Counseling has been a word that seems to be stemming from every angle the past few months. The theme of the Feather’s podcast this season is counseling and friends are going through counseling, we have been loosely counseling married couples this year and seemingly everywhere else.
In order to make room for counseling in our lives as my husband starts his Masters in Family Therapy, the Lord began pruning, leading us into new season marked with transitions. Removing what will no longer be fruitful in this season. Things that have been good and fruitful in the past have been trimmed for good measure and lightening branches to allow for growth in the future.
When pruning fails to happen, growth is stunted and the fruit cannot grow to its fullest, sweetest flavor – if at all. Pruning keeps the tree growing; no longer weighed down by branches that only take away from development.
But it is the timing that is everything. The Lord knows when to take it away. He knows the proper time to trim that will not injure the tree. Pruning at the wrong time can leave the tree open to disease and infection and ultimately lead to death instead of growth.
That is where I praise the Father for knowing exactly what we need, when we need it and following in obedience to his guidance. Knowing He knows when to let go before wounds and disease form; even if the act of letting go feels like the heart is physically breaking.
Transition has been a key word in my vocabulary the last few months. A pruning of sorts. Transition was coming and then it came and then again and still is settling waiting for the next. As the hours went down to part time and school bells rang into session and we hung up our hats at our church home where my husband pastored, the transitions came. Branches were cut off.
Anyone knows transitions take time and when they come, one after another, after another, it takes more time to settle in and figure out the ebbs and flows and to and fros. The scheduling and times and dates.
It is like a dance of slow feet with the loosening of each branch. Learning the sound of the music as instruments in the orchestra change, adding a violin and taking out the tuba, all the while the beat slows as branches fall. Learning how to get from one place to another in this sort of dance becomes an unhurried process of feet gliding and toes fumbling into each other but one that the Lord has been cultivating trust in who He is. Inviting us to be still and know that He is God.
Lighter and lighter; the branches are pruned and dropped to the ground, allowing others the space and time to grow and flourish; to bear more fruit as we learn to dance to the new beat.
Praying you see the Lord in whatever season you are in, whether in the dance of growth or finding your steps during the pruning. Praying you are able to let go in the pruning and see what the Lord has for you, even when you do not see what is next or how everything will work out.