Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
4 22 2026
Returning to the Life That Matters…The Grove, Not the Tree Part 2 of 3.
There is a kind of strength that stands tall, produces much, and looks impressive from the outside…
but underneath, it is disconnected.
Let me share a personal story. Last week, my wife and I traveled to SEU to be part of my youngest daughter’s college graduation photo shoot. She had her hair and nails done, found the perfect white dress… not too short 😊… and stood there in her black and red graduation gown and cap while the photographer took 90 minutes of pictures—capturing moments meant to last a lifetime.
I looked on, so proud of Danae. So thankful for how far she had come and who she had become!
But then an intruder showed up… and began to question me.
Have I done enough? Has my life really been worth these 76 years of labor and effort?
What is my life truly a testament to?
And honestly… it rattled me.
But then I looked back at her…her shining smile, her beaming spirit. A week away from graduating… preparing to head to Alaska for her second mission trip of the year. And I thought… we raised our kids in the fear and admonition of the Lord… and there is the fruit. Real fruit. It’s everywhere.
God was certainly in this… and in the love that brought us to this moment.
But it also hit me… it wasn’t just me.
It took a family to cultivate that garden before me. A shared life. A church community. The right friends. Years of sowing, watering, correcting, loving. God was with us all the way.
One of the most striking pictures from ” From Strength to Strength” book is the aspen grove. What appears to be a forest of individual trees is actually one living organism, connected by a shared root system. Each tree draws life from the same source. Each one supports the others. No tree stands alone… even though it may look that way from a distance.
That’s not just nature…
That’s design…
That’s you and me.
And yet, many of us…especially men who have spent a lifetime striving…have lived more like isolated trees than part of a grove. We built. We worked. We provided. We pushed. And in doing so,
we slowly traded connections for productivity.
Not intentionally…
But gradually… like sheep eating their way into a different pasture…
Hours became years. Conversations became shorter. Presence became occasional.
And without realizing it, something sacred got pushed to the side.
Relationships.
Arthur C. Brooks says that one of the clearest signs of disordered priorities is when something not human begins to replace what is human. And I’m not talking about AI. For many, success… even good, honest, hard-earned success… quietly took that place.
But God’s Word has never wavered on this: “It is not good that man should be alone.” (Genesis 2:18)
Not weak men…
Not struggling men…
MAN.
Even at his strongest… he was never meant to stand alone…Man or Woman
Because strength without connection… eventually becomes emptiness.
I know you too, have felt that aloneness at times.
You can be surrounded by people and still be alone. You can be respected and still be unknown. You can be successful and still feel something missing you can’t quite name.
(I know you know what I mean.)
Solomon…who had more than most… said it plainly: “Two are better than one…
for if they fall, one will lift up his fellow.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9–10)
But lifting requires proximity.
It requires time.
And it requires intentionality.
Jesus didn’t build His life around tasks… He built it around people. How big a lesson is that… all by itself?
Yes, He ministered to crowds. Yes, He carried the weight of the world. But He walked closely with twelve. He poured deeply into a few. He withdrew often…not to accomplish more…but to be with the Father and remain aligned in love. And that, my dear friends… is not weakness.
That is wisdom.
And for many of us in this later season, there is a quiet call…and it isn’t to expand our reach… but to deepen our roots. I pray that, if you ever listened to me, you listen more deeply today. God talks to us in many different ways, but people cry that they never hear from him. But He is talking now!
He wants us to rekindle relationships that have cooled.
To speak words we assumed were understood but never actually said.
And say them again and again.
To show up in ways that are less impressive… but far more present.
Because at the end of your life, it will not be your résumé that sits around your bed.
It will be people… Or the absence of them.
And if that doesn’t give you pause…or even rattle your cage…I don’t know what will.
But here is the grace in this… It is not too late to build your grove.
Not too late to call.
Not too late to forgive.
Not too late to reconnect.
Not too late to invest…not for outcome… but for love, for peace, for meaning, and for connection and relationship.
Because love is not just part of life…
It is the point of it.
“By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.”
(John 13:35)
Questions
- Where have I allowed busyness, success, or independence to slowly replace meaningful relationships?
- Who is God prompting me to reconnect with, invest in, or truly show up for in this season?
Next is part III: Less of This World, More of Him—The Freedom of Letting Go III of III
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Just a note on May 5th, I will host a Discovering Jesus ONLINE 6-week course to dive deeper into our faith and empower you with true tenets of our faith to stand on. Tuesday nights, 7pm to 8:30. It is open to you, your spouse, your family, or your neighbors. Let me know if you have an interest, and I will send you a link and the necessary materials. It is FREE of charge.
We’d love to hear how the Fearlessly Courageous ministry has touched your life or the life of someone close to you. Please take a moment to share your story with us at Dennis@fearlesslycourageous.com …whether it’s a moment of clarity, comfort, or unexpected blessing you’ve experienced through this ministry. Your testimony could inspire others and help me understand the impact we’re making in our Courageous community.
You Never gave up on me. Bates
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