Pruning or Lessons from Tomatoes

I injured myself a few times this week. I'm still moving gingerly, and every now and then I get a wince-causing reminder that I need to pay better attention. Each time I fell, scraped, or banged a part of my body on something, I think God was saying, "Pay attention."

We've been working on a lot of outside projects this past week while the kids were in camps all day, and one of mine was taming the garden after copious amounts of rain. I've never taken the time to prune our tomatoes, just planted, hoped for the best, and they've done fine.

However, these guys were not going to be fine.

So much rain had made them huge and they had completely engulfed some of our pepper plants.

I had to research how to prune properly, and I found out some things that I did not know. So, last night, despite having spent a lot of time in the garden this past week, I went out to the tomato patch. And I paid attention.

The plant has branches that produces tomatoes, and it also has branches called suckers. Left to their own devices the suckers will, literally, choke out the blossom branches. In their quest to survive, the branches which serve no purpose will kill the branches that are fulfilling the purpose of the plant. So, they have to be removed. In order for the plant to survive, these useless suckers have got to go. It's not an easy process. You have to get in there and find the beginning of the branch, and make sure that you don't cut out good stuff, too. More is cut away than is left. Just once doesn't do it, either, you have to keep working on them. Pruned, the plants look a little funny, almost naked, but because they are not weighed down by anything unnecessary they will stand firmly rooted when a storm comes through. Plus, because the plant is receiving everything it needs and nothing is hindering it, the fruit produced is going to be incredible.

It's hard to prune things from our lives.

We wonder if we'll survive.

It's part of us, after all, whatever we're pruning away. It could be a habit, or a person. Often fear will tell us that we can't cut it away, that we're just supposed to survive it, but what if we survive by getting rid of those suckers? What if we thrive? What if pruning away everything but what we're supposed to be producing is painful, but so necessary?

I'm ready. I want to cut away, and let go of the useless things that are keeping me from doing my best, and fulfilling my purpose. Those suckers used to be a part of me, but they don't get to hold me back. Fear, envy, anxiety, and uncertainty can take all of the positive out of a life, but if you prune them away and cut them off... wow.

The fruit.