Are Your Branches Groaning?

If I had my friend Kim Fritzemeier's (Food for Thought blog) photographic abillities and techno-savy, you would see a picture of my peach tree with its limbs dragging the ground, loaded with peaches. Unfortunately,you'll have to imagine it--branches so laden with fruit that I had to prop them up with boards. Our Lovely Branches Ministries is celebrating a year of harvests, too, and we're praying that we can all abide in Jesus to bear more fruit.

How about you? How's your harvest? Being a gardner, I've got too much of a good thing right now. We just picked sand hill plums to make jelly and jam. I have corn, cucumbers, green beans and blackberries to do something with also. But in my spiritual life, or in my relationships with others, my harvests aren't so impressive. I'm not bearing much fruit because I'm not abiding with Jesus as I should.
One of my grandmother's favorite hymns has lyrics telling of meeting with Jesus in a garden alone in the morning, the chorus says: "And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we linger there, none other has ever known."
Spend some time with the One who tells us that "apart from me, ye can do nothing."

Gardening season is also a great time to explain these Biblical principles to children. One of my favorites is the parable of the sower and also that you reap what you sow. (plant)
Clearly, if you plant watermelons, you don't get green beans. This is the tie-in to show children that what we "plant", our actions, thoughts and words, will be what we reap, or get back. If we plant kind words and deeds, that's what we get. If we plant selfish deeds, that will be our crop, too.
This is also how you can introduce the concept that what we "plant"or let into our minds is what we "reap" or have to think about. The book of Proverbs tells us that, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." We become what we think about.

I am a strong believer in the GIGO concept, Garbage in, garbage out. If what we and our children see and hear is garbage, that is what we have to think about . My kids knew I was a real stickler on this--fortunately, they understood the concept and didn't really test us, even as teens with music or t.v. Movies, maybe. It's hard to go against the culture, but so much of what we hear and see is not encouraging or uplifting, let alone portraying values we should have as Christians. I can't tell you how often I would come into the family room and one son would change the channel--he knew he was watching something not worth his time.


If that is a form of censorship, then I was guilty. I tried to read good books to them, and we watched some movies and shows together. We would discuss whether choices were God honoring or dishonoring and the results. I would even read some of the books they were reading if I was unfamiliar with the author. Only once did I ask one to not read the rest of the book--I explained why, and he was o.k. with it.



Moms, you are the "gatekeeper" of your home. You (and your husband) decide what can come in and stay--be it magazines, books, music, movies, t.v. or computer/videogames. It's like an obnoxious or evil person passing by your house--you don't have to invite them in!
This means we have to be accountable in our own habits as well--we turned off programs we might have wanted to see because we knew they weren't the best. You have to hold yourselves as parents to the same standards! Your kids will be watching and listening to see what you watch and listen to.
When our kids were in grade school and started going to other homes, we had a special arrangement. If they were watching a movie that was scary or they didn't think was o.k., they could call me and say they had a headache or didn't feel good and I would come get them. Maybe that wasn't completely honest, but I didn't expect them to explain their discomfot at that age. (And it made for a quick solution--most moms are glad to send a little guest home if they don't feel good--which they didn't, if they were scared by a movie!) This only happened once.

Keep reminding your family and yourself that we can't bear much fruit unless we're abiding in Jesus and His word, and not filling our hearts, homes and minds with the garbage of the world.





Summer vacation is winding down, so aim for a harvest of good times and memories before the rush or school again.





May we all be "groaning" under the weight of a huge harvest of fruits for God.