Raking Leaves

This afternoon, I spent a couple of hours raking leaves and mowing the lawn. Generally speaking, I don't mind mowing the lawn and shoveling snow, but I find leaf-raking to be quite unpleasant. I'm not exactly sure why - maybe it's the association with the upcoming winter season. (At least with snow you sometimes get a day off from school or work). There are still a lot of leaves up in the trees, so to some extent the work today would be in vain. But tomorrow my town starts their collection of the leaf bags, so I figured I should get going.

So after lunch, I headed outside. I planned to make the chore more enjoyable by listening to some music on my iPod. Nothing gets me pumped for physical work like rocking out to Barry Manilow. However, a few minutes later, my 7-year-old daughter came out to help me rake the leaves. I appreciated her enthusiasm and willingness, but I had my doubts as to how much help she would be (not to mention that I would not be able to listen to my iPod).

After we (I) had raked a few piles, it was time to put the leaves into the large brown bags that the township provides. Then a funny thing happened. Instead of picking up a big handful of leaves each time, Amy would pick up a single leaf and admire it. She would show it to me and make some comments about its color, shape, etc. At first, I would just say a quick word of agreement followed by encouragement to pick up more leaves. But soon I found myself noticing some individual leaves. I even found one that Amy and I agreed was the biggest leaf ever!

In spite of some leaf-observing breaks, we managed to get the job done before it got dark. Since there are still many leaves in the trees, I know that upcoming weekends will contain more leaf raking and watching. I want to thank my daughter for giving me a fresh perspective on what has previously been a tedious chore.

This morning at Church, the preacher spoke about thankfulness. After Jesus healed ten lepers, only one came back to thank Him. I realized that I take many things for granted. It's even possible to be thankful for a lawn full of dead leaves. Not only did this provide me with some exercise and time with my daughter, leaves remind me of the beauty and uniqueness that can be found in all areas of God's creation. I just needed to see them through a child's eyes.