Looking For Leaves - November
15, 2001
Today at lunch Alisha informed me that we were going
for a walk after we finished eating. In reality this
means that I will walk and she will ride her big pink
tricycle with me pushing on the uphill stretches. It was
a beautiful autumn day so she didn't have to twist my arm
too hard to take some time off work and enjoy the great
outdoors.
While we were strolling along, Alisha decided she
needed to collect some leaves to put in the little basket
on her handlebars. She would stop (without warning to
those of us walking behind her), hop off her trike and
rush into a yard covered with leaves to search for just
the right one to pick up. Sometimes she came back with a
brilliant red or yellow treasure, but just as often she
returned with a boring brown or even deformed specimen,
misshapen and ugly. I never could figure out what made up
the "right" leaf in her eyes, but I couldn't help
thinking of how God looks over humanity to pick just the
"right" person for the job He has in mind. He doesn't
always pick the pretty or perfect people, in fact He
often seems to favor the plain, boring or deformed folks
to do His work (I'm sure glad of that!).
We continued along and Alisha's basket was soon filled
to the rim. Then a small gust of wind picked the top leaf
off the stack and sent it flying. Alisha hopped off to
retrieve the lost leaf and return it to it's proper
place, only to watch the breeze whisk it away again.
After this scene was repeated three or four times I
suggested she just leave that one behind since it was one
of the boring brown ones. She said, "No, this one is
pretty." This time instead of putting the wayward leaf
back in the basket, she held it in her hand for the
remainder of our excursion.
I'm glad God thinks more like my three-year-old
daughter than her grown-up dad. When He has a wayward
leaf that won't stay where He wants it, He doesn't leave
it abandoned by the roadside. No, He carries it in His
hand.
