"days and months and seasons"
Galatians 4:10
Pumpkins. It's one of my favorite things about Autumn. And I have a lot of favorite things about Autumn.
I love the cooler weather, and the clothes I get to wear ~ warm, comfy, the colors, the patterns, the textures...
I love the changes in the landscape ~ the colors on the leaves (for as much as that happens in Southern California. But I'll take what I can get.) And I love when trees lose their leaves entirely. There's a jagged, lacy look to the branches that is just beautiful.
I love the way the sun slants and lights up the world in a different way. It's gentle and warming.
I love the food. I love the apples and squash and gourds... soups and breads and interesting chili recipes and stuff cooked in the crock pot.
And pumpkins. Now, to be honest, I'm generally not a big fan of pumpkin-flavored food. A friend of mine was telling me the other day that for all the pumpkin muffins and pumpkin lattes and pumpkin granola we see in the stores this time of year, there's really very little pumpkin involved. Mostly it's foods that have the spices we associate with pumpkin ~ cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, etc. I thought that was interesting... But mostly, I just like pumpkin bread. Well, and the smell of all those spices.
But oh, the pumpkins themselves. We just bought a couple this weekend, and it was so hard to pick. Tall ones, short ones, small ones, fat ones... I don't like them flawless, I like them with character ~ little "imperfections" or uneven sides or funny stems. Fortunately, we weren't at a store, where the best looking ones have been trucked in. We were at a pumpkin patch about an hour away, and we picked our own.
The kids have always liked carving jack-o-lanterns with their dad, but I like to just set a couple pumpkins here and there around the house, for as long as they'll last, and then cook them and puree them for pie or bread.
So that's what I'm looking at right now. My same living room, with the same furniture I always own, but with a few autumn decorations, and a couple of lovely, friendly pumpkins. Unique, interesting and appreciated. Much as we are to Him, I think. Don't you love being loved?
~ "you shall be a special treasure to Me" ~
Exodus 19:5
~
Interesting that we don't smell the pumpkins but the ginger and the cinnamon and the nutmeg.
ReplyDeleteGo back and read that part of Galatians 4 again -- Paul is sad that they are observing days and months and seasons.
You're absolutely right. I meant to just give a glimpse as to the topic of the post, but I inadvertently changed the meaning when I took that phrase out of context. Thank you, sir.
ReplyDeleteI guess I should do a post on the dangers of taking things out of context, shouldn't I? :)