This month, our CW blog chain topic is Nurture. There have been a number of excellent posts about it by my chain gang friends; after you get done here, click on this CW Blog Chain link or the one at the top of the page to find the list. Now, on to today’s post…
All (black) thumbs
I’m not the gardener in our family. My youngest brother can coax life out of a stick, while I’m more likely to hasten its decay into compost. Still, I know a couple of things about the practice of gardening. One of them comes courtesy of the Bible:
Pruning promotes prosperous plants. (Photo from the Smiling Gardener blog; click to read the original post.)
“I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser. Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit. You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the word which I have given you [the teachings I have discussed with you]. Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.” – John 15:1-4, Amplified Bible
Jesus was speaking of our relationship with God and how He as the Vinedresser prunes our lives so that we’ll bear fruit. The two points in this passage are vital to our growth as followers of Jesus: abiding (dwelling) in Jesus and allowing God to prune our lives.
The principle is the same for other areas of our lives – some activities and practices are suckers, offshoots that sap energy from the main branch. If left unpruned, they can get out of hand and wither our life plant because we get exhausted trying to keep them nourished.
Time management as pruning
Last night, a group of writers from the Christian Indie Authors online group was chatting about Time Management. Chat rooms are generally chaotic anyway, and when you throw a bunch of writers into one place, it’s like herding cats. However, our moderator, Pastor George, does a good job of wrangling us kitties, and some good points did come out of last night’s gathering.
One that we touched on briefly is eliminating distractions, like turning off the Internet or limiting your time on it while you’re writing. That’s the type of pruning I’m talking about; streamlining activities, possessions and whatnot so the things God wants you to accomplish can thrive.
A case of CADD
Someone at church the other day complimented my talents after seeing something I’d crocheted. The folks at Shepherd’s Way already know I make jewelry, and many of them bought Chantal’s Call as soon as the print edition went live. They’ve also seen a few dance specials (with and without hoops). So I knew the sister speaking really meant what she was saying. But I showed her a different take on the situation. I laughed and replied, “I call it Creative ADD.”
A little CADD isn’t bad; it keeps my life interesting and keeps me challenged. But I have to prune it occasionally – turn off the TV, close my Internet connection, put the hula hoops and crochet hooks away for a while, cull my jewelry supply stash and bless other makers with the surplus. Otherwise, my side interests will suck away my writing time. I want them to enrich it by giving my writing depth and flavor, not kill it.
Final thoughts
What about you? Do you have some suckers growing on your life plant? What offshoots could you prune to strengthen the energy flowing into your main life plant?
I like the concept of pruning as an aspect of nurturing.
Thanks, Mike. I appreciate the comment.
Great post, Traci! Like you, I’ve felt as though I should prune things that distract from my writing. This was yet another confirmation to do just that.
Thanks, Deborah. I’m glad God was able to use my post to confirm what you feel He’s been telling you.
Great post, Taci, and you used one of my favorite passages about the vine and the branches. You really hit the nail on the head about concentrating on what’s important. I’m a morning person and I tell myself email and the internet doesn’t work until afternoon. ;o) It’s like that old song: “You’ve got to accentuate the positive…” Peace and Blessings
Excellent idea, Ed – wouldn’t work for me, but a great tip for those who can swing it.
Thanks for the comments. Shalom to you too, my friend.
Good post! I appreciate you discussing pruning as part of nurturing. While not one of the first things “nurturing” usually brings to my mind, pruning is a loving act. I love your discussion of “suckers, offshoots that sap energy.” Thank you for a thoughtful and timely treatment of this theme.
You’re welcome, Sandi. I’m glad you enjoyed the post and got something good out of it.
I loved this post, Traci. Hubby and I recently spent several hours honing down my ever-widening circle of writing genres. I settled on the 2 I’m most passionate about: children’s (MG and YA) fiction and young Christian women’s non-fiction. It’s still a pretty wide range but at least now I have a focus and understand why.
That’s great, Carol! I’m not yet to the point where I need to prune my writing, but I can see it going that direction. Between the novel in progress, the two that need to be edited, the three stand-alone novel ideas I want to explore, the poetry blog and this one, I can definitely foresee a need at some point in the near future to focus my efforts.
I do this now and then I call it a ear fast. I will turn off anything and everything that distracts me. TV, Radio, and though I look at the internet it normally goes too, on one of these days. I’m the fearless leader as Pastor George calls me of the Christian Indie Group, and happy to have Traci as one of our members. I’m learning more and more that time management and schedules are very important, and I have a new daily schedule and I’m trying to stick to it. We have a new thread on the forum just about this topic. A place where we can go and have others kind of help hold us in line and make sure we accomplish our new goals. Great topic Traci.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Samantha. I like to do an ear fast occasionally too. Sometimes we need the quiet to reset our brains, tune in to God and move forward with whatever we’re really supposed to be doing instead of watching NCIS marathons…
Good post Traci thanks for mention too I appreciate it. Pruning is something we have been talking about with a fellow pastor who’s church seems to be going through a prunning. I told him you have to cut away the dead so that new growth can happen. We can apply that to our life and our writing as well
You’re welcome, Pastor George! I believe if we don’t prune occasionally, we get overgrown and overrun, like the kudzu I write about in the opening of Chantal’s Call.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I appreciate it.
I like the way you take the biblical concept of pruning and apply it to time management. Some really good thoughts there.
Thanks, Adam. I’m glad you got something good out of it.
Nice post though gardening analogies don’t usually work for me. The garden is one of those ‘magic’ places where thigs sort of happen, though generally it’s because Val has been out there.
I know what you mean; I’m definitely no gardener, but I relate to the pruning analogy because I’m in the midst of decluttering my room and also thinking about letting some of my side interests go dormant for a while so I can concentrate on Brigitte’s Battle.
Spot on Traci! Sometimes I don’t realize how single minded I get with all the business of self publishing, it’s a lot of work! I’ve spent my spare time networking and writing and seeking promotional opportunities so much that I’ve neglected more important aspects of my life – like giving my husband attention. I’ve had to limit my time on line and nurture the relationship in front of me. He forgives me and is very supportive of my efforts, which keeps me going forward. Peace and blessings!
Sounds familiar, Terrie. Trying to balance the writing career (the one that pays peanuts at the moment
), the day job, relationships with family and friends, and my side interests is exhausting. I’ve been strongly considering putting my Etsy shop in vacation mode, boxing up all my jewelry and crochet supplies, and putting them in my closet for now so I can concentrate on finishing Brigitte’s Battle and better marketing Chantal’s Call.
You’re blessed to have such an understanding and supportive husband. That encouragement does wonders for one’s motivation.
Traci, I’m sorry I’m so late. I’m still trying to play catch up on my comments. Great post! My dad had green fingers like your brother. He could bring a dead stick back to life. We all have something that needs pruning to allow for the nurturing. Thank you for the reminder!
No problem, Lynn. I’m playing catch-up too. I’m glad you enjoyed the post.