Alva Review-Courier -

I come to the beginning of a new year with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I see the beginning of a new year as an opportunity to make the changes I need to be healthier and stronger in heart, spirit, mind and body. On the other hand, I know that New Year’s resolutions often result in precious little change. So, I want to make changes, but I know that the way we usually try to do that doesn’t work.

Earlier this month I happened to be reading “Necessary Endings” by Dr. Henry Cloud with a group of pastors. In the book, Dr. Cloud writes about the act of making needed changes as pruning.

When it...