The Abiding Tree
For the one who has carried much.
A modern parable of endurance, renewal, and rest. An encouraging story for anyone who has spent their strength on others.
A gift for someone running on empty.
For the giver who has lost the ability to feel their own impact.
The Abiding Tree is a modern parable of endurance, renewal, and rest. An encouraging story for anyone who has spent their strength on others, and a reminder that life can still hold abundance for them.
The story is for anyone who has ever felt depleted, unseen, or worn thin. Through gentle storytelling, scripture, and luminous illustrations, it shows that true fruitfulness is not in striving, but in abiding.
It is a small book that carries a large truth.
A story told in watercolor
Forty-six pages, each paired with a line of scripture — click any page to read it
Psalm 1:3
The planting
Once there was a tree, planted in a green meadow full of promise.
2 Corinthians 4:8–9
The hardship
Loss came, and scarcity. Still the tree endured—and still it gave freely.
Luke 6:43–44
The good tree
“You are a good tree,” He said. “You bear good fruit, and you’ve always given all you’ve had.”
Ezekiel 36:26
The invitation
“Do not try. Or strive. Simply abide in Me, for I have come to bring you rest.”
Isaiah 44:3–4
The blessing
Then He placed His hand again on the bark, and blessed the tree.
John 15:4–5
The abiding
The tree remembered His words—and new life began to flow. Not from striving, but from abiding.
Romans 2:29
The restoration
“You gave when it cost you everything. Now you give from fullness. That is not small. That is glory.”
…and for the first time, the tree understood.
John 15:4
“Abide in me, and I in you.”
At its center, The Abiding Tree is a Christ-centered parable: the story of learning that rest and renewal come not from doing more, but from remaining in the One who restores.
A note from the author
I wrote this book for the people who hold everyone else together. The caregiver looking after parents and children at once. The provider who gives until empty and rarely lets anyone give back. The friend who always shows up, and is quietly running dry.
If someone came to mind just now, this book is for them. Give it with a note. Leave it on a nightstand. It says what can be hard to say out loud: you have carried much, and you can be restored.
— Michael Weissman
About the author
Michael Weissman is a writer, filmmaker, composer, and storyteller. He is the co-author of The Paradox of Excellence, a business parable published by Jossey-Bass, a Wiley imprint, and translated into seven languages.
His work—books, documentary film, music, and visual storytelling—bears witness to lives well spent. He is drawn to the people who shape the world most profoundly and are often the least fully seen, and to stories that help them feel seen, strengthened, and less alone. Michael has led men’s Bible studies for more than twenty-five years.
Give the gift of restoration
A keepsake edition for someone who has spent their strength on others.
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