The Apple Tree

Mikal loved Uncle Gene’s old apple tree. It was tall and strong, with a perfect lookout spot high up in the leafy branches. Here Mikal could hide away from his troubles and forget about being a foster kid. The birds and ants were his friends and the great tree gave him shade and comfort.

Uncle Gene was always friendly and let Mikal come to the orchard whenever he wanted. The old man would often come out to check on his baby apple trees. Then Mikal would scramble down to help him—and ask questions. Uncle Gene didn’t seem to mind.

“Why are you making a fence? What are you doing to their trunks?”

Uncle Gene showed him where the deer had nibbled the branches and rabbits had chewed on the bark. “These little things need protection so that they will grow and have fruit,” he said. “I’m wrapping their trunks until their bark gets thick enough.”

“When will they have apples?” Mikal wanted to know. “The big tree has lots way up in the branches. Can I pick them?”

“Wait until they turn rosy gold, then you can take some home for apple pie,” Uncle Gene said. “That old tree has the best fruit for cider, too. Come fall, I’ll show you how to make it.”

And he did, when the days grew colder and the highest apples fell. But the little trees didn’t have any fruit at all. “It was the dry summer,” Uncle Gene said. “They don’t have deep enough roots or leafy enough branches, and now the cold winds are here.” He shook his head and sighed. “I’ve been trying for ten years to get these little ones to grow, but they are having a hard time.”

Mikal felt sorry for them. He knew what it was like to be little and have a hard time. It was hard to never belong anywhere and wonder what would happen next. That’s what it was like to be a foster kid. He watched Uncle Gene clip off the tallest branches with his pruners. Uncle Gene said it would make them stronger, but it made the little trees look even smaller.

Mikal looked up at the big apple tree. Even though the leaves had all fallen and cold winds blew, it still stood tall and strong. He put his arms around a thick branch and swung his legs up. “I wish we could have more apple trees like this one,” Mikal said, climbing up to his favorite branch.

“More apples, too,” Uncle Gene agreed. “And I’ve been thinking of a way that we can. Wouldn’t you like to pick all kinds of apples on one tree?”

“How?” asked Mikal. “On this tree?”

“Yes,” said Uncle Gene. “This tree would be the perfect one. It is strong and well-rooted, but it doesn’t have much fruit on the lower branches. So I am going to try grafting some of the baby trees into it. If they grow, then this old tree will be full of fruit!”

“What do you mean?” asked Mikal. “How can you grow baby trees in a big tree?”

“Come tomorrow and I’ll show you,” said Uncle Gene, putting away his pruners. “I have to get some grafting supplies ready first.”

“Tomorrow I have adoption class after school,” Mikal remembered suddenly, sliding down the trunk.

“Adoption class?” Uncle Gene said. “That’s sounds new and exciting. Maybe a bit scary, too.” He smiled at Mikal. “Come after class and tell me about it.”

Uncle Gene was waiting for him when Mikal ran up the lane the next day. A tray of carefully cut sticks lay on the ground and Uncle Gene had a saw in his hand. “What are you going to cut?” Mikal wanted to know.

“A new home for our little trees,” said Uncle Gene. “You see, grafting is like adoption. These little sticks are like children that are going to be adopted. We are going to choose a good home for them on this tree so that they can grow and have fruit. How did your adoption class go?”

Mikal shrugged. “They said we have to get ready for a new family,” he said. “But I don’t want a new family.”

“I didn’t either,” Uncle Gene agreed. “Not until I learned to love them, that is. Then I thought adoption was the best thing ever.”

“Were you adopted?” Mikal asked in surprise.

“Yes, but not by a human family,” Uncle Gene said. “I’ll tell you more about it after we get started.”

Mikal followed him around the big apple tree until they came to a low branch. “We’ll make our first home here,” he said, rubbing the bark with the saw. “That should give you enough stepping room for climbing.”

“But I don’t want to cut off any branches,” Mikal protested, as Uncle Gene started to saw.

“That’s the only way we can have more fruit,” Uncle Gene said with a smile. “If we don’t cut it, the sap of the tree can’t flow out.”

“Why do we need the sap?” Mikal asked.

“Because that is the life of the tree,” Uncle Gene explained. “It is like the love flowing in our hearts. If we just love ourselves, we don’t have room for others. But God showed His love toward us by sacrificing his only Son, just like we are sacrificing this branch.” Uncle Gene showed Mikal how to hold up the branch while he finished the cut.

“What do we do now?” Mikal asked, looking at the bare circle of wood.

“Make cuts, like this,” Uncle Gene said, cutting an x across the circle. “These clefts are the home where the new branches will grow. That is what an adoption family does. They open up their hearts and homes for a new child, ready to love them even if it hurts. And that is what God did for me so that I could be adopted into His family.”

“I didn’t know God adopted people,” Mikal said. “Were you a boy, like me?”

“No, I was a man—lonely and selfish. I wish I was adopted when I was little, but instead I just tried to live my own life, like one of those poor little trees that never grew.” Uncle Gene picked up one of the little sticks in the tray. “But God had better things in mind for me, just like we have plans for these apple sticks.”

He showed Mikal a grafting chart. “See how these little sticks need to be cut?” he said. “That is so they can fit into their home in the big tree branch. If they don’t get trimmed on each side, they won’t bond with the big tree and grow together.”

He showed Mikal how to scrape the sides of each stick with a knife to peel off the bark and make a wedge shape. “Doesn’t it hurt it to take off the bark?” Mikal asked.

“No, because we are going to squeeze it so tight into the big tree that it won’t miss its own bark at all. That’s how it was with me. When God talked to me about being part of His family, at first I didn’t want anything to do with it. I wanted my own roots and my own branches. But I was really miserable. Troubles kept chewing on me like little rabbits—I thought no one liked me and then I lost my job.”

“What happened then?” Mikal asked.

“One day I heard about the love of Jesus and suddenly I felt something deep inside. It was like God was opening up my heart and showing me that I needed Him—I couldn’t be happy by myself. Just like these little sticks can’t live without the tree.”

Mikal looked at the little stick in his hand. “Is this one ready?” he asked. “Can I put it in the crack?”

Uncle Gene looked at the scraped stick carefully. “Let’s give it a try,” he said. “Watch that the inner bark lines up, because that’s where the sap flows.”

Mikal wedged his little stick in the crack with Uncle Gene’s help. “This will be the ‘Mikal branch’ on the old apple tree,” Uncle Gene said. “How’d you like that?”

Mikal smiled. “Will it grow big and have fruit?”

“That depends,” Uncle Gene said. “Our part is to cover him up so no air can get in. His job is to let the tree sap flow into him and so they can grow together.” Uncle Gene opened up a can of black goop and showed Mikal how to paint it over the branch and stick.

“Now what do you think, Mikal?” Uncle Gene asked as they admired their work, “Is it the big tree’s job to give life to the branch, or the branch to give life to the big tree?”

“The big tree’s job,” Mikal answered, giving the big trunk a friendly pat. “He’s big enough for hundreds of branches! Can’t we grow more?”

“Yes, indeed,” Uncle Gene said with a chuckle. “You can help me again tomorrow.

“There is life enough for all that will receive Him,” he added. Mikal noticed that he wasn’t looking at the old apple tree, but far off over the gray hills to where the sun was setting. “ ‘I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly,’* (John 10:10)” the old man whispered. “That’s what Jesus said, and it is true. When His life flows in you, then you will know what it means to truly live.”

He placed his hand on Mikal’s shoulder and smiled. “Adoption is a scary and wonderful thing, my friend. It hurts to love, but it is worth it. Someday we want to come back and see this Mikal branch full of leaves and fruit, don’t we?”

Mikal nodded. He touched the little stick and looked up at the big old tree. Would it really become a new branch on the apple tree? Mikal hoped so.

It was getting dark and Uncle Gene picked up his tools. As Mikal headed for the lane, the old man called after him, “Open your heart to God’s love, my boy, and you will grow to be a strong and fruitful man. It is wonderful to be part of His family.”