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Pruning



Written May 22, 2020

We have long winters where I’m from and that means lush, green yards don’t come early. Our yard was looking how I expected in April - patchy, some weeds, and a lot of dead grass all clumped down on the bottom. It didn’t look amazing by any means, but then my husband thatched it, and that made it look just plain sad! My daughter, who was 6 at the time, was helping me rake it all up when she said to me, “But, Mommy, what if someone drives by and sees our yard like this?” I laughed, because I was thinking the same thing!


What is Pruning?


Over the next week as I looked at our very sad yard, I began to really think and pray about the process of pruning, and how the Covid outbreak has really served as a season of pruning for all of us, and myself especially. Pruning in the gardening sense of the word means to selectively cut branches. This helps a tree's structure and health, and in the longterm, helps the tree produce even more fruit. For me personally, and I imagine quite a few of us who live in America, something that has been pruned in this season is busyness. I’ve always taken pride in how much I do or how much I get done in a day, and I’ve been realizing that I find a lot of my worth in that. When I really think about it, though, I’m often not getting things “done” as much as I am filling up my days with something to do. It’s not productive, it’s just busy, and in the long-term, exhausting.


What the Bible Says About Pruning


Pruning is never easy or enjoyable; it’s uncomfortable, even painful. As I type that, I’m reminded of Hebrews 12:11 where Paul says, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” God has been talking to me about rest for about a year now, and I’ll be honest, that is NOT one of my strong suits! Probably why my season of rest hasn’t ended yet ;) For the first probably month of quarantine, I found some reason to leave my house - the grocery store, Home Depot for a new project I was working on, coffee, or even just to go for a drive. Not a single day all month did I stay at my home all day. My sister-in-law confronted me on this and said that God was giving me an opportunity to really invest in Him in this season, and that through filling it up with busyness yet again, I was going to miss out on some really sweet time with Him. She knew what Jesus said in John 15:2, "Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit," and I had some branches of busyness that were keeping me from producing fruit in my life and home.


At first I was annoyed at her comment, and replied to her that I wasn’t not taking advantage of my time with the Lord. But as I prayed about it more, I realized she was right in another sense. God wanted me to use this time to really invest in my marriage and my children, and to build us up as a family, and a team unit. He wanted me to take this quieter season to establish good habits for my family, and help grow in them more of a passion for His word and His heart for the world. As I’ve been doing that - having family devotions in the mornings, praying for the nations together, learning about other cultures and religions, and learning scripture with them, our lives and our relationships are truly being transformed. I’m having fun with my husband, we savor our family time, we’re more creative in the things we do together as a family, and Holy Spirit is really moving and growing a heart for the lost in my sweet girl, which is so sweet to watch! Hebrews 12:11 is so spot on; we are truly experiencing that peacefulness in our home right now as I’ve stopped resisting this pruning season. I can look back and see God’s hand, His nudges, and His faithfulness through this challenging season and can now see it as a blessing.

And! Even my yard is starting to look more full : )

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