Pruning

One of my favorite things about our new house are the rose bushes in the front yard. I do not have a green thumb at ALL so finding these this spring was a true delight.



A friend stopped by recently and told me that these roses will bloom all summer long if the dead flowers are regularly pruned so that new growth can occur.



While the girls rode their bikes for a bit before lunch, I found an old pair of shears (and the girls helped me some with our kitchen scissors) and went to work trimming the dead parts. It didn't take long before I had filled an entire lawn trash bag with dead rose tops ... and I know I missed some!



As I pruned, I thought about how Jesus uses the vine throughout the New Testament. As we are winding up this 2010-2011 school year, I have been thinking about taking some time to evaluate where I need to do a little pruning as a Mama, a teacher, a wife.



While I continued to cut on my bushes so many comparisons to pruning plants and pruning lives jumped into my head. As I pricked myself (multiple times) on thorns, I thought about how some pruning cuts a little close and might draw blood and pain.



Occasionally I trimmed a branch that had a dead flower and a brand new bud on it and realized that sometimes you have to sacrifice something good along with the bad to get something even better - more new growth!



I love having this tangible reminder that if we accept the pruning, we have new growth to look forward to. Looking forward to what I'm going to learn this summer and where God is going to have me grow.