God's pruning in our lives

In preparing for my Sunday School lesson this week, I needed to consider pruning -- the pruning of trees and bushes and how it compares to God's work of pruning in the lives of His people.

My first assignment was to consider what benefits pruning promotes in the growth of plants. I'm not a gardener at all, but I thought I knew the answer to this in general. I decided to look it up a little bit in the only gardening book I own: The Green Thumb Book of Fruit and Vegetable Gardening, by George Abraham. In the section on fruit and nut trees, I found a lot of information. I jotted down just a few notes.

Here's the one concerning the pruning of grapes: “There is no one thing so completely disastrous to your efforts to grow grapes as vines that have not been regularly and properly pruned.”

Of apple trees, the book suggests: “A tree thick with branches won’t let sun in ... and it may have so much weak wood that it bears a large percentage of small apples.”

Concerning currants, the book notes that all canes should be removed at the age when they become “weak and not fruitful”.

Of hazelnut trees, it’s said they should be pruned to stimulate new growth. And walnut trees should be pruned to force growth in a particular direction.

So, benefits of pruning include letting in light and air, promoting greater growth or growth in a desirable direction, and increased capacity for quality fruit-bearing. And, lack of pruning can be disastrous! I also noticed that the various pruning techniques -- obviously best left to an expert -- vary with the type of tree or bush. Some must be pruned heavily, others lightly.

My next assignment was to consider what benefits pruning promotes when it comes to spiritual growth.

It seems to me that spiritual pruning has many of the same benefits as with plants. Letting in light, removing diseased areas, promoting growth, and increasing fruit-bearing and the capacity to produce higher-quality fruit.

Jesus said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." (John 15:1-2)

These verses tell us very simply of God’s pruning and purging plan and of the reason for it. Believer’s Bible Commentary explains, “The branch that bears fruit is the Christian who is growing more like the Lord Jesus. Even such vines need to be pruned or cleansed. Just as a real vine must be cleaned from insects, mildew, and fungus, so a Christian must be cleansed from worldly things that cling to him.”

Jesus went on to say, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. ... Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples." (John 15:5, 8)

Ruth Paxson, in her classic book Life on the Highest Plane, has a lot to say about fruit-bearing and pruning and purging. She points out especially verses 2 and 5 of John 15: “Surely there is progression in Christlikeness -- ‘not fruit’, ‘fruit’, ‘more fruit’, ‘much fruit’. Do these phrases not unveil before us the the possibilities and potentialities for Christlikeness open to every branch in the vine? Do they not also show us the positive progression ‘from glory to glory’ God expects to see in us? These expressions are descriptive. There is but one branch that fully satisfies the heart of the divine Husbandman.” That is seen in verse 8 -- that we bear much fruit.

Miss Paxson adds that God makes very clear the fruit which He expects to find on the branch -- the fruit of the Spirit. She notes, “The passion of the spiritual man is progress in things spiritual. He is not content with bearing ‘fruit’, no, not even with bearing ‘more fruit’; his heart is fixed upon the bearing of the ‘much fruit’ which alone glorifies the Father."

The classic devotional book Streams in the Desert gives a picture of what an unpruned vineyard might look like and makes a challenging application:

“A child of God was dazed by the variety of afflictions which seemed to make her their target. Walking past a vineyard in the rich autumnal glow she noticed the untrimmed appearance and the luxuriant wealth of leaves on the vines, that the ground was given over to a tangle of weeds and grass, and that the whole place looked utterly uncared for; and as she pondered, the Heavenly Gardener whispered so precious a message that she would fain pass it on:
“My dear child, are you wondering at the sequence of trials in your life? Behold that vineyard and learn of it. The gardener ceases to prune, to trim, to harrow, or to pluck the ripe fruit only when he expects nothing more from the vine during that season. It is left to itself, because the season of fruit is past and further effort for the present would yield no profit. Comparative uselessness is the condition of freedom from suffering. Do you then wish Me to cease pruning your life? Shall I leave you alone?’ And the comforted heart cried, ‘No!”

Are you living with difficulties today? Take heart! God has a purpose in it. It may just be that He is pruning your life in order to let in more light, remove diseased areas, promote spiritual growth, or increase your spiritual fruit-bearing. Hold steady as He wields the pruning knife, and look forward to the blessed result.

Another swiffer cover finished

Here is the most recent sewed swiffer cover I have made. I thought I would make two of each kind (crocheted, for dry mopping, and sewed, for wet mopping). I like the idea of having two so there is always a clean one ready when I need to mop. These are made using thin terry kitchen towels from Walmart.

This is the pattern I used:
Swiffer Cover. The pattern calls for terrycloth, but I decided to try using a kitchen towel instead and it worked very well. The first one I made had a coffee motif on the towel and the colors went really well with the swiffer. This one, as you see, has a grape and vineyard motif. It doesn't go quite as well color-wise, but is still attractive. On this one I used large vintage buttons in a wine color.


Here it is in place on the swiffer, button side up.



And here again, only now you can see the side that will be in contact with the floor when mopping.

I have used this and the only problem I see is that one really needs to wring it out before mopping rather than just dipping it in a bucket of cleaning solution and mopping away.  But that is easily done and not a huge problem.  Other than that I was very pleased with how it worked, and especially pleased with the $1 price tag!  I could have avoided even spending that by utilizing a used terry dish towel, but I thought the thinner, stiffer cheap ones would work better for this purpose -- wouldn't slide around so much.  That turned out to be true.

It makes mopping more fun to use something so decorative, and one gets to be frugal at the same time. It's a win-win!

A helpful apple hint!

In my newest issue of Taste of Home, I read an interesting hint about apples for snacks, kids' lunches, etc. The author suggested draining the pineapple juice from a can of pineapple (the kind packed in juice) and pouring it over sliced apples in a zip-top plastic bag. Shake the bag well to be sure all the apple slices have been coated with the pineapple juice. The author said that the apple slices would stay fresh and crisp for days in the fridge this way.

I just had to try this, as I had just opened a can of pineapple chunks, and I just happened to have 5 or 6 apples in the crisper drawer. I washed the apples -- 3 Granny Smiths and a couple of Fujis --well with fruit and veggie wash and cut each unpeeled apple into about eight chunks, not slices. As I cut them up I placed the apple chunks into a gallon-size zip-top freezer bag. It seemed to me that the freezer bag, being heavier, might stand up better to this task. Then I poured the pineapple juice over the apples, sealed the bag and shook it well to coat the apple chunks.

I was really pleased with how this worked. It was so nice to have apples all cut up and snack-ready. Mr. T also took a snack-size container of the apples in his lunch one day. And we used them as a meal accompaniment (in lieu of fruit salad) on another day. I had cut up the apples on a Wednesday and they were still in great shape on the following Monday. So I highly recommend this helpful idea! I do think that perhaps another time I would use a covered plastic container rather than the zip-top bag, just to make it easier to remove the apple chunks as needed.

Double-Good Blueberry Pie

My dad's blueberry bushes have been producing so well this year! He is enjoying picking berries every day and sharing them with others. This weekend I made a favorite old blueberry pie recipe. I had forgotten how delicious it was -- definitely my favorite blueberry pie because one can really taste the fresh blueberries in it.

DOUBLE-GOOD BLUEBERRY PIE

1 baked 9-inch pie shell
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tblsp. cornstarch
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup water
1 quart fresh blueberries, divided use
1 Tblsp. butter
1 Tblsp. lemon juice
Whipped topping or whipped cream

Combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan. Gradually add the water and stir in2 cups of the blueberries. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Continue to cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until mixture is thickened and clear. Remove from the heat and stir in butter and lemon juice. Allow mixture to cool.

When mixture has cooled, stir in the remaining 2 cups of raw fresh blueberries. Pour mixture into pie shell and spread evenly to fill shell. Chill the pie for several hours before serving. Top entire pie or each individual serving with whipped cream or whipped topping.

A picnic by the river!

Longtime readers will remember that Mr. T and I used to picnic by the river nearly every Wednesday evening in summer and fall on the way to church. Due to changes in our lives and Mr. T's work schedule, that just hasn't been possible for a long, long time.

Today Mr. T got home from work mid-morning due to weather-related problems at work. He proposed that we pick up some subs and chips, grab a couple bottles of water from the fridge and have a picnic by the river for lunch today! Of course, I was only too happy to go along with the idea. Rain was threatening, but it held off while we were eating. It was actually a more tranquil, leisurely picnic than those we used to have, because there were no time constraints. We could just take time and enjoy the quiet there by the river. What a blessing in the midst of a busy day! God is so good to give us these little surprises in our lives from time to time.

Handmade marshmallow giveaway at Heart and Home!

I recently read about an amazing, delicious-sounding giveaway at Heart and Home. The items being given away are fabulous handmade marshmallows from Softly Sweetly .

If, like me, you thought homemade marshmallows had to be just plain vanilla or possibly coconut, you will be amazed at the varieties offered at Softly Sweetly . You will definitely want to get in on this giveaway, which ends July 19. So head on over to Heart and Home and get in on the fun!

And maybe, like me, you will also be inspired to try making some homemade marshmallows ... just as soon as the heat breaks!

Tomato Soup Cake

Last week was my dad's 87th birthday. Rather than attempt any kind of a party, we took him out for a late lunch at his favorite seafood place. I wanted to make him a birthday cake, but knew that realistically he wouldn't be able to eat an entire cake.

Every year since I can remember, his traditional birthday cake has always been tomato soup cake with a vanilla butter frosting. When my mother was still able to bake, I didn't think much about what recipe she used. I thought it had been the one in a little community cake cookbook. And so, when I started making his cake, I sort of shuffled between that recipe and ones found on the internet, etc. Some years, a friend or granddaughter has made his cake.

This year I looked at the cake cookbook but the recipe just didn't seem right. Finally I decided to look in my old recipe box, which contains a lot of recipes I had copied before leaving home. Sure enough, way at the back of the cake section was the batter-spattered recipe for tomato soup cake:

And here's the back of the recipe:

I decided to make cupcakes, so that I could take him only a few on a plate, and also because the weather was so hot and cupcakes would take less time in the oven. The recipe would have fit into 12 cupcake tins, but I only used 11. I was referring to some old directions for baking cupcakes from cake recipes, and they said to make 10 or 11 cupcakes for a 9-inch pan's worth of batter. Next time I will make a dozen, as some of these overflowed their tops.

The cupcakes were really too soft and crumbly, I think because I followed the "cake flour substitute" formula which involves subtracting 2 Tblsp. flour from every cup of all-purpose flour. I also spooned the flour into the measuring cup, something I know one is supposed to do, but I usually just scoop the flour (except in yeast bread recipes) and it works out better for me. So next time I will scoop the flour and use the full 2 cups.

I frosted them with a vanilla butter frosting. Most people use a cream cheese frosting for tomato soup cake, but my mother always used just a basic butter frosting and my dad prefers that. The day was so warm that the frosting threatened to slide off. As soon as I added some candy sprinkles, I put the cupcakes in the fridge. That also helped with their soft crumbly texture.

My dad enjoyed his birthday cupcakes, and Mr. T took full advantage of the leftovers!