On Tuesdays I bring my pup Merriweather with me to the office.  She loves to come run around, say hi to Susan and whomever else may be in the building.  Her favorite thing to do, besides sleeping on my desk,  is walking around the campus, looking for bunnies, chasing the birds, and smelling all the new smells.  Yesterday as we walked around outside, I stopped to smell the roses.  Currently the Memorial Garden is in full bloom and the roses are gorgeous!  I have always loved rose gardens. They remind me of my childhood.  My grandmother and my mom always had such big beautiful fragrant rose blossoms almost year round (you can do that in warm dry climates!)

Now, I am not a very good gardener, I don’t have a green thumb and probably more importantly I am not a very successful gardener because I forget to water my plants. But, I do know there is more to gardening than just watering! I watched my grandmother and my mom tend rose bushes when I was young. Pruning the bushes during their growing season and cutting them way back during their dormant season. At first glance I thought they were just cutting branches with no rhyme or reason and when I offered to help, I was shown the proper way to prune a rose bush. It is a very methodical job, pruning…being sure not to cut off healthy branches but cutting right above the bud which allows more nutrients to the bud while removing the non-productive portion of the branch. Pruning is promoting better growth by cutting away the branches that are no longer producing flowers. The result of a good pruning is a very full beautiful rose bush!

Pruning is a painful but necessary process.  There are times in our lives where God is doing some pruning, cutting off the life-draining things to make room for the life-giving things!  This Sunday we look at another of Jesus’ “I AM” statements.  I am the Vine, you are the branches.  Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. How are you bearing fruit?  Where might you need pruning so you can bear more fruit?

Blessings,
Pastor Jenni

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.
He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit.
Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.
(John 15:1-2)