By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
I like working in the spring sunshine—turning soil, setting plants, and watering. Life pushes out around me in pale green sprouts and budding fruit trees, reminding me of its regenerative force.
And since I want our back yard to be as beautiful as the new gazebo my pastor-husband, George, recently finished, the springtime surging through my veins one Saturday morning encouraged me to tackle an old, gnarled vine that clung to an equally ancient, stone wall.
Dull, dry, and lifeless, the vine had to go.
“Our grapevine is dead,” I announced.
George glanced at it from his open workshop across the yard. “No it’s not, it’s just dormant. Give it time.”
He was right. Within two weeks, tiny green sprouts formed on the vine at various spots and soon unfurled into graceful leaves.
The vine grows up the side of an old stone milk barn, around a pipe trellis, and then meanders across the top of a chain link fence. As it goes, it sends out slender threads that wrap like steel wool around whatever they can find. Some of the branches are so long and dry, it’s a wonder they bloom at all. I have come close to pruning a runner only to find a cluster of leaves six feet down the seemingly dried up vine.
How can this be—such long stretches of dry dormancy, and then a sudden sprout of life?
Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NLT).
The living metaphor in my back yard causes me to stop and evaluate my own life. Am I “in the vine?” Do I draw strength daily from Christ the vine who supplies my every need and very life force? Or do I go for long periods of time neglecting to feed on His Word or grow in His image?
Thank You, Lord, for Your patience with me, for not lobbing me off during a long dry stretch and throwing me on the trash heap. Help me tap into You for life and sustenance, to be more consistent, and to draw daily from Your life-giving source. Thank You for providing everything I need. Amen.
Remain in me,
and I will remain in you.
For a branch cannot produce fruit
if it is severed from the vine,
and you cannot be fruitful
unless you remain in me.
John 15:4
~
I am the vine. Share on XCOMING SOON!
A second collection of 90 story-devotions for women.
At My Right Hand
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
Connect with me via:
#lovingthecowboy
(c) 2025 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
#WesternRomance #ChristianFiction #FreeBook #HistoricalRomance #CowboyRomance
I have always enjoyed the scriptures about The Vine. Have a blessed and wonderful day.
Thank you. May you also.
So thankful God prunes our lives that we will grow in Him!
Absolutely, Dee.
How very loved we are that He does not “prune us” when we lie dormant for days, months, even years! An ordinary vineyard keeper would have trimmed us away …such a caring Keeper we have!
Amen, Barb. Caring indeed.