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Hello, my cultivate friend. It is good to be back with you. And I just want to tell you, I'm having a good day. I'm happy today. It is springtime. I'm sitting here at the table. I always podcast from right in my house. And I'm looking out, and it's just so beautiful. And yesterday, I had this

really spring-like experience because I had four very large holly trees planted in my yard. I

just wanted to warm up my outdoor porch and kind of just create some warmth there. And I love the evergreen tree

because it is evergreen. I know you can't believe that. Spoiler alert. But I love that.

I love that the green is just there year-round, even when everything in wintertime seems

so barren and brown. So love those evergreen trees. And it was, it was

interesting because I got really, really big ones. And I, because I'm a Bible teacher and this is

really nerdy, my, like one of my first thoughts was out of Deuteronomy 6 where the Lord's like,

when you get into the promised land, you are going to enjoy houses you did not

build, wells you did not dig. You are going to enjoy vineyards and trees that you did not plant.

And again, I know it's a little weird that that was one of my first thoughts, but it was because

I'm thinking I am going to get to enjoy these incredible trees that I did not plant

and cultivate because they are big. I mean, they're like 15 or 16 feet tall. Now, I did have to

pay for these trees, unlike the people who went into the promised land. But I'm super excited about

them. And just as a little maybe sidebar as we open into our text

today in Matthew chapter 8, just to be thankful for the things that you did not have to labor

for, just those gifts that somebody else cultivated, somebody else labored for, and they passed that

on to you. Maybe it was gifts from your parents or from a boss or a neighbor or a coworker. It could

be as simple as someone making you a meal that you did not have to slave over the stove for. So just, does this have anything to do with

the Cultivate podcast today? No, it does not. But this is a free, hey, let's be thankful. Let's

think about ways that we can be full of gratitude. And maybe there was something that comes to your

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