Glorious Fall

Part of the fun of homeschooling is the joy of learning right along with your children. We did a study on leaves this past week, and we learned how and why they change colors. One thing we learned is that the autumn colors are already present in the leaves. We can't see them in summer because the green of the leaves masks the other colors. Once the days begin to shorten the trees begin to conserve energy for the winter. The waning sunlight signals the leaves to begin changing. Basically, the green fades away and the colors underneath show through. This is also the same thing that happens when a banana turns from green to yellow. Pretty neat, eh?

I thought of how this is similar to our walk with God. We have all these colors underneath -- a "colorful past," so to speak -- and as long as we get plenty of "son"light, we stay green and healthy, and attached to the tree. But, if we decide to do things our own way, and the "son" light decreases, our old colors start to shine through. Then we gradually die and "fall off the tree."

Another fun part of homeschooling is being able to show my children how God is in everything (such as changing leaves and butterflies). The Bible says: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse," (Romans 1:20 NIV, emphasis mine).

Our housing development is, for the most part, bald. So it is nice that we have panoramic views from our back porch. At least we can enjoy the changing leaves, if not the shade, of the trees.