Pruning for God's Harvest

It is pruning and plant clean-up time here at the Little Blue Bungalow which for me is always bitter sweet. Though there is a sense of accomplishment from another growing season... I am a bit sad to prune, rake, and pull up the plants for the compost pile. Sometimes after a bountiful harvest or amazing colors it is hard to just brush these plants aside but I continue each year I continue with my "clean-up" duties.

Having gardened for awhile now I know this work is a necessity to produce strong plants with amazing flowers, colors, and fruit for next year. To others it may not make sense, but if I leave the decaying plants "as is" the bugs will destroy the entire root system leaving me with nothing to harvest or enjoy next year.

God's prunes our lives too. Though to us it may not make sense, the Gardener (Jesus Christ) knows which areas of our lives to prune as well. Moving to Washington from Wisconsin over three years ago felt like a big "cut" that God snipped in my life. What was He doing? Everything was going so well...Why in the world would we move to a state 2, 500 miles away?

Honestly, it just didn't make sense to leave our church body, friends, family, home, and community in my eyes but God had a different "harvest" planned for my family. Yes, I was upset with God for awhile, but now can fully realize he called our family for ministry in Washington. With this "prune", we were able to "grow" in ways we would never would have back in Wisconsin. If I would have stayed planted where I was, evil (aka "bugs") could have easily destroyed me from the root up. Instead, I have been given the opportunity to witness to the moms, show Christ's love in a state often lacking of Christianity...in a sense bare fruit and bloom all for the glory of God!

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in met that bears no fruit, while ever branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful ." John 15: 1-2

Thank you God for pruning my life. Even though, I may question what you "cut" from my life. You know the planned harvest for my life. Thank you for nurturing me in every season of my life. I look forward to the next sweet harvest.

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean