Okay, I won't make you all vomit so soon after my last pathetic attempt at poetry. However, I did want to give a big shout out to Diane, because she came over and helped with my house today. A lot of folks offer to come help with all the stuff we need to get done to sell it and move. But a lot of things end up getting in the way and it never happens. I don't fault them for that, because I know that's life. Stuff happens and we all mean well, but sometimes, our good intentions don't account for practicality. The thing I appreciate about Diane is that she always finds a way to make it happen. The other day, she was supposed to come over, but had a lot of things to do. I told her not to come over, because she had a lot going on. I knew she was coming over this week, and so it wasn't a big deal. But she came anyway. Today, she moved a chiropractor's appointment so she could help me out. I'm so blessed by Diane. Not just because she comes over and helps me. Although trust me, that is HUGE. I can't tell you how much it means that she comes over, with a cheerful heart, and does whatever she can to make my life easier, never expecting anything in return. But the other thing I love about Diane is that as we work, she shares things God is doing in her life and wants to hear about what He's doing in mine, and as we talk, it's amazing to me how much God reveals Himself to us. Last week, she was over here, pruning my rose bushes. I picked her for the task because when she used to come over for Bible study, she'd see my houseplants, decide they looked pathetic, and start trimming them. The first time she did it, I was horrified at how much she cut off. But she told me that it would help my plant grow better. And, in fact, she linked it to a great Bible study about the vine and the branches. Jesus is the master gardener, and oftentimes, He has to prune and cut away the bad so that the good can grow. Fast forward to my rose bushes. I took this picture the morning before she came over. In all my pink roses, I had one yellow rose tipped with pink. I adore yellow roses tipped with pink. They are my very favorite roses. As we talked about pruning my roses, she continually questioned me about how much I wanted taken off. I had a lot of blooms already. Was I willing to lose them? I told her yes. I reminded her of the lesson we'd shared about the houseplants she'd cut up. And she said, "Yeah, but those didn't have such pretty flowers." The thing is, just because it has pretty flowers doesn't mean it's healthy. Just because we look pretty on the outside doesn't mean we're the same on the inside. As she cut away parts of the bush, she began to understand what I meant. Underneath the beauty, we had a lot of dead branches. Ugly, knarled, scarred stalks that served no useful purpose. I kept telling her to cut, she kept asking me if I was sure. Finally, my wild roses began to take shape. They began to resemble something that belonged in a formal garden. Somewhere in the melee of clippings, my beautiful yellow rose tinged with pink got lost. Yep, chopped right off. I didn't even notice. When I finally realized my beloved rose was gone, Diane felt really bad. However, by that time, her work was complete. And while my one beautiful rose was missing, the bush as a whole looked a million times better. Besides, that rose would have eventually died. I wouldn't have been able to hold on to it anyway. However, I do have an incredible picture. More importantly, I have an incredible moment saved in my heart where Diane and I together discovered another piece of God's mystery. I have to make sure to treasure these moments, because my journey with Diane is about to change. After waiting on God for years to move her, it looks like it may be happening. Which means it won't be as easy for her to pop on over and teach me lessons about God by chopping up my plants.

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