@Marcie_Bridges
For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
Isaiah 41:13
The breeze plays with the leaves
whispering, “Come, follow me.”
But the leaves hang on for dear life
afraid to take flight and they
whisper back, “We can’t.”
Breeze laughs and sings,
“Please, come dance with me.”
One leaf decides to take the chance.
Closes its eyes. Lifts its edges.
Gently floats on the breezes breath.
Suddenly, the breeze is gone and
down, down, down, leaf falls
to the dry, hard, brittle ground.
She lays there bewildered and scared
afraid to open her eyes
afraid…what would happen from here?
Small hand reaches, picks her up,
leaf opens her eyes finding another eye
searching, smoothing her ribs,
a smile on a child’s lips.
“Mom, look what I found,” she cries.
“Isn’t this the most beautiful leaf
you’ve ever seen with your eyes?”
Placed beneath paper, a crayon rubs over her,
making extra leaves to give to others
and she knows she was made to fly
because she was beautiful, unique, and
that’s the story of you and me
when we decide to spread our wings
and fly.
~Marcell Warner Bridges
©24 June 2018
Staring out the window to my left I watched as the leaves of a tree played with the breeze.
The scene reminded me of days long gone when as a child I enjoyed playing outside, soaking in the warmth of the day and the delicious smells of summer. Fresh mowed lawns, barbecue’s, chlorinated pool water, blueberries and strawberries picked from the vine, campfire’s, and fresh flowers.
And strangely enough, the leaves rustling in the wind also brought to mind the colors of Fall when the leaves change and fall to the ground.
It’s funny how the mind captures these pictures and stores them in our memory banks to bring them to focus at even the oddest of times.
Lately, I have felt like a leaf hanging on for dear life in the wind. Not ready to let go and sail into the unknown waters of new places God may be trying to take me.
Sometimes it seems we wait and wait for certain prayers to be answered or things to come our way and we wonder if they’ll ever come to pass. And God is asking us to let go but we resist. We keep waiting for the right time to come and we can say yes.
I read a story this week which really put this into perspective. It goes something like this (the link to the actual story is at the end of this post):
A young man wanted to marry a girl. He asked her father if he could marry her. The father told him if he could catch the tail of one of their bulls he could marry her. The young man agrees and goes to wait in the field.
The first bull runs out looking big and mean. The young man lets it go thinking the next one would be better than this one. The second one runs out even angrier and fiercer than the first. But he decides to let it go as well because he thinks the third one would be the best one. So, the third bull comes charging out of the gate. It is not as healthy as the other two. In fact, it is rather weak and scrawny but he decides to try to catch it. Yet, when he thinks he can grab it, turns out, this bull has no tail at all.¹
How many times do we miss opportunities God has brought to us because we think surely the next one will be better. Or, maybe if we keep waiting He’ll bring us what we really want.
How many times do we get an opportunity to do something but it isn’t what we really want to do so we say no, only to find out later, had we taken that opportunity it would have led us to what we really wanted to do?
Guilty as charged here.
Sometimes the biggest mistake we can make is to hang on for dear life letting fear keep us from what God really wants us to do and keeping us from getting something far better than what we would have had in the first place.
What in your life do you need to step out in faith to do with God’s help?
From My Heart to Yours,
Marcie
Beautiful, Marcie! Sometimes, we simply have to let go and let God, trusting He has our best interest at heart always.
Blessings!
This is so true Martha. When we sing about trust or quote the Scripture verses it sounds so easy but can be so hard. May our faith grow stronger as we learn to lean on Him for His understanding and not our own. 🙂
Thank you, Marcie, for the inspiration to stop resisting, let go, and enjoy the opportunities God has waiting for us.
Hi Jeana, thank you for stopping by. This is such an important lesson to learn as we grow in our walk with the Lord, isn’t it? Trusting can be so hard but it is the best choice. Blessings on your week, Marcie 🙂
I love this heartfelt post and your analogy of the leaf is perfect. Thank you. And just for the record … I believe in you sweet Marcie Girl 😉
Oh thank you so much dearest friend. You make my heart smile. Love you so much.