Johnhwilburn.com

A few months ago my landlord told me when I came by to give him my rent, “by the way, I am cutting down the mango tree.”

I was calm about the situation….

but others were upset because they relied on that mango tree!

In Saint Vincent when you can’t find work its very hard to get things to eat. On days like that you normally “eat off the land” so to speak by eating mangos or breadfruit. I’ve personally supplied many meals for the hungry with mangoes from my tree.

I could understand their frustration because finding food is difficult sometimes, but the landlord who owns the tree obviously has the right to cut it down.

But I was still sad on Thursday when workers came to remove the brush, leaving me with just a stump.

Yet my heart was also filled with hope knowing God could bring something better.

At times the Lord removes something that is precious to us. When this happens it’s easy to become bitter and question whether or not He actually cares about our lives. Yet when that precious thing is removed, the Lord will replace it with something better.

Standing in my backyard staring at a stump where the massive mango tree used to be, the Lord challenged me to create a community garden.

The truth is, I had attempted to plant a garden in late 2022, but it didn’t work out. One of the problems was the vegetables couldn’t get enough sunlight to grow.

Anybody want to guess what was blocking the sun?

Thats right….

My mango tree!!

Thursday I definitely saw how the loss of my tree made better conditions for a small garden, that would hopefully become self-sustaining. And over time vegetables from that garden could feed the hungry, and its seeds can help plant new ones.

I still miss my mango tree this evening.

but I am thankful that God removed it so that my garden can grow.