~Thoughts from My Garden~ (Part 4)

"Sucker" on my tomato plant

My garden is looking beautiful right now.  The plants are growing healthy and strong however, the garden is in dire need of weeding and pruning.  When my plants first started growing, it was difficult to tell if the little green sprig was a weed or a plant, they looked so similar.  However, as the plants became more mature, it became more and more obvious which was the weed and which was the plant.

Sometimes there are things like this in the life of our children as well.  We may pray about participating in a certain activity or allowing play time with a certain friend, and it seems like a good decision.  However, as time goes on it may become evident that either the activity or the person was actually a “weed” in our children’s lives and it needs to be “pulled out”.   We need much discernment as parents and it’s important to be open and honest with our children, letting them know that we are praying through all of these decisions and seeking the Lord in them.

We have had many activities that were wonderful for our family, for a season.  However, when the season is over, if we continue to try to keep making the activity fit our family, it will become a “weed”.  We have had this happen with music, sports, etc.  There can be many reasons for a good “plant” becoming a “weed”, the key is to pray and seek the Lord for His will as to when the season is over.  For me, I have the blessing of being married to a godly man.  I can trust that, when Todd says it’s time to stop participating in an activity or to end a friendship, that God has spoken through him to lead our family in His will.  It truly is freeing to trust him as the authority that God has placed over our family!

Along with weeding my garden, it’s also time to prune the plants.  This is different and yet still similar to weeding in that both involve removing things from the garden that hinder growth.   Webster’s 1828 dictionary gives the following definition of pruning:

PRU'NING, n. In gardening and agriculture, the lopping off the superfluous branches of trees, either for improving the trees or their fruit.

This, of course, reminds me of what Jesus meant when He said:

"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.”  (John 15:1-8)

Jesus was pointing out the obvious, that if we are producing fruit, He will still need to prune us so that we will bear more fruit. 

A dear friend taught me how to prune my tomato plants.  She showed me to look for an extra “branch” that grows between the “vine” and the “branch” of the plant.  It looks healthy and it is definitely a part of the plant itself, however, if you leave it to grow, it will suck the life out of the plant and the plant will produce less fruit.

The analogy that I find here is that the “sucker” as it’s called, grows between the vine and the branch.  Is there something in your children’s life that is coming between them and the Lord?  Do you find that it is “sucking” the (spiritual) life out of them?  If so, this “thing” needs to be pruned, cut off, from their life so that they can flourish and “bear more fruit”.  If you prune a “sucker” right away,  you just need to pinch them off with your finger tips, however, if you wait and let them grow, you will need clippers to remove them and your plant will have lost some of its ability to bear fruit.

We had a situation in our family where we were involved in a certain activity for a couple of years.  It was a wonderful activity that the children ALL enjoyed and I helped out with as well.  It seemed a perfect fit, for a season.  Then a conflict arose between the leaders of the activity and it was starting to get a bit stressful.  Todd suggested we end the activity, but I told him how much the children enjoyed it, that they weren’t being affected by the conflict, etc.  Well, the conflict continued to get worse and worse and the more I tried to help mend it, the worse it became.  We finally stopped participating in the activity and moved on to something else.  One lesson (among many) that I learned from this was that I should have listened to my husband right away and quit the actvity, it would have saved myself and my children much grief.  By convincing my husband that it was OK to stay, I allowed the “sucker” to grow and to lessen our ability to bear fruit.  It was definitely a very painful lesson, but one I am thankful for.

Maybe you have had a similar situation as well, or are in the middle of the situation right now.  If so, learn from Jesus and His Word, apply His truths and make the decision to do what might seem like a hard thing.  You won’t regret it!!

Abundant Fruit!