Cut Back in order to Grow

In order to make way for a new season of growth, a gardener will prune regularly. 

Eighteen years ago, I brought a tiny vine clipping from Northern California to my garden. I planted the vine next to a trellis to see if it would take hold. For eighteen years, I've watched the vine climb and spread -- but no grapes. I'd prune and it would extend further and further every year until it completely encompassed the trellis. This year, after all of that waiting, pruning and growth, we finally got grapes! Bunches and bunches of grapes! It is perhaps one of the most exciting moments of persistence and growth I have experienced.

In life, we too must clear away, declutter, give away, and simplify in order to make room for new growth. The act of pruning always benefits us.

If you want change, welcome it. Make room for change in your life.

What Does Growing Mean?

The garden in summer reminds me just how much we focus on growing in our own lives, growing in age, growing in knowledge, growing in our careers, growing our talents, growing our relationships, growing our dreams, growing our families …I can go on and on. We put so much emphasis on growth yet rarely do we talk about how to prepare for and maintain growth in our lives.

Like a garden, our lives grow through seasons. We, too, experience bursts of energy and growth along with other seasons that are slow and almost dormant. In periods of growth, we must remember the role of the gardener and prune the excess and old limbs to make way for new growth, opportunities and thoughts. A strong, rooted foundation withstands unexpected weather or challenges that may come our way as we are growing.

During the seasons of growth in my life, I am often reminded of the biblical parables and historic references to sowing seeds.  When one’s life is rooted, an abundance of joy is present throughout the journey.

How are you growing your life today? Are you stretching and straining with too much noise and busyness? Are you giving yourself time to rest and to ‘just be’ for a season? Are you pruning out the unnecessary old ways to provide for a strong foundation and a next season of growth, while allowing the deep roots of your foundation to be maintained to your beliefs?

Take time to reflect upon the season of life you are growing into now.