Pruning

Phew...I'm glad I was able to come to work today so I could rest! We spent most of our day yesterday (Memorial Day) working in our yard. We purchased a house last year and the previous owners liked their privacy and therefore they planted every single bush, shrub, tree, etc. you can think of! And, we are in the process of cleaning it all out. One by one we are chopping down, cutting back, digging up every inch of our yard it seems like.

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There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the placement of all of these bushes/shrubs/trees. They are just randomly placed in the most peculiar places. Some of the trees were not pruned and therefore have gone crazy. A holly tree was planted right beside the house in front of what is Kristina's room. It is absolutely gorgeous but at the same time it is out of control. The branches lurk over the roof and cover the entire end of house.

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As Shane and I started working yesterday we began to work on cutting these holly limbs off the house. One by one we snipped and before long we realized that the only way to actually fix the problem was to top the tree. Cut everything off to where all we had left was empty branches. We worked hard to make sure all the remaining branches were cut at the same length so hopefully we will be able to maintain it a little bit better as it begins to grow again.

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As Shane was finishing up the holly tree I started working on another unidentified bush. I was cutting and pulling, cutting and pulling and the more I cut and the more I pulled the more I realized this couldn't be any sort of bush it had to be a vine that just grew out of control. Before I was able to cut too much back the skies darkened and the rain began to fall. Our work in the yard was done for the day.

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Do you have out of control shrubs or bushes in your life? What about vines? Do you have any vines growing in and out of your heart that you don't remember planting there but now they are so thick and full that you aren't sure what to do? I do! Every day I am learning more and more about the condition of my heart. Some days I think that I've pruned everything that can be pruned and I'm in good shape and then the very next day something will happen and some kudzu will appear that I had no idea existed and once again I'm chopping away. As I was snipping and chopping yesterday and then hobbling around today from being sore I am thinking that maybe the shrubs, the bushes, the vines and even that stinking kudzu keep appearing because I'm the one cutting them back and not God!

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God casts our sins further than we can imagine. Psalm 103:12 says "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west." The east is from the west! Do you know how far that is? I can't even begin to fathom in my mind that distance. So, if he can throw my sin further than I can see, what makes me think that he can't prune the vines out of my heart? He's a much better gardener than me! Plus, he can REMOVE not just cut back those randomly placed bushes, the out of control shrubs, the endless vines, and the annoying kudzu!