Piles of Leaves

Blowing Leaves.
It is not profound work.

Today I taught class.
Hid from the world while I graded for three hours.
Taught class again.
Ran to the grocery store.
Filled the gas tank.
Picked up the crazy kids.
Cycled laundry.
Planned supper.
Bundled up.
And headed outside to blow leaves.

I have great trees.  A great many trees.  Thus...
Leaves.

And as I blew leaves from near the house to the edge of the woods, now and again I would mistakenly glance back towards where I had just stood.
Still...
Leaves.
It's like they breed while you try to move them.
It's not hard work.  But, it IS tedious.  And I work for an hour and don't think I've accomplished much.
Until.
I look at the enormous pile growing in front of me.
And I stood, as the daylight faded and my fingers grew numb from the cold,
And I stared at my huge pile of leaves.

I had worked hard on that pile.
When I look back at where I'd been walking, blowing leaves, I still see scattered leaves all around me.
But when I look at what all had been accomplished, I just breathed that in for a moment.

Sometimes, we need to stop.
And look at all we've accomplished thus far.
We can't look back at what's been left behind.
We can't look too far ahead at what all still remains to be done.
We must stop and see, truly see, what all we've already attained.
Correction:
What all God has attained.
Markers.
Remembrances.
Piles of leaves.

There are big changes coming in my life.
God has told me this.
And I am ready.
Because I trust Him.
And when I look back at the last two years,
It is truly a miracle what all has been accomplished. 
There is no other explanation for how this single mother, on her paltry income, could have maintained the mortgage for the last year; much less paid all other bills on time, fed her family, adopted a Compassion child, and provided birthday and Christmas presents.
I remember how a year ago, God provided nearly a year's worth of past due mortgage payments in one lump sum two weeks before Christmas.  
And there were still gifts under the tree.
I remember how He provided a vehicle two weeks after the previous one was demolished.
I remember the new roof in the midst of life chaos.
I remember never going hungry (unintentionally).
I remember writing checks to pay bills...on time.
I never ran out of gas.
I never received another foreclosure statement.
I never received late fees.
These are all miracles.
Of Jehovah Jireh.
My Provider.

So, as I marched forward, blowing leaves further on, I know that God's provision has not failed and it will not in the future.

Stop.
Remember.
Don't get so caught up in the defeats of yesterday 
Or the challenges of tomorrow.

That you forget where God has brought you

Today.