He Knows Just Where to Cut

Today, while having coffee with special friends I remembered a wonderful experience I had a few years ago while walking my dog one early spring morning....


From quite a distance I saw a man very carefully pruning an unusual-looking tree with what looked like small scissors.  As I drew closer I spoke to him:  "What kind of tree is that?" I asked.  He answered that it was a myrtle tree.  I told him I was unfamiliar with that kind of tree.  


He warmed to my interest.  "Yes," he said, "it's a myrtle tree and they need to be pruned very carefully; you don't just hack away at them."  Apparently many folks do "hack away" at these trees, and, the groomer told me, they just don't grow properly when they aren't pruned the right way.  Then he demonstrated, after considering the growth carefully, showing me the exact place where the cutting must be done.  Snip!  "See?" he asked.  I nodded and continued on my walk after thanking him for being so careful with the trees.  


As I walked away it suddenly struck me how God is like that.  He knows just where to cut, how much to cut, and when to do it.  Jesus' words came to mind:  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." - John 15:1-2.


My steps quickened.  "Oh, Father, prune me!  Cut!  Cut!  Cut!  Please make me more like you, that I might bear good fruit.  Cut away everything that is not pleasing to you!"   Tears came as I prayed.  He knows just where to cut, I marveled, as I walked up the steps to my door.    


How thankful I remain for the visible illustration I saw that early morning, when I least expected it.  How like our wonderful God to show himself to us with simplicity and truth.  Today as I recall that special morning, I am reminded of how much pruning I need, and am hopeful that he will cut off all the dead stuff.  He knows how.  I trust Him....He knows just where to cut.

Time to Think

My mother once wrote something about this.  It was better than what I'm about to write, but I know she would be glad I am making an effort.  Man!  She would have been the greatest blogger ever!!!!! So smart, so funny, so perceptive and observant.....But I am a different person

Now that I'm old I seem to have almost unlimited time to just think.  I say just think because it can be a source of painful embarrassment.  Imagine the following conversation....

"What are you doing?"

"I'm thinking."

"No, I mean what are you doing?"

(Trying to be patient...)  "I just told you. I'm sitting here thinking about things."

"Yes, but what are you doing?"

It would be better to say almost anything else.  You could say "I'm cleaning the toilet," or "I'm throwing up," or "I'm getting ready to go to work."  (very good one!)

But as I think about this very thing - thinking - it seems to me that it really does have value.  The greatest books that have ever been written only happened because someone was thinking.  The most important and useful things that were ever invented came to be because someone thought about it.  

But how many times have you been doing just that - thinking - only to be interrupted by a phone-call with someone asking the dreaded question: "What are you doing?"  Have you ever given the honest answer - Thinking?  It's embarrassing.  You have to make excuses for yourself:  "...uh, mmm.....I was thinking about ironing."

Well, I have been thinking a lot lately.  I mean marathon thinking.  Pondering.  And not about ironing.  

I've been a Christian since I was a young child.  But for most of my life I have been what I would call a "FELT-BOARD CHRISTIAN."  By that I mean I heard the stories of Jesus early in life and immediately believed them.  I have always known and believed in God.  I have always believed that Jesus was the son of God.....and then there was something about his dying for me on the cross....and he rose from the dead, and now he lives in my heart.  I knew all this....on a childish level from the time I was 8 until just recently.  

It is a good thing to surrender yourself to thinking!  I thank God that he has made my brain in such a way that I can do just that.  He has given me a faith in himself that has sustained me, so far, though childish, through over 67 years!  For the most part, it has been a very infantile faith.....never going deeper than the facts learned in felt-board Bible lessons. (The manger scene, the Good Shepherd, Jesus on the Cross and Jesus Rising from the Dead.....Only during the past two years have I become aware of the HUGENESS of this God.  

Only this year have I discovered the truly awesomeness of his grace and mercy to me.  Only this month have I had any valuable understanding of the Holy Spirit, and how he functions within the trinity.

If I had been asked three years ago "Do you love God?"  I would have answered "Of course I do."  If the question had been "Do you know God?"  my answer would have been the same. (Both answers would have been true, but only on a very superficial level.)   Now today I am just beginning to love God and know God....on something more than an infantile level.  There is so much more to God than I had ever known before.  In J.I. Packer's book "Knowing God," he says this, "What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight and contentment than anything else? Knowledge of God."  He goes on to say that "knowing God is a matter of grace....We do not make friends with God; God makes friends with us."  

So I am just getting started, just beginning to know and love the God I have always thought I knew and loved; and I am excited!  And I am THINKING A LOT!  Thank you God, for Time to Think.  I won't apologize for that any longer.  Charles Spurgeon was just thinking when he wrote "All of Grace" (one of my favorite books)......Thank you God, for giving him those thoughts!

Now, I guess I really should wash the dishes................

 

On Blogging

Okay, this is my first blog, so please be patient with me.  Blog....what a strange word this is.  I have a dictionary here on the shelf, not really too old (well, maybe 10 years), and blog is nowhere to be found.  It must be a combination of other words, or perhaps an acronym?

If I'm going to blog (yes, blog is also a verb, as is every other word in the English language nowadays), I think I should purchase a thesaurus (not an acronym).  I should probably do a little research on this.  I like to know how things get their start.

I just realized that in the description I wrote of myself I didn't include some very important information:  I am a mother, a sister, an aunt and a grandmother.  I was the happy wife of Jerry Meyers for nearly 29 years and still miss him a lot.  He's been gone over 8 years....not just gone, though.  He died in 2002.  I am mostly retired, healthier than I deserve to be,  and am content with widowhood.  I have 3 sons.  There are long stories regarding each of these fine men.  Michael is 49, Kurt (actually my cherished stepson,) 43, and Erik, who is 33; My grandchildren are also exclusively male; all 8 of them; ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 23years.  As I said, it's complicated. Michael's sons are Michael Jr. & Alex; Kurt's boys: Jacob and Jared; Erik's 4 boys, Payton, Brady, Jackson and Blaise, are the youngest. I love them all, although I don't know Michael's sons. You don't have to know your grandkids to love them!

I can tell that I will do a great deal of rambling as I write, because that is how I think.

I'm curious, for example, how, when, where, why, and by whom the adjectives awesome and amazing came to be practically the only words folks under 30 ever use to describe something that is good.   Most people don't wonder about those kinds of things, but I do.  On any TV program, any time, (unless it is an old rerun), you will hear these 2 words used over and over and over again -- especially programs that are in "real time."  Sadly, there are few of us who ever notice such things.  I've always been fascinated by speech patterns in America.  There are so many anomalies....I'll probably mention some of them another time, but I sense your restlessness here.

I haven't always been this curious.  It's been a gradual thing with me.  It pretty much started when I first began to realize I was no longer young.  I think it was a Tuesday.  Maybe 10 or 12 years ago.  (Who cares?)

There's a lot more to be said about all of this, but I'm going to stop now because you are tired of reading my random thoughts. Visit me again. I really hope you will.

Let me close with these words, not my own, but quoting the apostle Paul in Romans 15:13....."May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."