The Red Leaf

There it was.....a beautiful leaf of the brightest red color lying on top of one of our shrubs. While my husband was making coffee, I looked out the window toward the road. Vehicles were passing, throwing up sprays of water from the two and a half inches of rain that had fallen. I saw the rain clouds hovering over the pasture across the road; raindrops splattering against the window and the wind blowing what few leaves are left on our trees. Then, my eyes fell on that one red leaf lying among the brown ones that had landed on that shrub; the only bright spot in all of the area I could see.

As I stood there admiring that bright spot in the midst of a dreary morning, I recalled walking into my elderly mother's kitchen. She was usually sitting in her rocking chair reading her bible. Or, perhaps she was stirring something on top of her stove. Whatever she was doing, she looked toward me and her blue eyes, dimmed with age now, lit up and a smile came across her face.

"Well, am I glad to see you" she would always say. To her, I was that bright spot in the midst of an otherwise bleak and uneventful day. I was that red leaf in the midst of the rain to my mother.
Are you that bright spot in someone's life? I have to admit that after my mother left this life in exchange for her Heavenly home, I haven't been much of a bright spot in anyone's life. I know there are friends who are in nursing homes who would smile and say "Well, am I glad to see you" if I would just take the time to visit. There are those who are shut in and sit all day just hoping their phone will ring bringing a bright spot into their life but they never get a call from me. Some wait, anticipating perhaps a card or note that would brighten their day and let them know they are thought about.

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16The Message (MSG)

I hate to admit it, but I'm not much of a light-bearer for our Lord. Too many times, my bright, red leaf is hidden under a bushel basket.

Where is your light?