("What is Thorny Thank-Yous?")

Thank You, Lord, for:

• the unpaid bills
• the messy laundry room
• the clean clothes needing to be put away
• the washer that leaks with every load
• the microwave that's on the "fritz"
• our "unsold" house
• the "brown shark" I had to clean up in the tub from the one year old
• the second bath I had to give the one and three year old after the "brown shark" incident
• the puke I had to clean up from the three year old
  
• the job that my husband did today that didn't go well... AT ALL

Lord, thank You for everything You give me... for even when I don't know why, I know You have a plan, and I willingly accept what You decide for me. In Jesus' name, Amen.

(Read the story that inspired "Thorny Thank Yous", and please leave a comment thanking God for the thorns in your life today as well.)

So, things have been tough here lately... and of course, God put the following story I wrote awhile back... Talk about a slap in the face.

Okay God, I get the picture... but the pruning is hurting!!!!  Read the story and you'll see what I mean... OUCH is all I have to say... and...

I'm yours Lord...
As he sat alone, he looked upon his withered leaves and knew he was ugly.
He wasn’t just ugly on the outside though…
it went all the way through.
He wished he could be handsome.
Oh, how he’d dreamed of being a shrub someone… anyone, would stop and notice.
But no one did.
He was just another part in his vast surroundings, and he blended in.

Every once in awhile, someone would take notice…
but it was just to wrinkle their nose in disgust.
He hated that most, for without admitting it, it hurt all the way to his roots.

“Why am I so ugly?” he thought one day.
To his surprise, he heard a gentle Voice answer, “You have never asked for My help.”
“What help could you possibly give? I am too ugly to be saved. Even my roots are rotting.”
“But I see you for what you could be,” the strange Voice replied.
“What could possibly come from something so gross?! It’s too late for me.” he shrugged his leaves, causing more to fall to the ground.
“It’s never too late for you to decide.”
Impatiently the shrub asked, “Decide what?”
“That you want me to be in charge of you and take care of you… let Me make you into what I already see in you.”
“Will it hurt?” he asked hesitantly.
“You will need pruning…”
The shrub interrupted, “PRUNING?! But, why? That will hurt!”
“Yes, there will be some pain," the Voice said gently, "but the pain is necessary for you to be all that I have planned for you. Pruning your branches will make you grow bigger and stronger. Your branches will breathe new life, and you will grow beautiful new leaves.”
“How do you know? It sounds too good to be true,” the shrub doubted.
The voice spoke even softer now, the words almost too hard to hear and His words were choked as He explained, “I know because I created you… I have so much more for you to be than what you’ve become.”

As the shrub processed all that the Voice had said, he was still unsure.
This Voice spoke of pain.
Haven’t I suffered enough?
But this Voice also said he could be… beautiful.
Is it worth it?
He knew he didn’t like what he’d become…

Hesitantly, the shrub spoke, “I’m yours.”

****

It took a long time, and it was a painful process, but the Voice spent every moment with him, pruning and shaping the shrub.
There were times a lot of pruning was required, but it was those branches that were the strongest.
As the shrub now looked looked upon his glorious leaves, he was amazed at what he’d become.
He never would have imagined he could be so handsome!

Thinking back to the past, he asked the Voice with concern, “I never want to be ugly again. How can I stay like this forever?”
The caring voice answered, “You must continue to let Me take care of you always, so you can continue to grow.”
“Will I still need pruning?” he asked nervously.
“Yes, I’m afraid there will still be pruning. Even now, striking as you are, pruning is necessary for your continued growth. But I will be there in those times too.”

Just then, the shrub noticed a shepherd tending his flock.
The Voice sounded as if it were smiling as it spoke, “But for now, I have something for you to do…”

The bush watched as fire colored its’ leaves, yet it wasn’t burning.
The Shepard took notice and began to walk toward him.
The shrub's confusion grew into excitement as the man drew nearer to him in amazement.
No one had ever looked at him in this way!
As the Voice called to the man, the burning bush finally understood that there had been a bigger plan all along… he was just a part in it.
He thought back to how patient and loving the voice had been.
The voice had seen beauty when no one else could…
And had believed in him when he’d doubted even himself.

As the sustained flames glowed, he listened as he heard Moses respond to the Voice, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” the Voice spoke. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

In awe the shrub thought, "My roots are in holy ground…"
© 2005 Amy Verlennich

Story taken from Exodus 3:1-5.  ("Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."

"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." (NIV))

Concept taken from John 15:1-8. ("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. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." (NIV))