The Queen of the Backyard

I live in a sweet older rental house in the center of my little town. My two favorite things about my house are its extra-large bathtub and the adorable fenced-in backyard with its massive tree. On my no-make-up-Monday’s-off, you’re most likely to find me in one of those two places.

Sure the tree has its disadvantages. Like all the leaves in the fall, and all the helicopters in the spring. It houses some insane squirrels who like to chatter-yell in their weird squirrel language at my cat every time she steps out in the backyard. Last winter some of its ice-coated branches pulled down some wires, and most recently, its giant roots got blamed for plumbing problems.

But other than that, it is the queen of the backyard. And I give her the respect due her--short of curtsying.  Its massive trunk split in three is the anchor of the yard. Its large branches spreading shade over most of the backyard makes sitting outside possible on even the hottest days.  

Last week, a group of sweaty men came to trim her, waking me up in the early morning with their truck-and-tools sounds. As I left for work, I was a little nervous leaving her in their hands but knew it was the right thing to do.  (Besides the fact that it’s not really my decision but my landlord’s decision : )  A section of her thick branches had died and was weighing her backside down. And the tree had grown so big that with every storm, branches fell not only all over my yard, but also in my neighbor’s yard.  But even knowing that, I said goodbye to her as if she was about to pass on her scepter and crown, and step down from her throne.

When I came home later that night, I was a little sad to see how trim and bare she was.  Limbless here, thinner there, constrained as if in a straight jacket. No more wild abandon! 

But then I lay down in my lounge chair on the back deck and looked up, totally surprised by the view.  I could see the twilight-sky and even a few stars of the summer sky.  I had never been able to see them before from that vantage point.  My own little slice of the heavens.  How awesome!

John 15 has always been one of my favorite passages, which is weird since I have no gardening, vineyard, or pruning experience at all!  But its imagery still speaks to me. In this passage, Jesus says,  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. 

 As I stared up at the leaner tree, I thought of the pruning process and its outcome. And I decided right then and there that I wanted the Lord to trim me. Sure, it may not be pretty, but it’s not all about me, and it’s not all about being pretty, is it?  It’s not about me being the queen (or princess) of my own little backyard of the world.  It’s not about me taking over and plunging my roots deep and far –to suck all of life’s goodness. Just so that I can keep pushing up and out. 

On good days I realize this. So on this good day, I realize and want and pray this prayer —God, not that you need my permission or blessing, but please cut off my dead and damaging and disturbing branches. Keep me from greed, pride, gluttony. Save me from my own big ego. Prune me so that I may continue to bear fruit, and even more fruit.  But also trim me, so that in other’s eyes, I may decrease and you may increase. Help me get out of the way so that others can see past my ridiculous self-imposed self-importance, and see instead your other-worldly, glorious, splendor and majesty, like the star-sprinkled galaxy above. 

Junior Highers

I spent a week this summer on a mission trip in hot sticky Tennessee with seven junior high girls (and one other brave female chaperone).  We just didn’t have any junior high boys that wanted to go along on the trip. So the church van was packed full of large duffel bags and estrogen,  and littered with strings from unfinished friendship bracelets. T here were long stretches of energetic singing --from camp songs all the way to Beyonce and Taylor Swift tunes.  There was a lot of passing and sharing of lotions and makeup, and lots of hair-braiding. When it was time to go to the bathroom, or dinner, or down the hall – a mini-herd always formed so no one ever had to be alone.

And this experience made me fall in love all over again with junior high girls.  Now, it’s very true that you can’t stereotype and lump all junior high girls together.  They are all delightfully different!  But with that said, I’m going to share a few things I re-discovered on this trip about junior-high girls.

The way junior high girls love on children – it is a wonderful thing to watch! Who would babysit our kids, assist in our church programs, and entertain the neighbors if it wasn’t for junior high girls?

One of these intelligent young woman uses the word “like” a lot when having conversation. During the week, I encouraged her to erase it from her vocabulary.  And then I thought, what’s the big deal? I know lots of adults who throw around the same annoying words over and over again. This is junior-high-girl-speak. Why fight it?

I love how chatty junior high girls can delve into heavy theological discussions, but still put their own spin on it. While discussing the complex and unfathomable forgiveness of God, one girl said, “So you mean if our sin hurts God, . . . . . and all these people down here are just sinning all over the place. . . . (pause) so then is God just a hot mess?”

And just when you think they might go down that road and become exclusive and catty and uppity, they reach out, love, and encourage each other instead.  Crying with each other. Praying for each other. Their hearts responding with all the sensitivity and emotion that make up a heart of a junior-high girl.

They are just special, special creations!!

I keep a picture of myself as a 6^th grader on my desk, or sometimes I carry it around in my Bible.  Why?  I do not know, because it is a bit embarrassing with its 1984 styles and baby-fat. It’s pre-puberty. My teeth are still un-braced with that large split between the front two.  My eyebrows are bushy and un-waxed.  But my eyes have this starry, sweet quality.  And innocence shines in my face. It’s a picture of a young girl uncompromised by the outside world. A young girl who is still who God created her to be. I guess I carry the picture around to remember what it was like to be that! I thank God for that time of life. Of little sin instead of bigger, consequence-heavy sin. A time of protection and learning and growing and laughing and singing and playing and friendship and goofyness. Of starry-eyed naivete.

Oh I wonder what God thinks when he looks down on junior-highers. I think they might be his favorite!

The last day of our trip, we went on a really short hike up to a creek full of big boulders and multiple mini- cascades. We scampered up the rock bridges, waded through the stream, balanced on fallen logs, looked for, and stuffed our pockets with, striped and colored and heart-shaped rocks.  I loved that morning of playing together-- –one more morning with sun and stream and God and each other--frozen in time before high school and boyfriends and broken hearts and jobs and college and careers.  Oh I pray for their lingering purity. Oh I pray for their growth and adventures ahead. What a blessing these young woman are to me!