Today marks the day before the last day of the month of October. I will always remember October “as the month of falling leaves.” It is the most beautiful fall month of the year to watch the leaves turn their spectrum of colors. And then slowly…slowly…watch those leaves fall from the tree. Sometimes the leaves fall one by one, and on windy days they can fall almost all at once. When the month of November hits, many of the trees have completely lost all of their leaves.
The other day, we were outside raking the enormous pile of leaves in the back yard from the maple tree ( these leaves seem to come down all at once). I looked up against the royal blue colored sky and there was a striking contrast between the bright blue and the gradient of yellow leaves in the foreground held together by the dark brown branch. Some of the leaves on the very outermost edge of the tree were tinged orange at the tips – and it was absolutely beautiful. Right then, in that moment, I told myself, ” I need to remember this beautiful radiance of colors.”
And it brought me to this verse from Hebrews,” The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Indeed the Son is the radiance of God’s glory, and I am finding a very wonderful piece of it – today.
The children were playing together, taking turns down the slide, and making a convenient pile of leaves at the bottom- which added an anticipated burst of fun as they made their way down! While I was watching them, it brought me to reflect on my childhood and how I, too, loved jumping in the leaf piles. It stirred me to find one of my favorite books, ” I Like To Be Little” by Charolette Zotolow.
“I can jump in the pile of leaves each fall,” the little girl said. “Grown-ups just rake them.”
“Rake them into piles,” said her mother.
“I like to jump in the leaves.” the little girl said. “I like to be little.”
Before we “jump in” to another month ahead of us, I invite you to enjoy those falling leaves (before they fade for winter), the radiance of God’s glory, and the child-like fun of jumping in those leaf piles.
