Recently, I was pretty annoyed with my variegated rubber tree, and my regular one for that matter.\u00a0 They had not appreciated wintering in my home the last two winters and now that I had a greenhouse I’d been able to move them there for a time until having them outside for the summer.\u00a0 But in this time, they’d decided they were going to grow real tall with leaves just on top.\u00a0 I did some Googling and found an answer… you gotta cut the bad boy.<\/p>\n
So I did.\u00a0 Notched a few places in the long stems of both of them, unsure if it would actually work.\u00a0 But it did… a few months later and I am seeing some good growth out of each of those wounds on the variegated tree and, just today, I finally see some tiny nubs on the stems of the other.<\/p>\n
James 1:2\u20134 says: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials\u00a0of various kinds,<\/span>\u00a0for you know that\u00a0the testing of your faith\u00a0produces steadfastness.<\/span>\u00a0And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (ESV)<\/span><\/p>\n Consider it pure joy when we face trials? Challenges produce endurance and maturity. Growth does not always come from easy seasons\u2014it often comes from the moments that stretch us, shape us, and even hurt a little.<\/p>\n Just like pruning, or, in this case, notching, God sometimes cuts things back in our lives not to harm us, but to make room for new life. The loss may sting, but it is also an invitation to trust, to grow, and to become something stronger and more beautiful and more full than before.<\/p>\n If I continue to take good care of that tree, and probably refrain from trying to winter it in the house (haha), it will continue to grow newness from the cuts, the pain, the scars.\u00a0 Those reddish leaves will turn more yellowish white on the outside edges, much like we do.<\/p>\n