Prune Your Tree

Dot and I planted three Crepe Myrtle trees a few years back. Now, I know there’s a right way and a wrong way to prune ’em. I’ve watched the videos, read the articles—didn’t want to be accused of “crepe murder,” you know? My neighbor’s one of those fellas who can fix or build just about anything, and he showed me how it’s done right. With all that under my belt, I reckon I’m halfway decent at pruning my trees.

And you know, I feel the same about life. I’ve read and heard enough about religion and politics over the years that I could probably call myself a self-proclaimed expert. I’ve been in a relationship for over 55 years—so I suppose I’ve got a PhD in marriage, too. 😂

There’s a lot I’ve done in my 73 years where I’d say I’ve gotten the hang of it—fathering, hunting, fishing, jackleg mechanic work, grandparenting, and a pile of other miscellaneous skills. But here’s the thing: I didn’t get good at any of it without doing some pruning along the way.

I didn’t become a halfway decent fisherman without catching a few tree branches first.

What life’s taught me—often the hard way—is that just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, something unexpected shows up and humbles you. I’ve made some missteps pruning those Crepe Myrtles. Lucky for me, nature’s got a way of healing. My mistakes didn’t hurt the trees too bad.

Same with life. I’ve had to change course more than once—not always knowing if I was right or wrong. But looking back, I can see how each pruning—each course correction—helped me grow into a better version of myself.

Sometimes it was grace that did the pruning. Sometimes a loving word. And sometimes it was just the good old School of Hard Knocks. Either way, I needed it.

Truth is, we all do. Whether we like it or not, we need to be pruned now and then. Gotta cut back the dead habits or bad attitudes to make room for new growth—stronger, healthier, and maybe even a little more spiritually beautiful.

And Lord knows, I’ll take all the beauty I can get.

God bless.