Always remember your roots. Where your roots are grounded defines you as an individual, and your roots can intertwine with someone else's and impact his or her life. Before you know it, we are looking at each person as a different tree, in America, that is bringing a different culture and set of values to specific orchards across the nation and world. However, within each of our communities, every orchard looks different. Every person in America and around the world offers something new to the place in which they are grounded, and with that being said, beauty can be found in some aspect of every "tree." When I think of my roots, they are grounded in my faith in the Lord and all things Southern.
My mom wrote in my senior yearbook, after hearing a sermon in church that stuck with us, and she gave me a bracelet in remembrance of the words she wrote in my yearbook:
"'Plant your roots deep.' As the roots of a great oak tree need to be deep and strong to weather the storm, so much of your roots are planted deep in the strength of the Lord. With deep roots will come strong branches to withstand bad weather and bare fruit. The Great Oak Tree will live long and many of God's creatures will find comfort in the branches and rest in the shade. You are that oak! Grow with the grace of God and you will be a blessing to all you know and touch."
I think back on it now and realize, through different storms that come my direction, the only way I have been successful is through my faith in the Lord, by the Lord's Grace, and by the Lord's love for me. I plant my roots deep for my faith in the Lord because it is most important for me to stand up for what I believe in through his Word and the morals he has instilled within me.
At the end of the day, it's not about making the grades, how popular I am with others or how much money I am going to make when I graduate from school. It is about fulfilling the purpose the Lord has laid out for my life and being the person he intended me to be with the attitude on life he intends me to have.
When I say my roots are grounded in all things Southern, it is the lifestyle every southern woman is expected to have. It is spending time with family and friends. It is from occasionally going to watch rodeos and pulling out the boots (no, I don't l wear them daily) to southern cooked food. It is the blue jeans that I can't go without, and I actually consider to be dressy, as long as my shirt is the main article of clothing that is legitimately dressy. It is a t-shirt labeled Southern Fried Cotton or Simply Southern (as though I need to be branded southern.) It is the strong Georgian accent whenever I am angry, and the slight accent when everything is normal. It is sweet tea, when I am not trying a diet. It is sitting on my back porch and watching the sunset above the woods surrounding my house. It is tubing on the lake. It is my stepdad teaching me to shoot. It is like when my mom taught me to do laundry when I was in 6th grade. It is my mom teaching me to cook in the kitchen presently. This is what I mean by all things southern.
Everyone's roots are grounded in a different foundation, and everyone's results may be different. Stand firm in who you are and what you believe in, though it may not be the same as what other people believe. Stand firm through every storm you encounter, because there are minor and massive storms in this thing called life. Stand firm in where you come from, and embrace where you have been and where you will go. Remember your roots, because at the end of the day, that distinguishes you from others. Remembering your roots makes you more open to recognizing who you are and what you'd like to be.
