Raking leaves … Raising family… Helping friends
Think of all the things in our lives that can seem like never ending chores. This thought popped into my head out raking leaves this fall for the n’th time… which was not long after mowing the yard for n’th time… and before long I will be shoveling snow every few days. Yard work… house work… are never done!
Sure… you accomplish interim milestones as you finish individual tasks… and can look back over your work and be proud/satisfied. But after a few days of sunshine in the summer… wind in the fall… or storms in the winter… you get to start that task all over again!
Sometimes these can come to feel like thankless efforts. But then you come driving up to the house on one of those nice… sunny/snowy/windy days… and there before you is this picture perfect home. Maybe not perfect from all perspectives… but perfect enough to give you that warm fuzzy… deep down satisfied… happy peaceful smile. And all that work seems worth it!
The yard work became an analogy for raising a family… as while raking leaves… I was also contemplating things I had going on with the kids. I say kids… as they still feel like that to me. But in reality… they have not been kids for years. Then after I finished raking leaves… it dawned on me I should call Mom to say Hi… because I am still her kid… and she still wonders how I am… and prays for me… just as I do mine. I think this analogy holds true regardless the shape/size/content of your family/community (blood or buds). That is what makes it so great!
What can seem daunting… because it seems never ending. Can somehow come to be comforting… for the same reason! The winds of life are always blowing leaves into our yard (troubles into our lives). And while that means we HAVE to rake them up… it also means we GET to rake them up! This gives us a purpose… a sense of belonging! And never forget our days/years/lives are part of a greater cycle of generations/eternity with our ultimate Father in heaven… and his Son (our brother) Christ!
I pray you find peace/purpose/belonging in the tasks before you this day… and those ahead!