This blog first appeared on American Christian Fictions Writers.

My Father examines every branch in Me and cuts away those who do not bear fruit. He leaves those bearing fruit and carefully prunes them so that they will bear more fruit. John 15:2 (VOICE)

Every spring brings a clean-up of debris left from the winter months. Every year, I pick the dead vines off my morning glories on the lattice to make way for the new growth that will come. As I tediously pluck each one, it reminds me of how Christ prunes us during different seasons of our lives. To take that further, what about the pruning happening in the life of a writer? What can we learn?

Writer community is precious – We need each other to support, encourage, be accountable to, critique, and also to rejoice with. We all know much of a writer’s life is spent in solitude. Just knowing we have a community to reach out to brings comfort. We can’t do this on our own. God gave us each other for a reason. Let’s not be scared to contact our friends.

God’s timing is always best – As I pull out the dead vines, I think ahead of when I can plant. Is it time? Or could there still be frost? If I plant too early, I could lose everything. It’s the same with our writing. If we try to go ahead of God and don’t seek Him, we fall flat on our faces. His timing is perfect.

Yes, even in our writing journey. We may want that contract right away, but perhaps we aren’t quite ready, or we just haven’t found the perfect fit. God knows. We can’t rush the process. He’s pruning us to be the best writer we can be. All for His glory and in His time!

He knows the BIG picture – As I think about the garden I will plant in the Spring, I smile at the thought of the beautiful flowers that will pop up and the yummy veggies we will enjoy. There’s always a reason why our writing journeys emerge the way they do. There could be something else down the road that we can’t see. God knows the big picture and surrendering to Him is the only answer.

You can find new life hidden among the dead – When I weed through the dead leaves and vines, I always see new growth. There is life in the writer’s pruning season. We may think it’s all doom and gloom when we go through rejections, but we learn and grow from each of them. New growth is important in the writer’s world, but we need to stop and allow God to show it to us. When we do, we’ll be blessed.

Just like I look forward to the colorful summer blooms, I can’t wait to see what He has ahead for me in my writing journey.

I want to sprout tall for Him!

How about you? Is God taking you through a pruning season? Share your story.