I love to hunt! I always come home with exciting stories to tell! (My wife says I come home excited, with stories to tell; is there a difference?) Anyway, Cheri says it doesn't matter whether I "shoot" anything or not, because I get SO MUCH enjoyment from being out in nature. During a recent Deer hunting season, I saw a dozen wild turkeys, almost as many deer, and a coyote. WOW!

One day I was sitting in my tree-stand, eagle eyes keenly observing my surroundings in a slow, methodical panoramic scan; ears alert to the slightest sound of movement in the forest; always ready in an instant to dispatch the enemy in perfect "sniper" fashion, i.e. "one round, one kill!" (I think I spent too many years in the Army! Even though I was a Chaplain, I always went to the range with my troops, and I ALWAYS qualified Expert on whatever weapon system they were firing - .45 caliber or 9mm pistols, M-16 Rifle, Saw, .50 & .60 caliber machine guns, and even the M-24 SNIPER Rifle! (Arghh! Arghh! Arghh!) Sorry about that I always get excited when I start thinking and talking about shootin stuff!)

Anyway, as I sat in my tree stand, out in my 20 acres of hardwoods in the Ozarks hills of SW MO I observed two trees close by, and God gave me a message I call "THE PARABLE OF THE OAK TREES". I'm going to tell you the parable, then give you my very limited interpretation. I will tell you up front that it deals with marriage. I want to leave the bulk of the interpretation to you and the Savior. I pray it speaks to your heart and your need today.

THE PARABLE OF TWO OAK TREES

Once upon a time, deep in the wooded forest, two acorns landed near one another. They smiled and winked at each another in the warmth of the afternoon sun, then went to sleep. When they awoke, much to their surprise, they were both oak saplings. There were mighty oaks, and small oaks, walnut, hickory nut, and other "nutty" trees all around them. There were turkeys, squirrels, coyotes, deer, turtles, opossums, raccoons, chipmunks, and lots of colorful, singing birds in the forest. Although there seemed to be quite a distance between them, they soon became friends. They talked of life and laughed at one another's jokes. The big orange sun shone brightly in the afternoons, the rains were refreshing, and the winters were tough but tolerable. As the years passed, their trunks and limbs became large and strong. Their leaves were luscious and bright green, and their acorns fat and juicy. Strangely, they noticed that the space between them grew smaller and smaller. As they matured, they grew closer together, and fell in love. Eventually, their sprawling branches allowed them to hug one another. As time went by, there were more hugging limbs, more embracing, more loving, and soon they were no longer independent. Their lives had intertwined. They had invested themselves in each other. Their limbs were hugging, their trunks were twisted together, and their love grew ever stronger.

They both felt very secure. Then a hard year came, and in their desire to persevere and remain strong, each grafted limbs into the others' trunk, so that they literally became "one flesh" or one tree. Their branches and their lives were married together forever. They drew strength and life from one another, and they were very happy in their marriage. The next year, they spread out again, each mighty Oak once again spreading out with its own individual limbs and style. From then on, they could be separate, but they would always be one! They both knew that the only way they could ever be completely separate again would be to kill a part of each of them. But that didn't matter, because they truly loved one another. They shared life, they loved life, and they vowed always to remain married together as one, no matter how hard the winters became.

The two oak trees flourished; loving one another, dropping their acorns, thus creating the Mighty Oak Trees of the next generation, and providing life-giving sustenance for squirrels and deer. They were content, and lived in perfect harmony. Their limbs spread out as they shared the same space, as they shared the same soil, as they shared the same sap of life. When a deer came and stripped the bark from a young sapling Oak, they wept together. As others grew strong and vibrant, they laughed together and shared their joy of life. They held one another close throughout all the seasons of life. And they were content in their world.

INTERPRETATION

1. Take your time and allow God to lead you to the mate who is His choice for your life partner in marriage. Pray together, study scripture together, worship together, eat together, talk together, share your dreams, goals, and aspirations together. Like one another first and then learn to love one another.

2. Invest your life in your marriage partner. Become "One Flesh."

3. You become "One flesh" by sharing all the seasons of life together. Marriage includes love, careers, vacations, spirituality, sexuality, intellects, finances, having and raising babies, children, teens, and young adults. Marriage includes all the emotions of joy, sorrow, laughter, weeping, pain, excitement, sadness, happiness, anger, and exhilaration. Marriage includes running, walking, standing, sitting, and lying together, through the good times and the bad, on the mountains as well as in the valleys. Those sacred marriage vows you took, to love, honor, and cherish one another, through better or worse times, through richer or poorer times, in sickness and healthy times, till death separates you OUGHT to mean something!

4. Marriage means love, and true love in marriage means putting the needs of the other person ahead of your own. Is that tough sometimes? You bet! Is it worth the effort? ALWAYS! That's what marriage and being one flesh is all about.

5. Be supportive, encouraging, and uplifting of one another in marriage. Hug and kiss every day. Say those three magic words, "I love you" and truly mean them. Make married love as often as you can! (I didn't say "Have sex!" I said "Make married love!" If you don't know the difference, you need to read my series of four articles entitled "Intimate Relationships; 13 Ways to Improve Yours," which can be found in the Featured Article Section of K-9 Outfitters, a Division of Damascus Road Enterprises).

It is my prayer that your marriage will be like THE PARABLE OF TWO OAK TREES. (Genesis 2:23-24) "The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She will be named woman because she was taken from man.' That is why a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and they will become one flesh." WOW! That's marriage!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I thank You for marriage, and for marriage partners. Dear God, I thank You that we become one flesh in the marriage event, and that we can joyfully invest ourselves in one another in marriage; growing closer and stronger together throughout all the seasons of marriage and our lives. I also thank You for the spiritual marriage we have with Jesus Christ as believers. Jesus, I invite You to be Lord of my life and my marriage today, (as well as Lord of the lives and marriages of all who read this article) and to refresh and renew both, as only You can. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Danny Presswood, 2006 All rights Reserved.