Some of you will remember we wrote about our rose bushes at our new house.They are a symbol of God's provision of the perfect house for us as well as His abundant, overwhelming blessing. This past March it was finally time to prune them. (Yes spring is in March in Paris!) We are fortunate to have a landscape architect as a neighbour and he gave me (Debbie) lessons on when, and how to prune. 1. First we had to cut away all the dead branches. That part was easy. 2. Then we had to cut away any branch that was crossing another branch. That was a little harder as large branches ready to produce buds had to be pruned away. My neighbour explained that the thorns from crossing branches will cut the other branches when the wind blows, allowing disease to enter. OK then. It's a kindness to the whole bush to sacrifice those few branches. 3. Then came the tough part of pruning back large overgrown branches almost to the ground. It felt quite violent and drastic, but our neighbour assured me that it would produce an explosion of blooms. I have to trust him. He's the expert. My rose bushes are so important to me. I couldn't wait to prune them so they could become healthy, flower producing, happy bushes! I tenderly examined each branch to inspect indications of a new sprout. One, two, three..cut. I found myself apologizing to my rose bush as large amounts of leaves and stems fell to the ground, whispering assuring words that these deep cuts were going to make it healthier and more beautiful in time. I believe God has a lesson for us in the rose bush. Pruning is painful, but necessary and I could see our loving Heavenly Father tenderly surrounding us with his arms as He prunes away dead branches, and things that will damage and hurt us if allowed to cut us in the winds of life. We may not understand why He allows such deep and aggressive pruning but we trust the Master Gardener, because He's the expert of our souls. I'll keep you updated on my gardening green thumb, but more importantly on the beauty of trusting the pruning process to the Master Gardener, The Beautiful Rose of Sharon and the fragrant Lily of the Valley.