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　　When I was growing up, I had an old neighbour named Dr．Gibbs．He didn’t look like other doctors I had ever known．He never 　　1　　 at us for playing in his yard．I remember him as someone nice and 　　2　　．When Dr．Gibbs wasn’t saving 　　3　　, he was planting trees．His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s 　　4　　 was to make it a forest．

　　But he 　　5　　 watered his new trees．Once I asked why．He said that watering plants would 　　6　　 them, and that 　　7　　 you water them, each successive(后继的)　　8　　 of trees will grow weaker and weaker．So you have to make things 　　9　　 for them．

　　He’d planted an oak, and instead of watering it every morning, he’d 　　10　　 it with a rolled-up newspaper．I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to cause the tree’s 　　11　　．Dr．Gibbs passed away a couple of years ago．　　12　　, I walk by his house and look at the trees that I watched him plant some 25 years ago．They are big and 　　13　　 now．Sufferings seemed to 　　14　　 them in ways ease and 　　15　　 never could．

　　Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons．I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within．I often pray for them．Mostly I pray that their lives will be 　　16　　．But lately I've been thinking that it's time to 　　17　　 my prayer, because life is 　　18　　, whether we want it to be or not．Too many times we pray for ease, but that's what we seldom 　　19　　．What we need to do is to pray for roots that reach deep into the earthe, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won't be 　　20　　．