This morning, I dropped our dog, Kennedy, off at the groomers for his “every 8 weeks” clean up session. When he came out, his har had been thinned out a bit (good for summer), he smelled much better, and he was sporting a stylish, new bandanna.
After lunch, I went out into the back yard with a saw to cut up branches. We have a lot of trees. And when the wind kicks up, branches that have died break off and drop into the yard. I create a pile, and a couple of times every summer I go out and cut them up to make kindling for our fire pit.
Today, as I was working my way through our (large) pile, I looked up at the trees to see if there were any dead ones I needed to be worried about. No. All the trees were doing well.
It reminded me that some branches die to make room for new growth, and that the energy no longer being spent to maintain the old branches can go to creating new branches.
Often, our lives feel full to overflowing. It makes me wonder, what is it in my life that could be cut away or let go of in order to create space for new growth? What am I holding on to that isn’t necessary any more?
“Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit.”
John 12:24
God, give me the wisdom to discern those thins that I need to let go of, and the courage to cut these things away. Through the gift of your Holy Spirit, bring new growth to my life. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
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