Trust & An Old, Dry Brown Leaf

I originally wrote this post last year for the Legacy

Coalition, but thought you would enjoy seeing it today. 

What is trust? Well, dictionary.com defines it as a; "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability or strength of someone or something" I want my grandchildren to know they are absolutely able to trust me, but more importantly, I want them to know they are absolutely able to trust God. Since my grandchildren are young, one way they learn to trust God is by learning they are able to trust me.

So, what does trusting look like to these three sweet rascally boys who God has gifted to my life? Well, at times it looks like twinkly blue eyes, a big smile and an old, dry brown leaf. Let me explain.

I live in my family homestead - a farmhouse on an acre in West Michigan which my grandparents built in the 1920's. My yard is filled with enormous maple trees and a very large old sycamore tree. Since I live in Michigan, these trees provide wonderful shade all Summer and no shortage of leaves in the Fall.

My grandsons were at my home New Year’s Day, and since it was a nice day, they went outside to play for a while. At one point Caleb (five years old) came inside with a big smile on his sweet face and an old, dry brown leaf in his hand – it was for me! He was so happy to have found a leaf for me . . . it had been “warm” out – well, relatively speaking it was “warm” for Michigan (40 degrees) and our snow had melted revealing a "treasure cache" of old, dry leaves. He happily gave me the “treasure” he found and went back outside to play.

This left my husband and me talking and laughing about how Caleb loves to give me old, dry brown leaves. He is absolutely convinced I love these old leaves . . . I do not, but I absolutely love him with all my heart, so when he gives me a “treasure” he found outside, I happily look into his sparkly blue eyes and tell him a very sincere, “Thank you”. Caleb sees my smile, hears my words and knows he is really seeing and hearing love . . . leaving him completely convinced his grandma loves him . . . and these old leaves!

Read the full post at this link.