If you have a prayer against catching poison ivy, I would appreciate now if you would pray it. I mean, you can’t blame me for being excited about my new little clippers from harbor freight, they are just the right size and sharp and new… so when it finally got a little shady, I went to the the side of the house and started on the hydrangeas, which unfortunately took a hit in the cold snap. Well, there is still some green and for sure I never trimmed the old branches from last year – so clip clip clip I went – felt good to deal with it but it was also a situation of thinking about the pruning of dead branches in life that God will do – like Jesus explained in John 15. And this made me sad (not just for the hydrangea but for me) – I felt sad that maybe there were things pruned in my life that I didn’t expect or they didn’t work out – or a cold snap got them – well – enough of my whining I thought and just sat down to rest in the shade when all of a sudden a pair of birds flew in and one sat right inside the region that I had just pruned – see, the pruned hydrangea now had MORE ROOM for a safe place for the bird – as well as lots of great sticks on the ground that it could use if it wanted for nesting….  Pruning accepted Lord – I saw that there was purpose beyond the “what’s in it for me” mentality. and God does take care of those birds, doesn’t He?!!!  (I watched a bird documentary at the same time as I was pruning – go figure! – CBS link below)

WELL, PRUNING DOES make it better for a plant to not deal with dead branches and focus on strengthening the ones that still thrive. And thus pruned areas can be more fruitful. And doesn’t fruit look better than dead spaces or dead branches… I guess that is for us too – we can hold better fruit from God on our stronger branches if we accept that He will prune away some bad stuff – and maybe some good stuff too it seems – but we have to remember that all is naught compared to Him. God will use the good and the bad for His cause. And sometimes Pruning surprises us!

I continued on my pruning tasks on the other side of the house – this time for the annual cutting of a wayward nuisance junk tree that keeps coming up year after year – right in the middle of a beautiful azalea – that has a big trunk that sprouts anew each year and clutters my life – and that is the moral of the story of removing stuff underneath – removing the root of the problems…

Went over to the over grown flowering quice = which encombers my dainty rose bush and I went to clip clip clip = filled a trash can. AND THEN – UGH – I SAW THE POISON IVY!!! UGH – stopped in my tracks – my heart sank and my feet retreated – I don’t think I touched it buy you never know…  Well, that pruned my activity and in I went to shower and retool… That shiny leaf is so distinctive – what a symbol to STOP. If I had not pruned the plant I would not have seen it until much later in the season when it was much more well established! The pruning of this overzealous quince – even if strong – allowed me to see the danger lurking underneath.

In life – we have to remember that all things, good and bad, pale in comparison to Jesus – to being with our Lord in the moment – and forever. One song that speaks to me – on the wall – is “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” – all things will fade compared to the LIGHT of His Glory and Grace. And this song is one that I saw when I started praying for guidance – for one thing – but well it holds true for all. Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus – and let HIM add the fruit to YOUR branch.

AMEN AMEN AMEN

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John 15:1-17 NKJV The True Vine
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Birding in Columbia from 60 minutes 

Job 22:21-30 NIV

“Submit to God and be at peace with him;
    in this way prosperity will come to you.
Accept instruction from his mouth
    and lay up his words in your heart.
If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
    If you remove wickedness far from your tent
and assign your nuggets to the dust,
    your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
then the Almighty will be your gold,
    the choicest silver for you.
Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
    and will lift up your face to God.
You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
    and you will fulfill your vows.
What you decide on will be done,
    and light will shine on your ways.
When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
    then he will save the downcast.
He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
    who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”