Pruning

"Pruning is a horticultural practice involving the selective removal of parts of a plant, such as branches or buds. Reasons to prune plants include deadwood removal, shaping (by controlling or directing growth), improving health, reducing risk from falling branches, and both harvesting and increasing the yield or quality of flowers and fruits."

 

"Pruning is a horticultural practice that alters the form and growth of a plant."

 

"Proper pruning enhances the beauty of almost any landscape tree and shrub..."

 

 

So, our fruit trees here at The Haven were overdue to be pruned, and it became quite the big task when we tackled it.

 

 

That's our cherry tree on the right. The weird one in the middle was a volunteer cherry tree. (It's finally gone, now -- it was growing in the fence.) The big one on the left is an apple tree. And there's actually one more apple tree behind the little shed, too. Oh, and two smaller peach and nectarine trees to the right, out of camera range.

 

It took more than one day to do it. But this day was pretty gray, windy, and cold ....

 

 

Maybe that's why my mind wandered to the bigger picture. I started thinking about it, and how our Heavenly Father guides our lives. He is always pruning us -- altering our form and our growth. Shaping us by our experiences. Enhancing our beauty. And increasing the yield of our fruits.

 

Sometimes, the cuts He makes are small.

 

But sometimes, the cuts are bigger, or more painful.

 

 

Even if it hurts, He is doing it to encourage our growth. New growth.

 

 

If we look back, and look hard enough, we can probably see that he has pruned us quite a bit over the course of our lives.

 

 

 

And some of those prunings are going to be quite large. (Some of our largest branches were actually taller than our smaller trees.)

 

And when the storms pass, there are always blue skies to follow.

 

 

Matthew 7:20 "Wherefore, by their fruits, ye shall know them."

 

 

 

What are your fruits?