It is officially spring! The snowbanks are nearly gone, birds are chirping and the sun is back to shining brightly. And with the budding of a new season comes this little mystery( to me): guys on the side of the country roads burning ditches.

I’ve seen this multiple times as I’m driving to and from town. So, I finally decided to look up why they are burning the ditches.

So it is a common practice for farmers to burn the ditches in preparation for future crops. They use the ditches to channel the water into their irrigation systems. The less debris and plant life built up in the ditch, the more freely the water flows. So they burn the dead plants, leaves etc in the spring to clear the way for a new season. Simple but brilliant.

This got me thinking about what “debris” there may be built up in my life that are obstructing the flow of God’s sweet, life-giving waters in and through me. What dead things are just crowding my heart and mind unnecessarily?

So I’ve decided to make that my prayer this week. I think the farmers have it right and we could all use a little “burning the ditches” in our lives.