Why I Don’t Go Apple Picking

~ Barbara ~ 6 Comments

This is the time of year when New York State’s orchards get as crowded with eager apple pickers as its city streets are with pedestrians. It used to be an annual outing for our family, until the last time, which was in the fall of 2004.

We trekked up to Maskers in three cars to glean the apples we would turn into fall goodies, like apple crisp or pie.  Homemade apple sauce, however, was our favorite. The countertop held Grandma B’s old apple mill, and plastic containers were lined up to receive the sweet, warm sauce. Kids from young to old waited with spoons, ready for their first taste. But I’m digressing. Back to apple picking.

Our daughter Stacey was our adventurer and added sparkle to our family. She had her eye on a lone apple hanging from a tree apart from all the others. Because her father was wrapped around her finger, they tromped through mud and over a fence to reach the one perfect apple that Stacey just had to have.

It was silly, but obviously memorable to us, and its telling has grown sweeter with time because, less than two weeks later, Stacey left us when the Lord lifted her from her bed and brought her home. And that’s why I don’t go apple picking anymore.

The remembrance is too sweet and the missing her would be too sharp, even 21 years later. It’s a memory we savor as we look forward to walking with her through Heaven’s orchards, where every apple will be a perfect apple.

Forgive my nostalgia, but I share this to encourage you to take time to create memories. Set a date, face the traffic, and go apple picking!

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him. Psalm 127:3

I Love the Fall

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

Tonight I will sleep with the window open and the air off. I do believe summer’s heat is finally behind us, and I am free to fully appreciate my favorite season. These are some of the things I love about fall (and yes, I do this almost every year—how can I not?).

  • The dance of leaves falling from trees and swirling on the ground
  • The warm colors of yellow and orange, red and brown displayed in leaves, gourds, and mums
  • Light shining from dining room windows in the earlier darkness
  • Apples in bowls on the counter, or oozing through an apple press to make sauce, or baked into a pie, or on a stick covered in caramel
  • The fragrance and fullness of tartly sweet apple cider
  • Pumpkin muffins and breads, cookies and pies, and seeds toasted in the oven with a dash of salt
  • The cooler weather and the coziness of soft sweaters and sweatshirts
  • The anticipation of Thanksgiving when gratitude swells and family comes home
  • The quietness that comes with the arrival of a new season and its reflection of God’s faithfulness

There is much more than this brief list. What would you add?

A Pumpkin Perspective

~ Barbara ~ 2 Comments

It’s officially fall! Leaves are floating, though their color has not yet turned vibrant. I fear that summer’s heat and drought may deter the bright shades of yellow, orange, and red we love in North Jersey. But we do have pumpkins!

I spot them grouped with mums on front porches, propped against light posts on bales of hay, and scattered through my house as part of the fall décor. Pumpkins are happy, vibrantly orange, inspirers of cheer. A small seed has produced a large gourd with tasty pulp we bake into pies and breads. It flavors lattes and cookies and adds its unique fragrance to candles. And, it is filled with more seeds that contain the promise of reproduction in the future.

This stirs in me a “Pumpkin Perspective.”

  • Be bright and bold.
  • Let your presence cheer others.
  • Share your unique flavor.
  • Spread your seeds for future increase.
  • Shine in your season.

Our existence, like the pumpkin’s, is transitory. Let’s give it all we have and be a blessing.

Let your light shine before others, that they may… glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:16

A Prayer Perspective

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

Andrew Murray lived from 1828 to 1917. He was born in South Africa more than a hundred years ago, but He experienced the national tensions we suffer today. He lived through the Anglo-Boer War and recorded his reflections. His question and his thoughts gripped me when I read them last week.* I share them with you.

Would it not be sad if we came into God’s presence divided into two camps, praying one against the other? No, we must pray for both our leaders and for all who are in authority. As leaders of the people, their influence, for good or evil, is inexpressible [beyond words].

Their hearts are in God’s hands, and He can turn them wherever He wills. Let our prayers ascend to God in all sincerity and He will hear and grant that which is good for the whole land.

Let us pray, “Lord, the hearts of rulers are in Thy hands; teach them to do Thy will.”

Amen.

*From Daily Secrets of Christian Living