The fruits of the vine...

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing”

John 15:1-5

I have to admit that lately I've fallen short. No bible study, no real quality time spent with God...sure there's plenty of quick bullet prayers here and there. You know the ones...Lord thank you so much for this and that and help so and so get through such and such. Bullets that almost become a list of "to-do's" for lack of a better word. Yes, they are prayers and yes they are meant from the heart and no there is nothing wrong with talking to God in the shower or while driving down the road...in fact...he wants to be a part of all of our mundane daily chores. He loves for us to come to Him while doing the dishes or buying groceries...he tells us to come just as we are and where ever we are...just come.

So why is it so difficult to carve out that daily quality time? Not the bullet prayer time but that real one on one time, where we sit down with a cup of coffee, our bibles, our pens, and our precious Heavenly Father for the ultimate chit chat. We can pour out our hearts, our dreams, our fears and we're not judged or laughed at but loved and cared for. He wants to be a part of our lives and in every single detail...even in changing poopie diapers. So why is it so difficult? We (okay I) allow too much "stuff" to get in the way. I think of my mile long to-do list and all of the things that I want to get done between the hours of 8-5, even more specifically between the nap time hours. Then I think of the things that I wish I could get done, like going to the store, organizing the playroom, the huge list of projects that just have to wait until a sitter day. I end up using nap time to start so many of those projects, then they end up getting in the way even more because something that would normally take an afternoon ends up taking a week. I forget about that when I begin something...but that's another post in itself.

Sure at times we have to focus on our lists of things to do but the fact is that Satan loves for us to list focus. You see, focusing on the list gets our focus off of God and onto the stress that "THE LIST" brings. I find it so touching that God cares about every item on my list! He cares that I need to buy diapers. He even cares that I didn't buy enough hinges and I have to go to Home Depot to buy another one. HOW COOL IS THAT!?!? And, He knows what a chore it is for me to load two babies up and take them into the store with me. He knows that I could be in and out in the time that it would take me to unbuckle two car seats and load them in the buggy complete with it's germ free cover. He gets it, He gets me!! WOW!!!

I have to ask, are we producing beautiful fruit or do our vines need to be pruned? For me, I feel like my vine has some fruit but it's certainly not weighed down by the heaviness and beauty of the fruit. Perhaps, I need some pruning! So again, I ask, why is it difficult to carve out time for Him, to be the fruit producing wife, mother, and woman that he wants me to be? Yes, for me my list gets in the way, but that's more of an excuse than an actual answer. I guess the answer is well...I don't quite know why.

So today, I'm starting an online bible study that can be found here.

I'd love to hear about your vine.