This week, I gave some serious attention to my garden. Due to the oppressive heat we’ve had recently I’ve not had the energy to do much more than water. However, when it’s time, it’s time.

My woefully inadequate tomato cages from Amazon were the root cause of many of my plants “hanging around.” Because the stakes could not support their weight, I could not tie them up properly and they were falling all over themselves.

I purchased a handful of large wooden stakes and was determined to straighten everything out. When I approached the garden, it was … chaos. Shoots of tomato plants were laying on the ground. Branches of cucumbers were twirling around the tomato cages. Dead leaves everywhere.

Can you say Hot Mess?

I grabbed my trusty sheers and began the pruning process, removing dead leaves. I re-arranged branches back to their proper homes and then used my handy dandy wooden stakes to get everything back on track.

In doing so, I noticed a cluster of tomatoes, completely shaded. No wonder they hadn’t ripened. No light was getting in. A medium sized cucumber also peeked out at me. It too was hidden from the sun.

An hour or so of some “tough love” created breathing room for all of the plants and now more sun will be able to get in. I’m expecting an even greater harvest at my next visit.

Breathing room. Space. Margin.

Whatever you choose to call it, in today’s world, there’s not enough of it. Our lives are defined by jammed calendars, leaving no room to just be; to take in the sunlight, expand our horizons, use our imaginations, and grow.

No judgement here my friend. I’m a Type A, “fill up my calendar to the brim please” kinda gal. But what I’m noticing is that as I begin to allow some white space into my day, I can spend additional time in God’s Word, listen to a teaching, or just allow my mind to wander, wonder, and ask – “What’s next Lord?”

If anyone’s calendar was filled to the brim, it was Jesus. Yet, with all of the teaching, preaching, and healing He did, He still found time to go off in the early hours of the morning to spend time with His Father. He always found time to pray. It was not an option (Mark 1:35-39).

Spending time with God was not a luxury. It was a necessity. It was not a “nice to have.” It was a “must have.”

If we want to live the life that Jesus died for us to have – a life of victory, joy, and peace, we must give ourselves some breathing room – some space in our day to spend time with our Father in heaven. If necessary, we may have to do a bit of tough love to our schedules and prune away activities that are keeping us from this must-have time with God (John 15:1-2).

And…I suspect if we truly examined our calendars, we’d find the time. I’ve heard many wise teachers

 say that if you want to find out what is important to people, look at their bank accounts and look at their calendars. Either or both of these will tell you what’s most important.

This week, I’d like to encourage you to look at your calendar and begin the pruning process. Take out any dead time. Cut away any extraneous activities that are not bringing you joy or bearing fruit.

Then, put a stake in the ground and determine to spend some of that extra time with God. I’m confident by the end of the season, you will have a bountiful harvest.

P.S. If you would like to learn how to deepen your connection to God, watch or listen to the Elevate The Day Podcast, “Get Dialed Into God with Rev. Phil Privette.”