Pruning, Perspective and 31 Days to Being a Real Writer

Day 13

Beautiful Saturday. Great day to do yard work.

I am grateful to have a lovely yard and the physical ability to maintain it. That is a huge blessing and I know it.

Yard work is a pleasant way for me to enjoy the sun, play in the dirt, enjoy having the dogs running around me.

Spring clean-up is nice because it signals the beginning of nice weather. Summer maintenance is tolerable because the gardens look so nice when they are clean and weed-free.

October chores are different. Pruning, separating perennials, moving some plants inside...none of that says "FUN" to me.

Perhaps it is because the season is ending. Cutting the gardens down to nothing and knowing they will soon be covered with snow gives me no satisfaction. Necessary change of seasons blah blah. It still isn't fun.

That is the mindset I had when I headed out today.

Somewhere in the sun and clippings and barking, my perspective changed.

Certainly the clean, albeit bare, gardens look better than they did filled with brown leaves and dead stems.

So maybe I am like that too? No maybes about it. I need to be pruned and I look better when it is done.

How about you?

Isn't it interesting that when plants are growing wild, we prune them to get the growth under control - and when plants aren't growing, we prune them to encourage new growth.

Pruning - the all around cure.

It works the same way for me.

Sometimes I get out of control. I know, it's hard to believe! My plans, thoughts, energies become scattered.

Pruning is necessary, lest I become like the vinca in my back flower garden - spreading in every direction but producing no flowers, growing in places I don't belong.

Sometimes I get lackadaisical, content with mediocrity...or worse, full of myself, counting on my own strength.

Pruning is necessary, lest I become like my Wandering Jew - stems that hang down and look healthy, but are thin and nearly dead at the root.

How about you? Do you need pruning to stimulate or control?

I am diligent about weeding. It is one of my favorite activities when I am having a blank moment while writing. So imagine my surprise when today's pruning revealed weeds. Big ones that have been there for some time.    

The past three years have been a period of tremendous pruning for me. I often ask God (or demand or scream about) what else I possibly need to give up or learn.

Then another branch comes off and I see a weed.

How about you? Do you learn more in periods of loss? Yeah, most of us do.

I still don't like pruning. There are thorn pricks in two fingers and one thumb is sore because a hard stem shoved itself under the nail. OUCH.

But, at least I have a better perspective. Which is good because I am only half done.

And it seems likely God has more pruning to do on me. Seasonally, just like my flower gardens.

You too, maybe?

We will talk again tomorrow...

BP

During the month of October I am participating in the 31 Days Challenge hosted by the Nester.
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