FOODFORTHOUGHT

CLIPPING AND SNIPPING
By Sally I. Kennedy, ©2005
Oct 05, 2005

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch
that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
John 15:2

Last year we had two hurricanes just three weeks apart. At our home,
the first storm ripped off the nails and wire cords that held the thick
bouganvilla vine into the concrete. When we were able to return home,
we found the entire enormous plant down on the concrete.

My husband got a chain saw to begin work on cleanup. We had huge piles
of tree limbs, spindly branches, and gnarly trunks, more than
twenty-five years' worth. What remained were little stumps. Literally
they looked like dead sticks that were just stuck in the ground.

We went out of town after that, and when we came back, did we have a
surprise!! Just two weeks to the day that my husband had cut it all
down, it was loaded - loaded! - with new growth. Beautiful thick green
leaves, and long sturdy branches.

I got it. I finally got the the story about "pruning" that's in the
bible. (John 15). I never had really understood it until I witnessed
firsthand this thing with our vine.

It seems Jesus spoke so often in terms of agricultural terms. The
people must have understood stories that related to trees, plants,
seeds, and growing conditions. Probably made perfect sense to them. And
now it does to me too.

You know what they say, you have to experience something to understand
it. I guess that is the gift - or one of them - that God gave me
through the loss of this bouganvilla vine. And I am grateful for that,
and for the implications of the story that are now brought to light for
me.

I fully expect the vine to bud any day now. I also expect a bumper crop
of magnificent fuschia colored flowers.

So when I experience clipping, snipping, and chopping - aka pruning -
at the hand of the Master gardener, maybe I can remember this
principle. Cutting back - for more. More growth. More production, It
works. And it works for me. Thank you, Lord!

Sally I. Kennedy, author of Words from the Heart, Irish Thursdays, and
52 Little Parables from Ireland (Creation House Press)
http://www.sallyikennedy.com - sallyikennedy@bellsouth.net

PRAYER
"Father in heaven, you have given me a mind to know you, a will to
serve you, and a heart to love you. Give me today the grace and
strength to embrace your holy will and fill my heart that all my
intentions and actions may be pleasing to you. Help me to be kind and
forgiving towards my neighbor as you have been towards me".

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# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 9:19 AM