I wrote these words in August of 2010:
We’ve read that a white oak tree spends two hundred years growing, two hundred living, and two hundred dying. Branch by branch, ours is dying.
Over the years I have recorded my children sitting in front of this mighty white oak tree many times. While my children are young and constantly growing, our Big Ol’ Oak saw it’s youth hundreds of years ago, long before we were born. So now, as we thrive, it declines. It seems that each time we visit, another branch has fallen to the forest floor. Nevertheless, the Big Ol’ Oak it will always be; champion tree in our neck of the woods.
I’m not sure that I can remember even the year that marked the first time Seth and Keats came racing in the house shouting that they had discovered an enormous tree in the forest behind our house. I know they begged me to hike to it with them, but I am not sure if I went that day, the following week, or even the next month. I am not sure how much time passed before I sat the boys down for a picture with “their” tree.
And though we’ve spoken of this ancient white oak tree as if it were ours for many years, it has officially belonged to three others during the time we have lived in our house. The acreage it lives on has passed from landowner, to developer, and finally a couple years ago, to a builder. We live in an expensive part of the country, and we never could afford to buy the land ourselves. Early this year, Jonny sent the builder an email, asking what his plans were for the lot on which our tree resides. He informed us that he would be building a house there this year. Though our tree wasn’t directly threatened, our dreams of ever truly calling it ours would end. It may sound silly, but I cried. Jonny wrote and asked the builder if he might consider selling the lot to us instead, and he agreed to meet us on the land to discuss the possibility.
Last week, after all those years of hoping and waiting, and one mama’s pleas to a builder, not to build a house on the four acre lot next to us, but instead to sell it to us at no profit to himself, the papers were signed and the Big Ol’ Oak is officially ours.
We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, including four acres of forest, and one dear old white oak tree.
(early spring 2007)
(summer 2010)
Congratulations!!
Oh my that is so very wonderful! Love the post and the last pic was so great.
I love you guys, I really do. So much inspiration in one tree
What a gorgeous tree! God is so good!
Thank God! I am just SO so happy for you all! I had to read your post twice! Congratulations. We all know you will love that land well. Can’t wait to hear more! Happy Thanksgiving from Northern California.
That’s awesome! Congratulations! How our Father blesses us <3
one of the most touching posts of yours that I’ve read… congratulations!
Congratulations on your new piece of land! Are you holding a naming ceremony? We left behind a not so old tulip tree in our backyard in TN we named Christina Rossetti, and I cried when I left her, so you’re in good company with tears and trees. We took picks of me as a tree hugger the morning of our departure. I’m so happy to hear you’ve been able to claim your Oak for your own.
Your story is so beautiful, I could almost cry. That your family would honor time and history and an incredible tree in this way. That the builder would see how much you loved this tree and give up a chance to make a profit because of that. What a gift to your children–four more acres and a stunning tree!
Oh you made me cry. I love that story and I wish you all the best of luck with your new piece of land!
Wow, I just can’t believe you were able to buy it – both that he would sell it and that you had the money! What a blessing when things like that come together. How special for your family.
So very happy for you and your family.
Congratulations on your family becoming the Guardians of the Great White Oak!!! Hooray! So awesome and so epic! Sounds like an idea for a children’s book,an adventure/fantasy epic tale,with the ancient white oak as the central theme/main character.the photos of your brood beneath the tree already echo a band of eleven adventurers,perhaps? That sounds like a future family project in the works,doesn’t it? Enjoy your beautiful land and tree for generations to come…
I’m so happy that you made this for your family! Do you have plans for the land?
That is some good news!! So happy for you!
Wow! I am impressed by the builder and your family’s tenacity! Congratulations.
Ginny, how absolutely wonderful!! I’m sure it was such a struggle, between wanting a larger house and budget concerns and everything else. So glad your patience has paid off. Isn’t the goodness of God and people (builder) sometimes astounding?
Ginny, your story has me crying happy tears this morning. What a beautiful Thanksgiving gift. God bless the kind developer that listened to his heart and sold your family that precious tree and land.
What a wonderful story, and you are so awesome for making it happen!! : )
precious, wonderful, and happy Thanksgiving! (and God bless that builder)
So happy for you!
This is what Thanksgiving is all about. That beautiful tree that has seen so much history in its time will finish it’s life seeing the history of your family. It will live on in the hearts of your children. What a precious ending for such a wondrous old oak.
How absolutely wonderful! How can it be? God’s blessings for sure! Congratulations and many dear and happy memories be spent roaming that land!
Congratulations! A nice gift for you all! Hope you enjoy it for many more years to come!
This never happens!! You are a very fortunate family and I’m very happy for you.
Oh, Ginny!!! Congratulations! So over-the-moon happy for you! 🙂
So happy for your family (and the tree)!
So incredible. Congratulations!
That tree could not have hoped for a better advocate and friend. This makes me smile. Thank you for sharing!
This just made my day. Thank you for loving that beautiful tree
Jennifer
Hooray! What a most wonderful, awesome purchase! I am so happy for you all!
Beautiful. Just beautiful. How moving and blessed we all are. -J
Beautiful story! Congratulations!
I have not been able to get this story out of my head (or heart) all day long. It is the nicest and happiest thing I have heard in a long, long time.
You and your family are truly blessed. Blessed. 🙂
Wow! What a great story and faith in humanity. Thanks for sharing and a toast to many years of family play time in the forest.
That is awesome! I am so happy that that old tree is saved for your family to enjoy. It is so nice that the person agreed to your offer.
Oh! What an awesome treasure!!!
Ginny, I’m in tears. What an amazing story, and what a beautiful world it is.
what a lovely story, and a magnificent gift.
i love (and hate) the book The Giving Tree because i find the ending so sad; this is the opposite. a beloved old tree gets to spend its golden days with a family that adores it, and children to climb it and find safety and shelter in its shade and boughs.
: )
Aww! Dear old oaky is now your 8th child. So happy for you whole family.
How wonderful!!! Maybe you can build your special family home on your own property?? Where the tree is in view outside your kitchen window? 🙂
Oh that’s such wonderful news!! Ginny you create such beauty in the world with your prayers- in this case you preserved beauty! Congrats you the family for your land stewardship!
As I always tell my children, if you don’t A-S-K you don’t G-E-T. It’s a very biblical notion; even Christ said “you have not because you ask not.” There are times for being bold, and there are times for earnest supplication. You landed on both! What a great example for your kids.
Fortune favors the bold! … “fortes, inquit, fortuna juvat”
I totally agree! I always tell my husband that it doesn’t cost you anything to just ask.
How wonderful! Here’s to many more memories to record and share in the future.
Wonderful news! Every good and perfect thing! 🙂 So happy for you and your family. Isn’t it wonderful how the Lord blesses us with the big and the little.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Wow! So awesome! Money well spent:)
congratulations!!!
I cannot believe this post. imagine if you had never asked. Dreams really do come true. God is so good. He so always gives us what we need, but He also delights in giving us what we want. Praises Praises to the Almighty. He truly is Christ the King.
Amen to that!