brenda’s thoughts, watch out I’m Christian

Yesterday I went out to watch for that little gator. Actually I went out to finish a sketch, read my Bible and ‘be still and listen’. My reward was the little gator.

I had a couple hours to kill early in the morning, needed some quiet time and wanted to work on a sketch. So I packed a small bag and hiked around the other side of the pond watching my watch as I went. I didn’t have the whole day just a few hours.

It took me a few minutes and some self-discipline to get settled. The first tree stump I came to was covered in Poison Ivey. The next tree stump was right next to a trail I hadn’t hiked down yet. My instinct was to leave the bag of work and hike that trail. I didn’t have time for both and had to choose. My time was escaping and I hadn’t even sat down yet. So down I sat and immediatly I noticed a water turtle at my feet. I took it as a sign that I had made the right choice. 

I broke out my oils and arranged them on the lid of their box. I found an empty page in my sketchpad and began. In moments I was blissfully engaged in the flow and color of the picture. It wasn’t much longer before the picture began to come alive. I was pleased with it. I looked up to take a breath and noticed I had an audience. The little alligator had come to see what this strange creature on its shore was doing. I lifted the picture in the air and said, “What do think? I like it.” He didn’t seem to form an opinion, but he didn’t leave either so I imagined that that meant he didn’t dislike it. 

As I was packing my bag and hiking back to the car I couldn’t help but wonder at how blessed my life is. God really is so good to me.

I went picking blackberries the other day and ended up face to face with a rattlesnake. Ok, it was more like face to ankle.

I was reaching deep into a bush for a really big blackberry when I heard a sound. It made me think of katydids. I straightened up to see it better. That’s when I saw it. But it wasn’t a katydid. Directly in front of me was a medium sized dark colored rattlesnake. It’s head was rocking back and forth while it’s tongue tasted the air for my where abouts.

I wasn’t scared but I didn’t stick around either. For the rest of the day my mom was jittery. Every time I said “ouch” or “darn it”, she would holler out, “Did you hear it? Did it get you? Are you ok?” Since blackberry bushes are covered in thorns she was hollering at me a lot.

This is old 

Today’s question is, “What does Jesus mean when he says, in John 15 1-2, ‘every branch that does bear fruit he prunes’?”

What does it mean to be pruned? If you read on in the next verse we learn that pruning produces more fruit. So pruning is a good thing but it still sounds painful. So how are people pruned?

It is interresting to be a Baptist in a Catholic school. There is just enough difference to add a flavor on perspective. (The whole ‘Mary thing’ aside, obviously.) Sometimes Father Fred brings up or points out ideas that I, having been fed Baptist sermons all my life, had not heard before. Maybe I had not heard them because I wasn’t ready to hear them. So I ask you, “What does Jesus mean when he says prune?”

June 19, 06 

I have since briefly researched pruning and found that flowering trees are pruned for several reasons. One reason is to shape the tree for both aesthetic appeal and practical purposes. Its easier to pick fruit from a short tree.

Trees are also pruned so that they will produce more fruit. Pruning actually revitalizes gowth in the area that was pruned. 

The question is what shape do you need to be so that God can use you and what area of your spiritual life needs revitalizing. Is God coming toward you with pruning shears, hedge clippers or a power saw?