White Pine Shearing Time--Summer 2013!

Hello to all!  We've been a little busy here on the farm with shearing trees, mowing, watering the garden, etc.  We are experimenting with some all natural rooting hormone to see if we can root some of the branches that we just sheared off the trees.  If it works, we will be doing a whole lot more of our own rooting and growing in the coming years (more on that later.) 

I thought I'd share a little bit about how we shear the trees and some pics.  Shearing started on Friday, June 22.  So far, David has finished the first field.  These trees are closest to our house and gift shop.  They are 3 yrs. old and there are approximately 1000 White Pines. 

Below are a series of pictures of a single White Pine from this field as David shears from beginning to end.  

 Judah snuck away from me while we were watering the garden.  He had to go see Daddy!

 And, get a drink from his recycled gatorade bottle.  Just water.  Aw man!  He was hoping for a lil' juice!

 Threw the bottle down and is now coming back to me!

 Decided he'd move over a row and walk up with Poppie. It's always better together!

 Cleaning the sap off the shears. 

We have just started in the next closest field that we call the upper triangle.  It has 800 White Pine.

This tree is about 8 ft. tall pre-sheared

 

It's now a 7 footer after shearing!

 This is another tree from the same field.

 Some Hemlock trees in the same field.  They've only been there for 3 years.

 White Pines in this upper triangle

These are the Blue Spruce and the Norway Spruce

The extension agent from UT came out to answer lots of questions and see our trees.  He's also a Christmas tree farmer in his spare time :0)  Alan was very helpful and we let him shear one of our trees, just so we could see how he chose to shear it.  This tree is in our upper triangle and is 5 yrs. old.

It's a beautiful Christmas tree.  Actually it's been pre-tagged by a family for purchase this Christmas season.  

So, what is the purpose of shearing?  

Well, for one it makes the trees look, well, like Christmas trees.  Sure they're supposed to look like that anyway, but you know not every one is perfect, so we help them be perfect.  Ahem....not really, but we like to help! :0)

Shearing the new growth really helps the tree to flourish.  When you shear off some of that fresh, new, beautiful growth each year (sigh, sniff), the tree will grow fuller.  It keeps the spaces between the branches to a minimum so you have a fuller tree.  Most people don't like big gaps between the sets of branches or holes in their trees.  Some trees can't be helped, but others can be nudged into a beautiful Christmas tree.  

I'm a whiner and I always whine to my dear hubby that he's killing me when he shears the trees.  It feels like he's drawing blood.  (sniff). All that pretty new growth they worked so hard to give us and here's how we re-pay them...snip...on the ground.

I know, I'm a little dramatic, too.  I know it's the best thing for them, but at the time it hurts.  Kinda of like us as God prunes the death out of our lives, it gives room for life!  We are giving the trees more room for life.  Actually freeing them to grow and flourish.  That's how God does it with us, it may hurt as He prunes and shapes us, but then we can flourish in His new life and be free of the things that had us bound. 

I keep a centerpiece on our table during shearing time each year.  The sheared branches are so pretty, I hate to see them go to waste.  It is a constant reminder to me that death of the dead-weight brings life to the fullest and I pray and ask God to keep shearing me and taking off the things which I don't need and are actually holding me back.  I want to have abundant life!  How about you?

We have one more field to go after this one.  It's the lower triangle and it has 700 White Pine trees.  We have about 2500 White Pines total.  We hope to be finished by the end of next weekend. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Dawn

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Pouring Out My Heart to God

Pouring out my heart to God is part of my prayer life.  I've learned how to pour out my heart to Him without begging, pleading, and whining.  Prayer is not supposed to be like that at all.

Here are some practical steps to learning how to pour out your heart to God

1.  Know the will of God.  His Word tells me what He wants, desires, and needs from me. When I read His Word, I get more of His truth inside me.  His truth dispels the lies of the enemy and brings light to the darkness.  When I read His Word, I am encouraged.  I am reminded of who I am and Whose I am! 

2.  Line up my life with His Word.  Do what the Word says and I will live a godly life.  This takes actively reminding myself what His Word says.  I constantly remind myself what the fruits of the Spirit are and if what I'm thinking doesn't line up with those, then I need to think on something else, right?  If what I'm doing is not displaying the fruits of the Spirit, then I am displaying the fruits of the flesh and I need to make an immediate change. Yes, it takes work.  Yes, it's difficult sometimes...but, well worth it!

3.  Have a confident relationship with Him.  Know that you can go boldly before Him when you know Him and trust Him.  When I live my life in His Word and acting out His Word, then I can have a confident relationship with Him and know that He is listening when I pray.

All of these take discipline.  It takes practice and training.  In the military, they don't just hand the guys a gun and send them out to war.  They train them starting with obedience....learning to obey the voice of the one in charge.  That's what I'm doing when I read His Word and put it into practice.  I'm learning to obey Him.  I'm teaching this to my children.  We practice obedience.  I give them tasks that teach them obedience.  Sometimes they know that's what we are doing and sometimes I don't tell them because I want to know how much more we need to practice.

It all takes discipline.  Discipline is just training and practicing to do what is right--all the time!  As I do these things then I pray in confidence because I know I'm praying in His will and I am confident that He is listening.  I don't have to beg and plead and whine, I ask with boldness.

As I incorporate these simple things into my life, I pray to a depth that brings change.  Change in me, change in my family, and change in the world around me.    

Think Gulliver's Travels...

I just got home from a women's conference at World Revival Church in Kansas City, MO.  It was an incredible time and the gut-wrenching beginning of change in my life.

So many times we read the Word of God and we do not walk it out.  When we do that, we allow deception of the enemy to enter in and we begin to think (deceive ourselves) that we are walking out His Word.  For instance, Jesus said many times "repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."  We think this means to repent of all of our sins....you know the drill....make a list, ask for forgiveness....yep!  That's what I thought for all of my Christian life....until recently.  These statements by Jesus are telling us to repent for not realizing the Kingdom of Heaven is here....God's presence in our lives is here, right now this instant...today.  Are we spending our days realizing that He is here or do we go to church on Sunday, get a good "word" and then go back to living our own lives?  If so, we're not walking out the truth we just received.

In most earthly kingdoms the subjects give up their lives for the king.  Jesus is the only King I know  who gave up His life for the subjects of His Kingdom.  In return He asks that we give our lives to Him....to die and then live for Him, not die a physical death but a death of MYSELF (my wants, my agenda).

I said the prayer...gave my life to Jesus.....but, it's not an end-all right there.  I have to daily do this.  Give my life to Jesus.  Are the decisions I make every day honoring Him, giving Him my life?  Do I ask Him how to live my day and then go through every moment of it realizing He is right there with me?

One of the topics at the conference was "Breaking the Bonds That Hold You Down....this is where Gulliver's Travels comes into play.  Do you remember the picture of him with all of those cords holding him down?  They were tiny cords and tiny people and he was a BIG man.  But, because there were so many he was down for the count.  Powerless.

What are the cords in your life that hold you down?
Fear-- Fear of yourself and others.
Emotions--Wigglesworth said "You'll never get anywhere if you depend on your feelings.  There is something a thousand times better than feelings and it is the powerful Word of God."
Self-protection--Trying to keep our reputation safe and secure, to keep ourselves comfortable.
Bonds of religion like the Pharisees--Will we refuse to acknowledge Jesus if He shows up in a way we weren't expecting?  Do we make Him in our own image, instead of allowing Him to make us like Him?
Confines of Service--so busy doing "good" things.
 
Do we listen to the people around us instead of God?  Are we allowing the fear of what other people think keep us from doing what God calls us to do?  Are we protecting ourselves because we don't trust God enough to protect us?  Do we do everything by the work of our own hands, because we need a backup plan if God doesn't come through?  Are we so stuck in our way of doing things that we don't even listen for His voice because we don't like change?  Like the Pharisees, will we let Him be here in all His truth, light and life and discount it because His way is not the perceived way we had in mind?  Are we busy doing sooooo many things in order to answer the voices of people in our lives who find fault with who we are, so we spin in circles trying to prove to them that we are good.
 
Are we powerless in the Kingdom of God because there are so many of these ties holding us down?

Do you see how the devil uses seemingly innocent things to keep us bound?  These things will keep us from following God, from listening to His voice and from true heart change. 

What are the TRUE motives behind everything we do?

These are some serious questions to ask ourselves.  To ask God to reveal the truth in us.

Will I talk myself out of really listening to God about these things because I don't want to change?  It's too hard?  Or try to justify why I allow these things to tie me down.  I've spent enough years doing this.......it's time for truth!

I have decided that I will no longer allow these things to hold me down.  I will only allow myself to be vulnerable and open to God.  I will listen for His voice.  I will get direction from Him and not worry about what others think.  I can make a difference for His Kingdom.  I will!!

What about you?