Five Minute Friday - REFINE

Five Minute Friday- a free write, which means, as our hostess, Kate Motaung, says, "...no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write."

This week's prompt is: REFINE. And, yes, I'm a few days late, but that's how it goes sometimes...well...for me, most of the time...anyway...

Go!

I'll be honest, this week's prompt has really had me stumped and I've hardly known where to go with it. 

I looked up scripture verses, but nothing struck me, so I turned to the dictionary. 

Refine - to remove impurities or unwanted elements from, to purify, to improve something by making small changes, improve, perfect, hone, fine-tune, to free from impurities or unwanted material, to improve or perfect by pruning or polishing...

Ah! Pruning! Now there is a word that strikes a chord!!!

The word refine conjures up images in my mind of a perfecting process that takes one through steps that, with each one, things get better and better...which is true...that's what it does...or, at least, that's what it's supposed to do. I think that some refining processes...like the one they use to refine sugar, for example...takes out the most important parts, leaving behind something that is not only less than what it should be, but is right down dangerous...but that's a whole 'nother matter altogether...so skip that...

But, pruning...now there's a process that sounds painful And it is...especially when you're the one being pruned!

Pruning involves cutting back the parts that are overgrown and out of control or cutting away the parts that are dead. But why? To increase fruitfulness. To increase growth. 

And in the end...refine.

Stop!

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).



Until next time...
~Rebecca