it seems to be covered the most by the snow.  All of the trees have snow on them but this one in middle seems to have more that it's fair share of snow.  The snow is heavy.  The snow looks wet.  The snow is cold and is weighing down this beautiful tree whose branches and boughs usually point upward. But on this day the weight of the snow is so great that is just seems to slump  a little forward and hangs dejectedly.  There is no sun in the sky to hint at a better day to come and the drifts of snow surrounding the tree are so high that even if it could wiggle its way forward toward a warmer piece of ground or shrug off some of the weight of the snow it would not make it very far.  I am feeling like this tree.  Now I was not feeling like this tree so much at the beginning of December because I had decided that I wanted to feel the spirit of the season and the spirit of the Savior this year and that the only way I could do that was to de-stress and eliminate some of the crazy busy and stressful things about Christmas.  The kids were not involved in any concerts, plays or programs other than 1 Valley Voices Concert that Cody was part of.  There were no karate testings or extra parties, only 1 school party for Cayden and our ward Christmas Party that I was helping with.  I did not get that assignment until the week before Thanksgiving so it's not like I had a long time to stress about that anyway. And as far as that party was concerned I really felt like the spirit prompted and guided our efforts and gave me lot of ideas that really worked out.  The snow started to fall on my tree that night of the ward Christmas party and it just kept snowing and snowing.  That blizzard lasted clear through Christmas and even now even into the new year.  The harsh winter just does not want to let up and this tree is just about ready to topple over.  At this point I am having a hard time taking this analogy and turning it positive.  I was on a roll last night but tonight I just don't have it.  So I am leaving this as it is for now until I can come back around out of this slump and wait for the sun to come out and melt some of this ice and snow in my heart.