Yesterday, as I was preparing our evening meal, I took a walk into the garden armed with my secateurs. I needed to do a bit of deadheading of the roses.
As I looked at the dead, lifeless flowers I felt a profound sense of sadness and loss. At one time, these were beautiful scented blooms, I was rather proud of my gardening effort that had seen these plants flourish. Now, they were nothing more than compost.
Those who know me will know I am not a gardener. I knew that I had to deadhead the roses but, I wasn’t sure why. So, if in doubt, ask Professor Google. This is what I found;
Faded flowers can make a plant look tatty and, after rain, they can turn into a soggy, slimy mess. This can encourage fungal infections that may lead to stem die-back. For many roses, deadheading is essential to keep them blooming and stop them looking untidy.
It would seem that deadheading not only encourages new blooms, it is also essential in keeping the plant healthy and enables it to thrive.
I wonder if the same is true in our lives. Do we go through times of deadheading?
As I think about my own life, I have to conclude, it does. There are times when things have drawn to a natural conclusion, other times I have needed to step away, sometimes life has just changed and I can no longer be involved with _____ (fill in your own blank!)
Often, these times have produced in me a profound sense of sadness and loss. I am, however, coming to see these times of deadheading as part of the natural process of life and growth.
I pray that new blooms will come in my life and in yours.
As part of my quiet time today, I read these words written by Paul;
So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.
(2 Corinthians 4 vs. 16 -The Message)
Ah1 What do we do i we fear we are approaching dead head hood ourselves?
After moving on with my life as the fiancé did not want to accept Jesus, nor marry in a church. Still feel very sad and he was angry with me because I changed so much. Though I have changed even more because of going much deeper into Jesus would still like to be good friends with him. But he has either changed for the worse or not become any better in character and still angry with me. Not sure if there is any mileage in our conversations online. Maybe it would not be good to meet up with him. Though we still have things in common. Not sure if like the old roses if it would get messy or not,