The Giving Tree

        "The Giving Tree" has always been one of my favorite books of all time. It always had that meaning of friendship and caring for me. I have not read it in forever until I read it to my class before I left my last job. They all loved it! I thought about it in a different way this time.
       The way I thought about it this time was through the nature and outdoors aspect of everything and life that it really does give us.  When the little boy was little, he loved to play outside underneath the tree. He would have fun climbing it and sitting under it and even pretending it was something else. He would use his head and come up with things it could be.
         When the little boy grew up, he used the tree for the things he needed. The tree would let him because the tree loved him that much. The tree also missed him hanging out with him. It just shows us that nature can provide everything that we need. The older we get, the busier we get and forget about the outdoors. We forget how to have fun in the outdoors. It is always I need this from you or I need that from you but we don't spend time in it unless we need. We don't think about it unless we need to. 

         The book is just filled with a lot of lessons for life. The book is about every stage of life or that is what I think at least. It is about young life, middle aged life, and elderly life. It isn't just about friendship and caring. That tree gave him everything that he needed in middle life. The tree gave him money by giving apples to sell. The tree's truck was made into a boat for him to sail away in for some time. The branches were cut down to make heat for the boy. Then the leaves were for something but I forgot what. Even the tree's stump was used in a way. It was used when the boy came back as an elderly and just wanted to rest again after all life had given him. That put was like retirement for an elderly person. 

         I also noticed the two hearts that was drawn on the tree. First heart was really down low and the first one on the tree. It was about him and the tree that they were be friends forever. The second heart was drawn on there when the girlfriend went to sit under the tree with the boy. When the boy cut down the tree, he split the hearts and didn't care for the girlfriend's/wife's heart but that was maybe because she passed away. That is when he wanted to make a boat and get away from the world. The first heart with him and the tree on it was on the stump that he came back to and sat or to rest. That right there says something important to us. 

         That says that nature and even God, if you want to look at it that way, because nature is God's Great Creation will never leave us. It will alway be there in our good and bad times. We can use it for anything and yet it will still be there even if it is just a little piece of it. Nature is there for us to enjoy and take the time to slow down. It is a place where peace and grace can come from. It is a place that can be enjoyed without spending any money on it. It is a place that is for everyone and everything. It is free to the world. Now from my point of view is that the best gift that God can give us. Nature at the times that we need it for our lives. 

           We can play, use, and rest in it whenever we want to and as were grow older. The ways to use it is limitless from biking on trails to growing things on it to hunting it and more in between. A lot more! We need to get back in nature and save it for the future children. We need to get the children on today back out there instead of on the computers, iPads, and phones. Those things only limit their thinking when nature can grow it.