Leaf it Alone

October 5, 2022

I don’t rake leaves. I just don’t.

Autumn is a wonderful time, except for the leaves. Well, I mean I love the colors the leaves put on, instead of their regular green. It’s the blanket of leaves that covers the lawn that bothers me. It makes me feel guilty. Lots of diligent homeowners rake the leaves up and bag them, or maybe burn them and smoke up the neighborhood. Sometimes they’ll let their children jump in the piles of leaves first, which can be a lot of fun. (I never enjoyed jumping in piles of leaves, because I always seemed to find the least dense part of the pile. Thump. Ow.)

I have never had neighbors, in any of the towns we’ve lived in, complain about my not raking my leaves. They have been wonderful people. Any guilt I felt had to come from within.

Years ago, as a pastor I was visiting a young family. The mother started to apologize for not having everything neat and tidy, but then stopped and started to rummage through things on the coffee table. It was quite a pile of magazines, bills, and advertisements, with a few other random items added in. She finally found what she was looking for, and proudly held the plaque up for me to read.

It contained several lines of poetry. I can’t remember exactly what it said, but I remember the main point: “While I’ve got small children in the house, they are my main concern, so please disregard the mess!” There is a lot of Scripture that supports her making the children her highest priority.

One way to make decisions is to do what the world around you thinks is right. A better way is to follow God’s leading. Lean on Matthew 6:32: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”