The Old Walnut Tree

During my first trip to the Finding Hope children’s home in Romania, I carried handmade wooden keepsake boxes filled with small toys, candy, and school supplies. The boxes were made from black walnut lumber that I salvaged from an old barn that was going to be torn down. I shared a story with the children when I gave them the boxes.

Long before any of us in this room, there was a small walnut that was buried in the ground by an old squirrel. And there the walnut was forgotten. The walnut eventually sprouted and over the next decades grew into a large walnut tree. The tree stood for decades and maybe even centuries. The tree was a home for many creatures like squirrels, birds, and insects. It sheltered many creatures in its limbs and under its branches. In its time the tree provided a food source for even more animals. Deer, squirrels and also bears fed on the walnuts.