kyle pierpont

My brother-in-law is a semi-professional Arborist; he is not a Logger. There is a difference. A logger has less care for arboriculture with the main goal of cutting trees down. An arborist has more knowledge about trees. They know and use the trees names. They care about tree management. They often incorporate the use of climbing gear to ascend a tree to properly and safely fell a tree if need be.

I believe trees beg to be climbed. There is something about them that calls out to any young man and challenges them to find his way up into its canopy. Each tree is an adventure that beckons at a mans heart. As a boy it’s acceptable to call it ‘tree climbing‘ but as a man we come up with different names for the same thing. We call ourselves Arborists, or we make it a sport. We call it activism, or we join our sons climbing exploits in the backyard and we blame it on them, but I believe in the makeup of a man God created a love for climbing trees.

Yesterday, my brother-in-law, the semi-professional arborist, came to my house to help bring down a massive White Pine we have in our back yard. It is all of 75 feet tall. It is one of 13 pines we have on our small piece of suburban property, seven of which are just as big. Because of the power lines that run alongside of this pine tree our local power company has mutilated one side. So, it needed to come down.

Something I love about my brother-in-law is that he wants to include others in what he is does. He asked me if I wanted to help him with the project. I did. He gave me a crash course on tree climbing (the arborist way) and gave me a saw. I was soon climbing the massive White Pine in my back yard “limbing” it on the way up. My adrenaline was pumping as frozen limbs the size of a sub-compact car cracked off and crashed to the ground. I cut as far as I needed to go and realized I was three quarters of the way up the tree. I paused. The winds were very high, the tree was groaning and creaking. I put my ear up against the tree and listened. It was swaying back and forth, and I was strapped to it. At that moment I had a taste of the power of God. I think the Lord allowed me to go to the top of that White Pine for that moment, to feel His awesome power! I felt very small and insignificant at the top of my White Pine in my back yard. That feeling was good for me. It made me realize that I need more moments like that in my life.

We should all regularly have moments when we behold the Power of God.