Acorns and Fall Reflections
As autumn shows off in all her beautiful colors, I have been enjoying my morning walks even more. There is something about the sound of my sneakers scuffing through crunching leaves and the way the air smells of damp earth and burning leaves that brings back happy memories of my childhood.
One of my favorite things to do in the fall as a child was to collect acorns. To me, they looked like little people with caps on them. I remember reading a chapter book titled, Miss Hickory about a little woman made of nuts and twigs. The idea of making my own woodland person to love and care for fed my imagination as well as my need for a friend that I could put in my pocket. The problem was the acorn man did not come to life in fact he got brown and dried up after a while. And most of the time his head fell off before that could even happen.
I got to thinking that in the very first chapter of the bible, God had similar feelings of fondness for His creation and the desire for companionship. The first man, Adam, was lovingly fashioned out dust. God blew his very life into him, and he became a companion. Adam was a companion not because God needed him but because God wanted him. Similarly, I didn’t need a little man made of acorns and sticks. Making him was something that I wanted to do, because it gave me joy.
The reality is God doesn’t need my help, nor does He have a job that only I can do. An all-powerful, all-knowing God can certainly figure out how to get things done without me. We are each created with unique talents and abilities, bents and interests but the fact is, the story between God and man is based on desire. God’s heart is for His kingdom and family. This is what He pursues.
As I continue my life journey, I am becoming convinced of this. I am experiencing the reality that He is attached to me and His affection is set in my direction. He enjoys my company and desires my friendship more than any task I could do for him. Yes, there are things He asks me to do but those tasks are not obligatory to gain His favor. Instead they are opportunities for me to engage with Him because I am favored. The engagement and relationship is what he is after most of all.
When the kids were younger, I would often make an apple pie and invite them to ‘help.’ This was not because I really needed them or expected them to do it for me. It was for their pleasure but maybe more so, mine. It gave me so much joy to watch them try to peel the bright green apples or stick their pudgy fingers into the sloppily rolled out the dough. My heart would fill with so much love when they snuck a sugared apple out of the bowl and slyly slid it into their mouths. Their beautiful eyes lit up as they tasted the sweet, tangy goodness. Their joy was mine.
This is what walking with God is all about, shared joy; His and ours; It is a back and forth exchange of love because we want to, not because we must. He chooses us and we choose him, over and over again.
Truth be told,I still put acorns in my pocket. They make me happy and remind me I am His and He is mine.
