Crepe Myrtles

Hurricane Ivan knocked our 20' tall crepe myrtle trees to the ground. Tim decided to prune the trees yesterday so they would stand up straight again, once they get their new leaves and flowers. I decided to be the pruning coach who directs the manual labor.

"Maybe," I suggested, "you could just prune them a little ways down and they'll spring back up."

Silent, Tim hacked a branch to about 8' off the ground.

"Well, okay, that's good," I said. "We'll just prune them all to about 8 or 10' and then they'll send out branches from those trunks."

He kept cutting lower.

"But, Tim," I heard a whine in my voice. "If you cut them too low then they'll be bushy and not tree-like. I don't want bushes, I want trees!"

He kept cutting, until all that remained were trunk-sticks, about 3' tall.

Finished with the job, my stubborn-yet-wise husband turned to me and said, "Every time I prune, you say those things, but six months later when the trees are beautiful, you tell me you were glad I did it."

"Every time?" I ask. I really doubt I question his pruning every time.

"Yep." Okay, so maybe I think my coaching is needed every time.

"Well, have you always been right?"

"Always," he says, turning to my Magnolia Tree....


God has been doing some pruning in my life lately - not on the trees, but on me. And I've been doing some coaching.

Today, in I Timothy 6:15, I read "He will bring about at the proper time--He who is the blessed and only Sovereign [that means "Controller"], the King of kings and Lord of lords,"

If God is the Blessed Controller, He probably doesn't need my coaching. Six months later, or maybe a day later or a year later, I will see that through His pruning, my life is more beautiful.

And I will remember that He is always right.