Barbara's glass pumpkin candy dish served as the true icon of fall for the counseling center staff at HFBC. No yardage of fall garland could top the decor of the scattered styrofoam cups in the office filled with the winning combination of -- candy corn and peanuts.
One of the main reasons I'm in love with fall is that it reminds me of being in love. Josh and I had our first date in October, we had a pivotal point in our relationship the next fall and in the following "football season," we were engaged.
But there's more to what makes this part of the year a romance. Just like the candy corn and peanuts...
I find it's the blend of intense sweet and stark salt that make it. Much like our draw to fall must come from the contrast of unbearable Houston heat one day and a literal breath of crisp air the next.
Dichotomy drives us.
Sweet, genuine times with the Lord bring your heart to grieve over what breaks His.
Tragedy in a family can bring brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers closer---in a way that "perfect times" just won't allow.
And trials bring us through spiritual scenery we would have otherwise missed.
You don't see many people celebrate fall with a can of pumpkin and a spoon. But you see many people giddy with their fingers wrapped carefully around a cup of pumpkin mixed with sugar and spice, coffee and creamer.
It's our human nature to welcome new seasons. I know it's usually my bend to wish for all-sweet stuff in life. But I'm reminded today that the contrast is necessary because it is really what enriches and warms our lives the most.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-3
