Skip to main content

New Growth


While walking my dog this morning my eyes caught the new growth on the evergreen tree. I snapped the above pictures and was struck by how noticeable the young part of the branches seemed. It occurred to me that this is how our lives as Christians should be. The new growth in us should be able to be witnessed by others as we mature in the Lord. 

These trees not only grow in height each year but also in girth. While we don't notice the vertical change we are able to see the change in their shape due to the fresh color and the unmarred branches reaching in all directions. They haven't been weathered or pruned in any way. 

Weathering happens when the world wears us down. Too many winds thrash us and we either push through the wind or let it keep us from moving forward. 

Pruning happens when a piece of us needs trimmed in order to grow stronger and stand taller. We've a pear tree in our yard (that I wish was an apple tree because, ew) that my husband prunes each year. When he neglects to prune it the harvest of pears isn't as abundant as when he snips a little from each branch, cutting it back in early spring. 

As each year passes I find myself being weathered and pruned more and more. I've learned to appreciate the pain that these bring on because I know the end result leaves me stronger and taller. My heart has taken a beating over the past twenty-five years in ministry, mostly due to people who thought it was their job to weather and prune me, yet their actions have only caused me to grow (and likely not in the way they'd desired) because I learned to let the Lord weather and prune me. His voice is the one I've listened to, even when it wasn't the loudest competing for my attention.

Sometimes there are changes He asks us to make in order for us to grow. Sometimes there are things He asks us to give up or not participate in. 
When we tune our hearts into His voice and allow Him to grow us we will be better able to represent Him in all areas of our lives. 

Our new growth should be as evident as the tender extended branches on the trees I saw this morning. Every day we should want to be more like Jesus and less like the world around us. 

Mold me, Lord, into the person You desire me to be. Less of me, more of You.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Selling items on Craigslist and common scams

I'm selling a couple of things on Craigslist. I've done this a few times before and always, the first interested parties I hear from are scammers. This time in my listing I specified that I will not take money orders and asked that scammers not contact me. Here's the first interested party that I heard from: mr robins journeycristina@gmail.com Is it still available for sale... I replied: Yes it is. Here's the second contact from the first interested party. Note that the name of the sender and the email of the sender are different than the ones from the first contact: Clyde Wright fisherr.mattyy@gmail.com Hello, Thanks for the swift response, just to let you know that am okay with the condition and price of the item, am ready for its purchase and my form of payment will be by sending you Check via UPS next day delivery. I'll be responsible for the pick-up and the pick up money will be included in your payment to avoid delay and to enable pick up company to s...
28 comments
Read more

The Tool Box

I can hear my husband clanging tools around in the garage. He's going through his twenty-four year collection and putting together a tool box for our twenty-two year old son.  Gulp. When did we become parents of an adult who is able to move out and live on his own? He's coming home tomorrow to collect the furniture he's chosen from our house and some other things. He's been gone for a few years but has always come home for summer and holidays. This time it's permanent. There won't be any more summers at home. I won't have to tiptoe around while he's still sleeping. I won't have to chase him out of the shower because he's been in there for a very long time. I won't have to buy Cooper cheese or boxes of Macaroni & Cheese anymore.  The tool box Wayne is putting together for him will last him many years. He'll hang pictures, tighten bolts, and fix small accidents with it. It'll stay by his side as he begins new chapters...
8 comments
Read more

Sweet Zoey

 Zoey - August 10, 2020 When we found her I didn't realize I needed her. Sure, she needed us, she was living in woods, alone, surviving on whatever she could find. She was nine months old, the vet later told me when I took her in for a check-up, still unsure I wanted to keep this undernourished mutt. We'd been on vacation in southwest Missouri, near the Arkansas border, in the middle of the woods. I was on the porch when I saw her trotting down the dirt road. A little brown dog. I whistled and she stopped to look at me from across the lawn. Then she continued on her way. Later that night, the family was watching a movie we'd brought (no cable service out there!) and suddenly this furry face popped up in the window, scaring my husband out of his seat. We fed her some people food and went to bed.  She was still there in the morning. We asked around and no one knew where she came from. We fed her some more and she stayed. The next day we went and bought some dog food, f...
5 comments
Read more