Our Leaf Will Not Wither

I'm kind of in a writing mood these days, as evidenced by my fourth consecutive post in as many days. I don't know, the Lord has just given me this boost of love for my family that was recently sparked by reading "Choosing to SEE" (previous post). "Thank you Mary Beth Chapman!" Nothing significant here, other than love, except that I wanted to post these three pictures (below) of our sweet little Pop-Tart. The girls and I went on a walk this weekend because it was a beautiful Fall day here on Saturday. Victoria was out for the afternoon, and Barret wasn't feeling well, so it was just the four of us. Sometimes it's a challenge to figure out how we're going to spend meaningful time together that caters to all age groups (from 4 to 18) - not an easy task. But because Xiao Qian is so amenable to just about anything, she flexes between the older and the younger incredibly well. I decided we were going to collect colorful Fall leaves (each had their own bag), bring them home and do an easy craft (I'm really not very crafty). When we got back we put the leaves on the table, placed a piece of paper over them, and then lightly colored uniformly with pencil or crayon to draw out the variegation and outline of each leaf. I remember doing this as a kid and thought it was pretty cool. The sketches turned out great, but I felt they were a little incomplete so I hearkened back to Psalm 1 and told the girls that if they stay rooted in the Word of God, the Bible, their leaf would not wither like those we collected. We wrote that verse on the papers and plan to send them out to family. Poppy remembered the verse later on that evening (she's got such a good mind), and we repeated it throughout the rest of the day. Sounds pretty "spiritual", but understand this was an unusual spurt of ingenuity. The Spirit? Guess we saw Jesus that day.

How blessed is the man that who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season,
And its leaf does not wither,
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

(Psalm 1:1-3)

Enjoy the pics!

Poppy's doing what we might typically find Willow doing... being a monkey and hanging off a tree.

The girls can get the best of one another, but most of the time they're really pretty good buds. Couldn't resist snapping this shot.

Isn't t that a cool tree? Forget the tree! Isn't that an adorable little cherub from China?

An un-withered leaf... today,