Making room for the new

My violets have been in desperate need of trimming off the old blossoms and dead leaves, and I finally got around to it this week. You know those tasks you keep rewriting to the next day's to do list? Now I can officially mark it off. As I was pulling the dead leaves off one of my larger plants, my daughter asked me something like, "Mama, why you pull those off?" It must have seemed strange to her to see her mama pulling leaves off a plant after all the lectures she's heard about looking and not touching, being careful with flowers, etc.

"I have to pull off the dead stuff to make room for the new", I replied. 

Then I thought about my response more, and marveled at how true that is in all of my life. How many times have I heard God say lately, "You need to clean out the old stuff, so you can make room for the new seasons I'm bringing you".  Any gardener would laugh at the thought of that African Violet tenaciously clinging to it's dead blossoms despite the promise of new, fresh blossoms and baby leaves.

Yet, how often do I hold on to stuff, memories, old dreams, etc despite God's whispers to me of new seasons with new life.  

As we prepare for our next little one to arrive this year, my mind automatically starts wondering about space.  Where will they sleep? Where am I going to fit his/her clothes? How do I keep track of multiple sizes of diapers? Though I haven't gotten it done yet, I've mentally been making a list of areas that need to be cleaned out and stuff donated so I can fit in our new blessing. And not just 'stuff'', but there is a letting go of activities or old manners of doing things as our family grows.   I've been volunteering at Good News Club at the Elementary school for 6 or 7 years, and my littles have attended with me. But with our new addition coming, I've said farewell to that season.

While there may be grief in letting go of the old, there is also excitement in looking forward to the new. 

Without winter there couldn't be spring. Without a seed giving of itself, we could not have fresh growth. I've been processing what it means to minimize what is not essential, so I can maximize space and time for those people and activities we love most. I have so far to go, so don't look to me for solutions. If anyone has this all figured out, please share your ideas in the comments. :-)

And while it may be a slow process to trim away my old blossoms, I look forward to the new seasons promised me.