Pictures from the farm

Starting the farm

We have been here almost a month now and are settling in nicely. Each day holds promise of work but after the day is done we have always seen the fruits of our labor. I am struck by how this simple day to day existence so closely correlates to the teachings of God's Word.
Two weeks ago I began to prune the grape vine and apple trees. Of course, the kids were right there wanting to help and know why it has to be done. So we talked about each tree we pruned. The first tree was healthy so it only needed the growth from last year taken off to make room for this year's crop but the second tree was filled with a fungus and alot of dead branches. Kind of like us, I told them. Sometimes we stop growing and become comfortable with where we are in our walk with God and He has to take a little off to get us growing again. But sometimes the sin is deep like a fungus and part of us has actually died in our love of God so the pruning is hard and severe. My goal is not to kill the tree, I told the kids, but to save it and have it once again produce fruit. So it is with our Lord. When He prunes, it is because He loves us and wants us to grow again and bear fruit.