How Does Your Garden Grow?

How does your garden grow? All the different plants are starting to bloom and sprout in my garden—I love to watch the new life spring forth! As I started learning to garden, it was really hard to prune back the possibility in plants. and with some of my plants—like my little dwarf apple tree—I still struggle to prune them back. However, on the plants that I have been willing to prune, I’ve seen amazing results, so why don’t I trust the process all the time with all the plants? We prune so that the plant bears more fruit, I know that, and yet I am still hesitant to clip of that bud or snip that branch. I am a gardener in training, with so much to learn.

Christ uses metaphors of farming and gardening in Scripture to illustrate our own spiritual journey. What do we need to prune away in our life that we might be hesitant to clip? Each branch in our lives that’s directed towards self love is sucking the nourishment and strength that could be going into the branches that desire to grow fruit for the Kingdom. And, we can’t determine which branches are which without examining our lives on a daily basis. Over and over through the years, I’ve tried to establish a daily examen in my life, but it hasn’t seemed to stick until I started doing formation with the community Apostoli Viae.  Now, I finally have a model that makes sense and is sustainable even in a varying routine. If you are looking for a community to propel you forward in your faith journey, I encourage you to check them out! https://www.apostoliviae.org/

What tools do you use for your daily pruning in your spiritual life?