My sister helped my mom to water her orchids and noticed a bare stem still on one of the plants. It had finished blooming a while ago and the flowers had all come off. She told my mom that she was going to cut it off and prepare the plant to rest. When it is blooming, of course all the plant’s energy goes to the flowers. Once the flowers have dropped off, there is still some energy going to the stem. When it is cut off, it gives the plant a chance to rest. It’s energy can go to it’s roots and leaves until it is ready to bloom again. I thought about how that is true in our lives as well. Sometimes we have to let go of the things that are no longer serving us or others. We need to rest and reassess where our energy should be spent. I think it is the same way in our faith life. God will prune the dead branches that are no longer being productive. We may then be offered a new task or situation in which to trust and praise God. It is not easy as we tend to avoid change. We don’t like to go through things that are uncomfortable. But, if we can look forward to the beautiful bloom on the other side, it will all be worth it. After I thought about all this, I was able to take my mom to church today. She said it was much harder than when she last went several weeks ago. Then after lunch, she needed a rest and so did I. I actually slept longer than anticipated. It felt pretty good.

I Found God today pondering rest and actually getting some rest.