Pruning Hurts! Ouch!!

I have been slacking in the Blogging world, but as a little re-boot, I want to share my husband's blog with you today. It hit me deeply today as God revealed some areas in my life that need to be pruned.

May it be a blessing to you as well.

(Mr.) "Koehne’s Corner"



This weekend I had to cut down all of the bougainvillea plants in my back yard because they were dead from the frost this winter. If you are unfamiliar with these plants they have a lot of sharp thorns. I would have liked to take them all down in one fell swoop, but I couldn’t do it that way. It was one small branch at a time until all the dead parts were removed so the new parts could grow. It was long and painful and I got scratched and pierced by the thorns more than a few times. I pulled thorns out of the bottom of my shoes at least a dozen times through the process. While this was an unpleasant and sometimes painful thing to do, it was necessary if I wanted the dead parts off and the plant to survive.

God does the same thing with us. He wants to cut away the dead parts of our lives so the new parts can grow. Sometimes he needs to cut away more than we would like. We even stick our thorns out to try to protect the things in our lives we don’t want to give up. John 15:2 tells us, “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.” God has a bigger and better plan, even when it seems painful to us. As the dead parts of our lives are cut away, the new and living parts have a chance to grow. As difficult as it is, lets work together to try to embrace the work God is doing in our lives rather than sticking our thorns out to resist it. -Bob Koehne

Thank you, Bob for your heart and sharing this week!
So, here is the actual finished product. Oh, that I may look like that!