Peach Trees: Tayt Thomas

In case you were not aware, the ACF has four peach trees. I know for a fact that one of them is a variety called “Red Haven”, but I do not know what the other three are. It was my first year at the ACF during our 2023 spring garden/yard clean up when I learned that we had peach trees; someone mentioned that we had some and I was like “I didn’t know we had peach trees!” I knew a little bit about fruit trees, and knew they needed to be pruned to reach their max potential, but when I asked about this, I was told that no one had been taking care of them. I took it upon myself to research how to take care of these trees. The trees had not budded yet, and so it was the perfect time to prune them. They had not been pruned in a few years, and they needed it pretty badly. I did as much as I could, but they needed it so badly that I was afraid that if I pruned everything that needed to go, I would damage the trees by how much I was removing. I, anxiously, erred on the side of removing more rather than less. This ended up being best for the trees.

That spring, only one of the trees had any number of flowers, and it only ended up producing a few peaches, but apparently that was more than any of them had ever produced. I pruned them the following year, and again, only one tree produced peaches, but it produced so many, and they were so good! It was very exciting for everyone. This year, I pruned the peach trees, but unfortunately a late frost damaged a number of the blossoms, and the main producing tree was hit hard. However, the other trees have produced many more flowers than they have in the past, and it is exciting to see how they will do this year.

I’m not writing this post just to talk about the ACF peach trees (okay, maybe I am). I think the experience that I’ve had with the peach trees here says something about our community, and Christian community in general.

For one thing, there is the concept of ownership. Having ownership over something is important, especially in Christian community where so much that needs to be done is done voluntarily, freely. I honestly didn’t like peaches when I started taking care of our trees, I just knew they needed caring for, and I decided to be the one to do it. No one else was doing it.

Pruning. It’s not just fruit trees that need pruning. We as Christians need to be pruned, and we need to prune others! The diseased, dead, unhelpful, hindering branches of a tree need to be pruned. The flowers on a peach tree also need to be thinned, otherwise the tree would produce more fruit than it can handle, and the fruit end up being of lower quality than if the tree had put more of its energy into fewer, better quality peaches. These facts are all true for humans! We need someone else to come along and prune us, to keep us healthy, and to produce good fruit for the health of everyone. A big, healthy, sweet, juicy peach is truly beautiful, even if you don’t like peaches. This can be the same for Christians. Even non-Christians who see our fruits can be impressed.

I love showing off our peach trees. I love when I ask someone, “Have you seen our peach trees?” and they have the same response I had years ago “I didn’t know we had peach trees!” I will finish my internship at the ACF this year, and will be leaving. I will no longer prune the ACF’s peach trees, but I can teach students how to prune them and I can ask students to take care of them when I leave. However, it will ultimately be out of my control. It reminds me of this passage:

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. (John 4:31-38 ESV)

I have been pruned by the ACF community. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes I do not know the reason for pruning until time has passed. All the times I have been pruned, though, have been good for me, whether it is cutting out the bad things in my life, giving attention to my weaknesses, or lifting up the good things. I have had the opportunity to prune others and have done so, even though it can be scary. It is a necessary part of Christian discipleship to be pruned and to prune. We are called to go and to make disciples, and it is not possible to do that without helping other Christians to recognize and cut out sin from their lives, and to have the same done for us. Otherwise we are not able to bear good fruits. Sometimes, even when pruned, a tree may not produce fruit. But at that point, it is up to the tree to produce fruit, not the pruner. We should take ownership over the Christians in our lives, and help prune them as best we can, so that they might bear good fruit.

Tayt Thomas is an LA Tech and ACF alum from Shreveport, LA. He graduated from Louisiana Tech with a major in Interdisciplinary Studies. Kind, patient, and easygoing, Tayt’s presence at ACF has been a huge source of encouragement to our community. He enjoys camping, bird watching, video games, and sci-fi media. Tayt is a tremendous blessing to us, and we love him dearly! We are excited to see how he will continue to impact students’ lives as an intern this year.