Happy Fall, y’all! From the title of our HeART of Womanhood “Portraits” Bible Studies, you can tell that this girl has a heart for art. As a result, the colorful masterpieces God paints for us with His fall foliage in Kentucky—make this my favorite season of the year. And as a gal whose family lived in several states where the only signs of autumn were brown pine needles, I count my daily blessings with each glimpse of God’s big “colored leaf show!”

What about you? What is your favorite tree in fall? Are you a “maple mom”, “tulip poplar teen” or an “aspen aunt”? What are your favorite colors of leaves? In Kentucky, the warm side of the color wheel is in full force with every shade of yellow, orange, red, brown, and green showing off in divine combinations.

As for me, well, I am a yellow gal! Always have been. My mom says that “ello” (yellow) was one of my first words. And my favorite trees? The GINKGO trees. Why? They remind me of us—we are God’s Ginkgo Girls.

Like Ginkgo trees, as God’s girls, we are His favorite, wonderfully unique, divinely designed.

First, Ginkgos have green foliage that turns bright yellow in fall. (My favorite color) They are wonderfully unique with fan-shaped leaves and “parallel venation.” (Yep. Their veins are parallel and great for school leaf collections for your kiddos!) The uniqueness of Ginkgo trees reminds me of how God made us—we are each His favorite and created wonderfully unique!

In addition to this, once the Ginkgo leaves all turn yellow, something amazing happens. Each tree loses all its leaves in about 24-48 hours. I call it “Ginkgo Day.” When I see our ginkgo tree losing its leaves, I take our golden doodle for a neighborhood walk because usually all the other Ginkgos seem to drop their leaves within the same few days of each other. Wow! Like Ginkgos, God has divinely designed us for His glorious work and orchestrated teamwork.

Most importantly, I love Ginkgo trees because they are known as the MOST RESILIENT TREES on earth.

Like Ginkgo trees, as God’s girls, we are RESILIENT.

Resilient means to: “effectively withstand, adapt, and recover quickly from adversity and difficult circumstances; recovering and even growing from challenging experiences rather than being overwhelmed by them. The ability to “bounce back!”

You see, Ginkgos originated in Asia. Throughout Asian history when their countries faced catastrophic earthquakes that demolished everything, guess what survived? Ginkgo trees. When wildfires swept through massive land areas, guess what trees survived? Ginkgo trees. Then the hardest test of all came when the first Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan which ended World War 2. For literally hundreds and hundreds of miles everything was destroyed. People, homes, cars, crops, plants, animals—everything was left black and charred beyond recognition. Nothing survived—-except one thing!

The atomic bomb surprise attack on Hiroshima happened in August. Months later (in early spring) when the radiation levels were safe enough to send people dressed in hazmat suits to search the area, all they saw was complete devastation…until they discovered a miracle. You guessed it—they saw small green buds emerging from the Ginkgo trees! New life and hope emerged through these resilient trees. Over 200 ginkgo trees are known as the sole survivors from the atomic bomb.

In Jeremiah 17:7-8, God plants His truth that He created us to be His Gingko Girls. “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like TREES planted along the riverbank, with roots that reach down deep into the water and soil. Such TREES are not scorched by the heat or not worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”

Like Ginkgo Trees, as God’s Girls, we are designed to TRIUMPH in trials, troubles, and tragedies as we TRUST Him.

In verse 8 of Jeremiah 17 says, God’s “trees are not scorched by heat or worried by long months of drought.”

So how about you? What heat wave of “hard” are you enduring? What is exploding around you? What unexpected attacks are threatening the peace of your heart or home? What situations seem like they are going to uproot you or someone you love in this season? Many times it can be the battles our children face that singe a momma’s heart most, right?

Our three daughters love Jesus passionately—so eternally we are golden. But to be honest, we have faced our share of hard. From the daily “irritations” living in an imperfect world with imperfect people to the surprising “devastations” that seem to change the landscape of our lives—we understand both. In this current season we are prayerfully seeking God’s next best steps for each unique daughter, waiting for God to answer long-asked prayers, comforting the broken heart of a daughter following a failed relationship/marriage, and navigating repeated medical devastations that have “attacked” our youngest girl.

As a strong D1 athlete (rower) Tress was injured in practice while training on the Ohio River. The result was twelve back surgeries riddled with complications during her last two years of college. There were days when the doctors didn’t know if she would “make it,” or walk, or work…but guess what? Tress is God’s Ginkgo Girl. She ended up graduating on time! She taught kindergarten for 3 years at an inner-city school and now God has her working in a safe house for women leaving human trafficking. God made her resilient through “hard” so she can encourage others to trust Him and do the same!

Jeremiah 17:7 tells us clearly that our part is “trust.” The key is who or what we choose to place our trust in! Verse 7 clearly states twice the only ONE worthy of our complete trust is THE LORD. (There were some moments when I wondered if we needed to change our youngest daughter’s name from Tress to TRUST. She learned to trust God. We all learned that Jesus alone is Trustworthy!) Like Tress—we are all created and empowered to TRUST the Lord and TRIUMPH as God’s Ginkgo Girls!

Why were Ginkgo trees able to triumph? To survive? To comeback? To bounce back? How can we as God’s Ginkgo Girls?

Like Ginkgo trees, as God’s Girls, we must have DEEP ROOTS.

Jeremiah17:8 says, God’s “trees have roots that reach deep into the water and soil.”

Ginkgo trees have extremely deep roots. Yes ma’am, we too must be rooted in God’s Word!

Psalm 1 plants this same truth—“Blessed is the one…whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on it day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”

God’s Ginkgo Girls stay rooted in God’s Word—day and night. Whether it’s sunshine easy days—or long dark nights, deep roots are the key to resilience.

God’s Ginkgo Girls must be ROOTED TOGETHER.

Next, God’s Ginkgo Girls must be rooted together—

Psalm 92 plants this truth in our hearts: “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree…planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming The Lord is upright; he is my Rock…”

Did you notice that we are to stay planted in house of God and in the courts of the Lord? We need each other. We need the church, weekly worship, and inter-generational Bible Studies like the Heart of Womanhood series. We need “heart groups!”

Two summers ago, my hubby expressed a surprising bucket list item to me–to see Sequoia National Forest in California. So, we planned our family vacation with that destination in mind. Known as the tallest and largest trees on earth, our trip did not disappoint! While there, we learned an inspiring fact. Unlike Ginkgo trees that have deep roots, Sequoias have very shallow roots. How can these trees grow to be giants? They intertwine their roots with the roots of all the trees around them. That’s what keeps them strong and growing—and protected. That’s the same with God’s Ginkgo Girls! We need to find our Sequoia sisters and become rooted together in Christ.

Like Ginkgo Trees, as God’s Girls, we have a PROTECTED LIFELINE.

The lifeline (endosperm) of Ginkgos is protected, hidden, buried deep within the tree—by a thick-skinned trunk. Likewise, our lifeline must be hidden in the most resilient tree of all time if we too are going to be resilient in this life! I do love Ginkgo trees—-but by far the tree I love most is the tree upon which Jesus died for you and me!

Similar to the day the atomic bomb destroyed everything in Japan, on Good Friday when Jesus died on the tree, the hopes of all Christ’s followers were utterly destroyed. Their lives lost. But three days later they experienced the miracle of all miracles—our RESILIENT Savior came back to life! Overcoming far more than the atomic bomb, Jesus “bounced back” conquering all the powers of sin, death, and hell so He can offer us His resurrection power both for this life and the life to come!

  • The tree Jesus died upon for us was cut down so that now we can stay forever planted and rooted in Him.
  • He was buried so that now our lifeline can stay hidden, buried, and protected deep in Him.

Yes. Far more amazing than resurrected ginkgo trees is the cross and our resurrected Savior—Jesus! He rose from the dead so that now we can live confidently with His resurrected perspective and resurrected power as our lifeline, our roots.

The result? Like Ginkgos, God’s Word promises we too will be fruitful, flourishing, and fresh. We will be those who survive and thrive when everything around us seems hopeless.

Like Ginkgo Trees, as God’s Girls, we will yield MUCH FRUIT.

Jeremiah 17: 8 finally states that as His Ginkgo girls, our “leaves stay green, and never stop producing fruit.”

Psalm 92 expounds, “they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming The Lord is upright; he is my Rock…”

People who visit Hiroshima Japan want to see the Ginkgo trees! When people see our resilient lives, they’ll want to live rooted, resilient, and resurrected too. They will be amazed when they see Ginkgo girls and give all glory to God.

In Japan, arborists have taken saplings and seeds from the many surviving Ginkgo trees and planted them to make thousands more! Like those who are reading this blog, God is cultivating a large grove of Ginkgo girls. And only He knows how many new trees He will plant through us as we stay rooted in Him.

Grow for it, Ginkgo Girls!

Kim Wigginton and the Heart of Womanhood Ministry Team

Growing up there was plaque on our windowsill above our kitchen sink with my mom’s favorite quote on it. “Bloom where You are Planted” was a daily reminder that God plants us, but we will be resilient, fruitful, and glorious as we stay rooted in Him as His Ginkgo Girls! If you and your daughter(s) want to form a “heart group” to grow your roots deeper together in God’s Word, check out the Heart of Womanhood Resources @ https://heartofwomanhood.org/about/