What Kind of Leaves Are Falling From Your Tree?

It has been many days since I have made a post.  I have been walking through some valleys lately and have been upheld by God's gracious hand.  I have been focused on working through many things and that has used up much of my energy and thoughts.

This past weekend, I took my children to one of our favorite places, Elephant Rocks State Park.  It is simply a beautiful place to go, and it is only about 40 minutes from our home.  I was encouraged to see that the trees have begun to change colors.  God is turning them in to a masterpiece.  Pictures simply do not do them justice.  

And very fittingly, the devotional reading the children and I read together last night talked about leaves changing colors in the fall.  In the summer months, trees produce chlorophyll, which makes the leaves green.  Then as the days get shorter, other chemicals take over, which results in the brilliant colors of fall.  As the days get shorter, the stems get weak and the leaves finally break off and fall to the ground.  

We are much like the trees.  We start out with bright, shiny, and strong green leaves and over time, experience colors the leaves of our lives.  These leaves are colored by good experiences and bad.  Some of our leaves are colored by the things we do in this world for others that hopefully make a positive impact on their lives. Those are the brightly colored leaves. Oak leaves aka bad experiences just seem to turn from green to brown and want to hang on to the tree for as long as they can. Those are the ones that we can either learn lessons from and move forward on our journey or we can let them stay attached to us and drag us down. But we have to make that conscious choice to realize that their time has been spent.

When we leave this life and move on to eternity, our leaves fall, and are left here for others to rake up.  Some of our leaves may be raked up and discarded or be blown away by the winds of life.  BUT, some, hopefully the most beautiful leaves of our life are picked up by those who loved us deeply, and pressed not into a book, but forever into their hearts.  

My son, George, left many leaves of his life behind.  Some of those leaves have had to be blown away by the winds.  I and others who loved him, have picked up many brilliantly colored leaves that left a mark on us and have pressed them into our heart as a reminder of wonder times and days with him. 

It makes me wonder what kind of leaves I am leaving for others. Am I making a difference in the people around me that will make a lasting and colorful impression on their heart for eternity?  

Remember my friends, there is,

Sunshine After the Storm
Blessings
Betsy

What Kind Of Leaves Are Falling From Your Tree?