Trimming hedges.

We purchased a new home about a year ago. It is bigger than the home we had before, in that it has four bedrooms instead of three. We have three kids, so there is much more peace in the house, which is better for all involved. The house had been empty for several months and needed much "TLC". We did lots of painting for a couple of weeks, but it was nice to be able to put our own signature on our new house. The yard, was another story. Although the landscaping was once beautiful, filled with many shrubs and plants and one large magnificent tree in the front, it needed a lot of care. We pulled weeds, and weeds, and a little more weeds. One day my husband asked me to pick him up some loppers. If you don't know what these are, they are very large scissors that can cut plants and shrubs. But, our plants were too much for these loppers to handle. So, my husband then decides he needed something with more power. He went out and bought an electric hedge trimmer. You know how men are, if it doesn't have a gas motor on it or plug into a socket, it just isn't powerful enough. Or should I say "manly" enough? I would write the grunting noise that Tim Taylor used to make on the show "Home Improvement", but I'm not sure how to spell that. Anyhow, you get my drift, the louder the better! So, on a nice sunny day he decides to "trim" the hedges. They were very tall and had no shape to them. He started trimming. He trimmed, and he trimmed, and he trimmed. Until, I thought he was going to just cut them at the root. They were not long anymore, but they weren't too pretty either. I thought to myself...he has scalped my yard! Everything was weed free, trimmed up and very short. I was fearful that it would never grow back. So, I waited. We went through a very hot summer, a very cold winter and now we are approaching spring. The bushes are nice and full. The hedges are growing strong, and are still nice and trim. Our trees are blooming and making gorgeous white flowers that fall to the ground once they are fully bloomed. It reminds me of little angel wings floating on the grass. The honey suckle bushes are in bloom and starting to attract small birds. The small hedges in the back yard are blooming with a fuscia colored flower that I didn't even know it could grow. The sweet smell is beginning to fill up the yard. My yard is absolutely beautiful and it's only the "beginning" of spring! If my husband would not have cut away the old, the new would have never shined through. It looks like my entire yard is now praising God. The flowers in bloom look as though they are raising their hands to God and thanking HIM for the sunshine. I am amazed! Sometimes, God needs to do that with us. HE needs to pull our weeds that are haunting us from our past. He needs to cut away the hurts that have prevented us from growing. HE needs to prune us of those bad habits and sins that we keep trying to hold on to. HE needs to cut us down to size a little and humble our hearts, so that HIS glory can shine through us. It might feel like HE is picking on us, but HE is just trying to help us grow. We can't look at what God does sometimes, we need to look at HIS heart. HE loves us and wants us to grow in HIM. HE is helping us to grow stronger and taller so our beauty can "bloom" for all to see. HE wants us to be better than we were before! So, it might feel uncomfortable if God is changing us, but it is all for our good. When our pruning is all through, and our weeds are all out, then we can walk with our hands raised high, praising HIM for what HE has "bloomed" within us. Feel good about the "newness" that God is creating in you and be glad HE doesn't use gas powered loppers! II Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"