Pruning

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. John 15:2, NIV.

Gardening is not my strength, but I love plants. I especially love flowering plants that bloom, like rose bushes. I have several rose bushes and I have learned that one of the most important parts of caring for them is pruning. Cutting the branches off, specifically where there are wilted flowers, helps the plant to flourish. When done well the bush will bloom more often and be fuller after a good pruning.

Sometimes in life we have seasons of subtraction. For me, one such season was the time God asked me to not only stop leading a church Bible study, but to leave my home church altogether. It felt like a huge loss leaving behind so many relationships and years of dedication.

However, God brought me to a new church where I am growing in new ways and I can now see he wasn’t taking anything from me, he was pruning.

In John 15:2 Jesus says God prunes his branches that are fruit-bearing so they can bear even more fruit. We are the branches in this metaphor, sprouting off the vine of Jesus. We don’t always understand the purpose of pruning, but we have to trust the gardener. His perspective is far and wide when we see only our present circumstances. And he is a good, skilled gardener.

So, when you feel God calling you to step back from a dream you are pursuing, let go of a business, ministry, or vocation you have been dedicated to, or eliminate even the most enjoyable obligation, do it. His ways are higher and everything he does is for your good and his glory. The pain of pruning is temporary but the consequences of resisting the prune may be lasting.

Sometimes God knows the weight of a certain branch has become too heavy and needs to lighten it. Other times he is simply preparing a branch for a greater, more beautiful bloom. Always, he wants us to be fruitful. Sometimes that means water, sunshine, and nutrients. Sometimes it means pruning.

Being tended to isn’t always pleasant, but it is always beneficial when the gardener is God. Where have you felt a call to pruning in your life? What dead weight are you carrying? How can you lean into God and accept his pruning in this situation?

Prayer: God, you are the best gardener. May everything I do bring you glory, including being faithful in allowing your shears to strip away anything I am no longer to carry. Forgive me for trying to grow on my own and resisting your pruning. Help me to be quick to accept your instructions and to grow in the way you intend. Thank you for loving me enough to prune my life for your glory and my good. Amen.

Anybody else desperately and impatiently awaiting the arrival of fall weather?

I’m looking forward to chilly mornings, chunky sweaters…and not sweating during school morning duty. While the weather may not be fully cooperating, fall is already full of all the things.

Back to school. Homework. Practices. Classes.

Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Am I right?

This often leaves little time and space for Jesus.

As a teacher, fall is my starting line but has so often felt like the finish line.

Many seasons I have found myself too busy, burnt out, and breaking down before reaching Thanksgiving Break. This has little to do with life’s busyness and burdens, but everything to do with my boundaries.

I think we believe that boundaries are religious rules and restrictions.

We believe that boundaries make us disconnected or disengaged.

Yet so much of God’s work is based on boundary lines.

In the beginning, He separated light from dark.

He placed a gap between the land and the water.

Then, He gave Adam and Eve clear lines to live in.

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Genesis 2:16-17

Like Eve did, we cross our boundaries in hopes of getting more,

achieving more, seeing more, and having more, but ultimately fail.

The more is found in the margin.

We must give God a place to come and be present.

We must give God space to speak and room to move.

We must give God a chance to have His will and way.

This can’t happen with packed schedules and piled-up plates.

This can’t happen with minds moving faster than our feet.

This can’t happen without well-defined boundaries.

It’s not that He isn’t able, it’s that we aren’t available.

You may be saying, “But I just can’t.”

“Everybody needs me. I can’t say no.”

“Everything is important. Nothing can go.”

Like Eve, we question whether the boundaries are truly for our good.

But time and time again, I go back to the beginning.

Where boundaries were the basis of creation.

Where boundaries created safe places.

Where boundaries were blessings.

Boundaries aren’t bad in nature.

They are lane lines for all drivers.

They are bumpers for the bad bowler.

They are fences for the dog that runs.

They set us in safe places.

They point us to our purpose.

They keep us close to Him.

I encourage you to not try to do it all this fall.

Say no. Set boundaries. Make room. Set aside time.

Go back to the beginning where boundaries were our blessings.

God is worthy of all praise. In every moment.

A few nights ago God found me in a moment of sadness. I was just going through it, really missing a member of my family. And then a worship song came on. It’s called, “The Story I’ll Tell.”

A few lyrics in and I’m tearing up, and then the chorus hits and I’m bawling my eyes out.

It goes like this, “and I’ll testify of the battles you’ve won. How you were my portion when there wasn’t enough. And I’ll testify of the seas we’ve crossed. The waters you’ve parted, the waves that I’ve walked.”

And I just love how it says the battle YOU’VE won. Because it is all God you guys. He is our portion!!

Later in the song it says, “and all that is left is highest praises. So sing hallelujah to the Rock of Ages.”

And that is where I was. I had nothing left in me. I knew that God is good, and that He had a plan & purpose for these trials, but I was just so sad. And in that moment, the Holy Spirit called me to worship. To just praise God. Because he is the Rock of Ages. And again in that moment the peace of God washed over me.

Maybe someone is going through the same thing I am. You don’t know what to do next?

Just praise God.

He is worthy of every moment of worship we can offer. He is worthy of each tear, laugh, smile, and He wants your heart.

Keep singing Hallelujah to our Rock of Ages.

Psalm 34:18, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

He saves the crushed in spirit friend.

My prayers go out to you.

I get a lot of questions about Bibles, devotionals, and studies for teenage girls. I truly love seeking out great ones that will impact these young girls for many years. Y’all, I love a good devotional. I mean – hello!

Being a teenager is hard, y’all.

No doubt.

They need all the help they can get especially in this social media driven world. After all, what goes in is what comes out. We need to feed them all the good, wholesome food that we can, and it starts with us. We are their first source of nutrition.

If we can teach our girls to be Kingdom-focused then we can rest assured that they are going to be just fine in anything and everything that this ol’ world throws their way.

Because if they are truly Kingdom-focused then they are God-focused, and they have a best friend that’s never going to steer them wrong. Now I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy, but I am saying that they will never be alone. I am saying that they will have true joy as they sojourn on through the path that is placed before them.

They won’t have to worry about what college or what career or what friends or what guy because they will be in constant communication with their creator – the one that planned their future in the womb. The one that loves them more than anyone else. Even more than you do – let that sink in. It’s the truth.

We have to teach them to listen. We have to show them how to obey.

God will guide them through the small steps and the big steps and all the messy mundane steps in the middle.

We just have to show them how, Mamas. We have to model this way of life, and we have to be real about it. There’s gonna have to be a lot of conversations. A lot of praying. A lot of praise and worship – and a lot of holding your own tongue when you really wanna let it rip.

So, Mamas, let’s do a self check:

▪️How are you?

▪️Are you truly trusting in God for the big and the small?

▪️Are you Kingdom-focused?

▪️Are you modeling this out loud and on purpose?

It starts with you, Mama. It starts with you.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13

“We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.”

Hebrews 6:19

An effective anchor is unseen. It goes down into the deep to grab hold of the secure ground in order to hold the boat steady. If the anchor is seen, it is likely not doing its job and the boat is bouncing around and drifting. An effective anchor is also securely attached to the boat. If the anchor is not attached securely, it will come loose again causing the boat to bounce around and drift. Bouncing and drifting in uncertain waters can be very dangerous, so it is imperative for that anchor to work.

Life is filled with choppy, dangerous waters. I remember with great detail a few years ago when our lives seemed to be in complete chaos. We didn’t know how we were going to pay for our daughter’s last year of college as my husband was without work. We didn’t know how we were going to manage rebuilding after a major flood destroyed our home and took our cars. We didn’t know where we were going to live if/when we managed to rebuild. We didn’t know how we were going to continue to help our son who was in seminary. Basically, we just didn’t know a whole lot except that we were in turbulent waters, and life was hard. My husband told me, “This is when our faith is lived out. Because of Christ, we have hope.” We had to make sure our lives were securely attached to the Anchor we could not physically see but that we professed to believe in. We had hope because of our Anchor. As we held on, all of the answers to those questions we didn’t have answers to were answered in ways we could not even have imagined. That Anchor held us steady through one of the most difficult and tumultuous times of our lives.

It’s easy to have faith in the good times, but what about those hard times? Do we have that Anchor that holds us? We cannot physically see God, but we can trust in His secure holding of us when we are firmly attached. That Anchor is what gives us hope when things seem hopeless. When those choppy, dangerous waters are present, and they will come, stay securely holding onto the Anchor that you may not physically see. In that Anchor lies our hope for life no matter what turbulence we face.

I think everyone reading this realizes we have been in the midst of a drought. I’m writing this on 8/18 and praying that by 9/4 we have had some rain.

We have a pond at the shop where we work and I love to go sit out there on my breaks. As I was walking out there this morning the grass was crunching under my feet. It’s brown and dry. If I’m being honest I feel a little like that grass. I’m a little dried out by circumstances beyond my control. I’m trying my best not to be crunchy or cranky 😳.

I noticed that as I got closer to the pond the grass got greener. There’s a little island a few feet out in the pond and it is lush, green and a bit out of control. It’s growing in the midst of a water source. What a great visual! God is so faithful and encouraging even in something that is so routine for me.

I have complete access to the source of living water and the greatest power in the universe lives within me. My circumstance may say drought, but my Father says come to me and I will….give you rest (Matt 11:28), make you lie down in green pastures, lead you by still waters and restore your soul (Psalm 23) 🙌🏻

🗣️ Those are shoutin words. (Where my Sistas at) 🗣️

The question is do I believe it or nah?? Do I grab hold of that and hang on to those promises or do I wallow around in the circumstance?

I’m tying a knot and hanging on baby! God is worthy, faithful and good.

My heart is steadfast, O Lord my heart is steadfast……(Psalm 57:7)

Whatever you might be going through (because it’s hard out here) determine today to hang on to Jesus. And. Don’t. Let. Go!

Love y’all 😘 and shout out to the best sister in the world Teena Elkins on her birthday 🥳

I tell y’all what, I know God is growing me right now and not in a way I would have ever imagined or preferred! But isn’t that how God works? If we knew what he was doing all the time and knew how he was going to do it then why would we need him?

We live in a broken sinful world so we know conflict will arise. Unfortunately, that conflict usually takes us by surprise and we have no time to prepare. Here is something we can remember when we find ourselves in these situations,

Ephesians 4:29 says “Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear it.

Max Lucado put it this way, “Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional.”

If that isn’t how your last conflict went and your feeling a little convicted, that’s okay! God is growing you! It’s part of your sanctification and being humble and being willing to forgive and ask for forgiveness is such a beautiful thing.

Also, I want to encourage you. If you are going through a time that seems like every aspect of your life is tainted with conflict, give it to God. Lay it down at the foot of the cross. Let go of what is weighing your heart down and let Jesus carry it. It’s a sweet sweet relief.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18

We can’t handle this life on our own. That’s why God gave us his one and only son, so that those who believe in Him won’t have to bear the burdens alone. We may not have the answers to why we go through hard times but we know the one who does. We just need to trust the process and have faith that whatever He is doing will be all for His glory!

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Our Creator perfectly designed our world to have seasons. Each year we inevitably transition through the seasons of winter, spring, summer, and fall. In the Bible, Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that life is also full of seasons and each is purposeful in strengthening our faith and leading us toward a deeper relationship with God. 

I am currently going through a season of change. The truth is, I dread a lot of change all at once because it can feel overwhelming and propels me into the unknown. Predictability feels safe. Surrendering control feels heavy. Change can make us feel exposed and unsteady and exhausted. It can leave us longing for the past when life felt predictable and safe.

But life is not about staying the same, which is why God will continuously change the seasons of life we are in. We can be assured that the length of our seasons, the time at which seasons arrive and depart, are set by God for our good and according to His purpose. The best way that we can move through such a season is with the assurance that even though our lives will change – God will not. Whether you are moving, transitioning jobs, adapting to being an empty nester, or all three like me – He is working in your life to create plans that are for your good and His glory.

When you find yourself walking in a season of change, use your circumstances as a catalyst to strengthen your faith. He will not leave you…

“I am with you always.”

Matthew 28:20