Pruned in the Garden of Faith

For only the second time since planting roses beside our house 10 or more years ago, I did the annual pruning and feeding.  If there is an opposite of a green thumb (such as a brown thumb) when it comes to horticultural aptitude, I have it.  Which is why the majority of our front yard is drought-resistant rock and other forms of non-living ground cover.  But, I want the rose bushes to live as their fragrance and color are a gift each spring.  So, I have tried to educate myself on the mysteries of the seasonal nurturing.  Ruthlessly cutting back doesn't seem like a very helpful thing to do to a plant that is already dormant from lack of the sun's warmth and light.  Yet, it is.  It produced some lovely, healthy blooms last year after my first attempt at annual pruning.

For some time in my walk of faith, I have been feeling like these rose bushes: lacking light, cut back, and just lately, surrounded by, well 'fertilizer'.  Sometimes I am more thorny than I really have cause to be.  But, I have a flicker of confidence that a spring will come and am trusting in these words:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser… every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." (John 15).