The first time I read the The Giving Tree was to my oldest son Timothy when he was just a toddler. Even at that young age, the story touched his heart in a simple yet deep way, and he adopted a large tree in our backyard as his own "Giving Tree." And his Giving Tree gave him comfort when we buried his first dog in view of it. "Once there was a tree, and she loved a little boy...."

Each of us has at least one Giving Tree that loves us dearly: a father or a mother; an employer or a spouse, a teacher or a child - God - or perhaps we are a Giving Tree for someone who needs us. Read this book now, and in every season of your life, and reflect on whether you are giving back as much as you have received.