before and after 83/366

This is a photo of my raspberry patch before I worked on it today

This is a picture after I spent time pruning plants and pulling weeds 

big

small

all

I looked closely

I pulled hard

I got dirt under my fingernails

 to get the unwanted growth out by the roots

why work that hard?

because if you leave the root, 

the weeds just keep getting bigger and harder to get out

this work is satisfying and rewarding to me,

long before the "obvious" reward comes,

when the fruit ripens and I can pick without battling weeds

 by the way, 

 those patches of green you see close to the ground 

are not weeds I missed

look closer

they are strawberry plants!
finding them may have been the best part of working today,
I'd forgotten I'd planted them last year hoping Abigail and Selah would get to pick some

I wonder what other pleasant surprises will come my way 
as I continue to do the next right thing
sometimes I wish I could a picture of my heart,
and take snapshots along the way
as God does His work there...

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." Jesus speaking in John 15:1-7