If you had told me as a young adult I'd be the lady with the huge flower beds... I would have laughed in your face. I hated pulling weeds as a child. HATED!!! Slowly but surely I have started one bed then another, just as both of my great grandmothers did. It just runs in our veins. If there is an open spot, I will dig it up and put a plant there. Nature is where I feel like God is right beside me, patting my shoulder and talking to me. It's when I feel closest to Him. I love sitting on my back porch, with my fountain running, coffee in hand, looking out at how beautiful nature is and thanking God for all this beauty.
Every spring I do one big weed pull and tidy up session. This way I can just go along every day and yank the few weeds that pop up. I also prune back all the dead and fertilize. It's during this time of pruning God reminds me of this verse.
John 15:1-2 says "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."
Every year I am reminded that God is pruning/cutting off the things of my life that are no longer needed. The last few years have been healing years for me. One where God brought people in my life to love me, to correct me, and to help me grow. So the pruning I had been getting, while uncomfortable, was understandable and even wanted. It hurt but I saw the fruit of it.
For a while now though, everything I had gotten "comfortable" with seemed to be falling apart. The things that worked didn't work anymore. Everything I loved was changing. I was angry. I was heart broken. I prayed and told God both of these things. (Yes I told God I was angry at him. He knows I was no use in lying.) As spring came I was accepting the change better but still a little miffed (read: becoming bitter) by it at times. Which brings us to today, with me face deep in weeds and dead things needing to be pruned. I was taking care of my plants and talking to God. I was being very honest telling him he had pruned all the wrong things. (I know I know.).
After 13 years in my house, I decided to do a major overhaul of my entire flower beds. I pulled up all of my great grandmothers bulbs and moved them to the fence row. I needed some greenery and flowers throughout the year. I just needed a change. I took a break and looked at the hundreds of irises laying all over the ground. That's when it hit me. God spoke to my heart "See those irises. Are those irises bad? Is there anything wrong with them?" "Of course not God. They just don't fit in with the new plan I have in my head. The garden that will grow, stay green, and flower throughout the seasons. The garden that's easier to care for and that I can enjoy more. "
There it was in a nutshell. The things I have been losing or have been changing were not wrong things or sinful things even. They were just "no longer for me" things. I loved these things, people, places, habits, and ideas. God's been and is continuing pruning these things so I can grow, all the while I am over here throwing a tantrum and pouting. Boy do I feel silly now. That's when I thanked God for this incredibly hard season that I've been going through. I don't know what the plans are, but I know that everything happening will all be to prosper me and not to harm me.
So as I close this long ramble up, I'm going to leave you with the two verses that came to mind as I finished planting my new flowering shrubs. These verses and my continued prayers while I worked today brought an instant peace and calm to my broken heart. I have hope once again. God is growing me, teaching me, loving me, and healing me.
Every spring I do one big weed pull and tidy up session. This way I can just go along every day and yank the few weeds that pop up. I also prune back all the dead and fertilize. It's during this time of pruning God reminds me of this verse.
John 15:1-2 says "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."
Every year I am reminded that God is pruning/cutting off the things of my life that are no longer needed. The last few years have been healing years for me. One where God brought people in my life to love me, to correct me, and to help me grow. So the pruning I had been getting, while uncomfortable, was understandable and even wanted. It hurt but I saw the fruit of it.
For a while now though, everything I had gotten "comfortable" with seemed to be falling apart. The things that worked didn't work anymore. Everything I loved was changing. I was angry. I was heart broken. I prayed and told God both of these things. (Yes I told God I was angry at him. He knows I was no use in lying.) As spring came I was accepting the change better but still a little miffed (read: becoming bitter) by it at times. Which brings us to today, with me face deep in weeds and dead things needing to be pruned. I was taking care of my plants and talking to God. I was being very honest telling him he had pruned all the wrong things. (I know I know.).
After 13 years in my house, I decided to do a major overhaul of my entire flower beds. I pulled up all of my great grandmothers bulbs and moved them to the fence row. I needed some greenery and flowers throughout the year. I just needed a change. I took a break and looked at the hundreds of irises laying all over the ground. That's when it hit me. God spoke to my heart "See those irises. Are those irises bad? Is there anything wrong with them?" "Of course not God. They just don't fit in with the new plan I have in my head. The garden that will grow, stay green, and flower throughout the seasons. The garden that's easier to care for and that I can enjoy more. "
There it was in a nutshell. The things I have been losing or have been changing were not wrong things or sinful things even. They were just "no longer for me" things. I loved these things, people, places, habits, and ideas. God's been and is continuing pruning these things so I can grow, all the while I am over here throwing a tantrum and pouting. Boy do I feel silly now. That's when I thanked God for this incredibly hard season that I've been going through. I don't know what the plans are, but I know that everything happening will all be to prosper me and not to harm me.
So as I close this long ramble up, I'm going to leave you with the two verses that came to mind as I finished planting my new flowering shrubs. These verses and my continued prayers while I worked today brought an instant peace and calm to my broken heart. I have hope once again. God is growing me, teaching me, loving me, and healing me.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.You will seek and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
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