Autumn has officially come.  We know because the heat of summer shows its glimmers, but the coolness of the mornings and evening times supersede.  The foliage has begun to change, as some of the leaves have even let go and fallen freely to the earth.  Surrounding us, we read about fall festivals, pumpkin picking, hayrides, and bonfires to celebrate football season.  Yes, the presence of the autumn season has marched in, and we are only to accept the bounty of the season it provides.

• Is that not also the way it is with other seasons of our lives?
• Are we not encouraged to step back from the season we are walking through to see exactly what the LORD is teaching us?

When our daughter was a little girl, my sister-in-law owned a café, and each Thanksgiving, she hosted a carry-in meal.  Now if you have ever attended a carry-in meal, then you have experienced the same fear in the pit of your stomach as I also have felt, because each dish may look delicious, but we do not always know the cleanliness of the hands that have prepared the dish.  So, when entering a carry-in meal, one arrives early and stands watch, noticing the dishes and the preparers as the dishes of food are placed on the serving table.

When we decided to attend the Community Thanksgiving meal at the local café, we found ourselves eating less:  less variety of foods & less food.  Nevertheless, we never came away hungry.

Our daughter was around the age of ten when we first attended, and as we drove toward the café in the neighboring county, I reminded each person in the car of our goal—to sit with a person we did not know, to engage in a conversation, and to share time eating at the table across from the person.  Simple, right?  I thought so, but my daughter did not like this plan at all and my husband was a bit leery of the said plan.  Nevertheless, in doing so, we never came away disappointed, for the variety of diners was always wide and varied.

Thanksgiving season is coming, and with the coming season, I find myself recalling those days of community Thanksgiving meals.  In remembering, I also am reminded of the seasons of festivals in the Bible.  The children of Israel were commanded:  “you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.” (Deuteronomy 8: 6 NASB)

• The true heart of their obedience was rooted in their connection to the LORD.
• Their keeping of the festivals was to remind them and to commemorate the significant events of their lives.
• They were to remember from where they came & the LORD was leading them.

Consider what exactly God has given to us—an eternal home, a land of plenty, a place where we will never want, an eternity where HE ALONE WILL BE OUR ETERNAL LIGHT!

• May we pass along the LOVE of JESUS to those who the Holy Spirit has placed into our lives!
• May we speak freely of the LOVE of GOD for a lost and dying world!
• May we exclaim to the world:  “GOD is ENOUGH!”   &
• May we shout from the mountaintops the WORDS of our SAVIOR!