An Eternal Summer

There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart.  - Celia Thaxter

All I can say is Texans must have cornered the market on grateful hearts this year!  September 23^rd ushered in “Fall” here in Texas along with more 100 plus degree temperatures in the Central Texas area.  Plans to put on a sweater and go to that fun, fall pumpkin patch with Elizabeth, our very first grandchild, didn’t get cancelled, but we abandoned the sweaters for shorts, sunscreen, and hats!  It was sizzling!  Nonetheless, we had a lot of fun. 

We painted pumpkins, stuffed scarecrows, painted our faces, and just about had a heat stroke before retreating back home. 

Harvest festivals are traditionally held on or near the Sunday of the Harvest Moon.  This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox (about Sept. 23).  In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October.  This year it came September 12.      

I thought it might be fun to look up some harvest superstitions.  Here are a few I found:

• Anything a pregnant woman plants will grow well as she is full of life. 
• Fertilizer put on fields by moonlight will not decompose and is useless, however it will sink into the ground.
• A turtle dove's coo on New Year's day indicates a good crop to come.
• If you thank someone who gives you seeds, they won't grow. You should instead thank the seeds.
• Rusty nails or other types of iron placed around a plant will make it grow better.
• Plowing on Sunday will leave you stuck to the plow until Monday.
• If it rains on the day you begin to plow your fields, you will have a good harvest.
• Plowing up a black snake or a turtle shell equates to a good harvest.
• A red moon indicates a storm to come and is bad luck for crops.

Well, the first one is OUT for me, so guess I will take note of the others and maybe, just maybe, my garden will flourish next spring…but with the drought, I won’t be holding my breath.

God promises restoration to what has been taken away from us.  We had very little rain this year and it has resulted in a hot, dry, dangerous environment.  Wild fires burn all around us and have taken many, many homes and even some lives.  But hopefully soon the rains will return, as they always seem to do, and restore what was ravaged and bring healing to the land.  The land will once again grow green grass, trees, and water will be restored to the lakes and rivers.

The same happens with a spiritual drought.  There are times when we feel disconnected from God, from His love, and from His blessings.  We may feel that God has abandoned us and our lives seem "dry" and fruitless.  Our vulnerability during these times open the door for Satan's deception.  He moves in and makes us question all of it.  As a result, our actions during these times can be downright dangerous to the progress of our relationship with Christ and other people.  But God never abandons us.  What Satan uses for harm, God uses for good.  His promise is that he is always with us, no matter the environment, and if we will stand in faith and believe that His purposes for our lives will be revealed in His time, not ours, then will the blessings pour back in and restore what has been taken.

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.  -Joel 2:25