Take some time at dinner one night this week to read this fun fact and then discuss some of the questions.
Did you know...
…that pruning is a very important part of caring for plants? In this week's gospel Jesus tells a story about a fig tree that wouldn't produce any fruit, and a farmer who wanted to try to save it by cutting off large pieces of it. Pruning a plant means cutting off both dead and living parts of the plant in order for new growth to happen. Some trees require regular pruning to be able to live and grow, especially fruit trees.
Pruning helps tell the tree which ways to grow and creates room for air to move and sunlight to get through the leaves down to the trunk of the tree. Sometime pruning looks like a tree is getting cut down, but really its a way of helping the tree to grow in the future.
Questions for Discussion:
1) Have you ever pruned a plant or a tree? If yes, what was it like?
2) Why do you think Jesus likes to tell stories about pruning trees?
3) Have you ever felt sad about having to leave a place you loved or getting rid of something you'd had for a long time? What was it like to do those things? How do you think they changed you?
4) What are the things that help you grow?