The Spiritual Implications of Leaf Blowing

ha ha...I know that title sounds crazy, but humor me......and after reading this, I bet you'll never use a leaf blower again without thinking of this!

Now, I should tell you, I am the type of person who really has to see the application of a lesson to "get it".  By that I mean, I really have to have you SHOW me how a Bible lesson (or any other lesson) really fits into my life to understand it.  That's why my Bible is an NIV Life Applications Study Bible.  I love it!  It's great about the wording & commentary explaining the application of the Scriptures.  Anyway, in that same vein, I am also always trying to find a spiritual application to apply to everyday things.  I guess I really am a teacher at heart because I find myself seeking out ways to explain things to people in a very applicable way that they'll remember & use.  All that said, I'll move onto what my day brought to mind.

Our backyard is huge.  Seriously, we have a pretty large city lot with a lot of trees.  We live on a street with "Shady" in the name and they don't call it that for nothin'.  There are tons of trees.  Because of those zillion trees, we have a LOT of leaves.  During the fall, we don't even bother trying to rake them up because there are so many that it would be pointless.  You'd never finish the job.  And so, with that in mind, we wait until it's winter & ALL of the leaves have fallen from the trees before we even begin to rake them.  Since we live inside the city limits, we can't burn them, so the city has a leaf vacuuming service they offer.  If you will rake/blow them to the curb into a big pile, they bring this cool vacuum truck over & suck them all up for you.  (The kids can't wait to see that on Monday!!)  And so today was our annual "leaf party".  That's what we call it for the kids so that they will help with minimal whining.  They think it's fun because they get to jump in the big pile at the end of the day.

We all were in the yard this morning by 9:30 and around 3:00, we finally came in for the day.  What a day's work.  I'm sore everywhere...but it's a good sore.

As I wielded the leafblower today, my mind began churning out these theological applications of the use of the leafblower.  And with New Year's Resolutions right around the corner, I thought I'd share.  Now mind you, in places, our yard was nearly a foot deep in leaves.   But look what was underneath all the old dead leaves.

Can you see the green sprigs of grass?  There was life, growth, beauty ... hidden under a foot of dead leaves.  Who would've thought that after months & months of being covered up by dead leaves, there would be anything living hidden underneath?  The truth is, we all have a lot of dead stuff in our life.  Maybe it's a hidden sin that no one knows about.  Maybe it's an addiction that you can't seem to let go of.  Maybe it's trouble with a child that you can't figure out.  What is the dead yucky stuff in your life?  We all have it.  See, the trouble is, we justify hanging onto it.  We tell ourselves that all those dead leaves will "mulch" the gardens of our hearts, when in truth it's just suffocating us.  We think we can cling to all the "junk" in our lives just a little longer but until we allow God to "blow the leaves out" of our hearts, we're dying under the weight of all the garbage stacked up on us.

Maybe this coming up New Year's Day can be your fresh start.  Have the dead leaves been building up for a day, a week, a month, even years?  Does God barely need to flick the switch on the leaf blower or does He need to bring out the Leaf Master 5000?  Whatever the case, He has the tools (forgiveness, mercy, grace) to wipe the slate clean & give you a fresh start this year.

Call out to Him now.  Give Him all the garbage you've been holding onto & let this be the year that you release the beauty hidden under the weight of all the mess that's piled up in your life.  The freedom, the fresh air & sunshine...it's worth it.

Now, I never said I was a great Bible teacher or a super-theologian.  I just saw some spiritual implications to leafblowing today & I wanted to share them.  Back to your regularly scheduled blogging.  (Oh and by the way, take a peek at my sweet angels below.)

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