Happy Family-Season (Ps 104:12-13)

My sis took this pic. It's mom's backyard in NH.

September 21 was the official beginning of fall. For me, though, the weekend after Halloween seems like the real change of the seasons. Halloween, with its fairs and festivals, corn mazes and pumpkin patches, bonfires and frightful feasts, seems more like summer's last hurrah.

Now, the trees are shaking off their leaves. The coats, scarves, hats, and boots have been moved out of their hiding spots. Calendars are filling with holiday happenings. 

So, I'm thinking we need to rename the seasons.

Family Season: November & December.

One of my lovely "other" families.
God puts families together.
By birth or by other means.

Dear-old-dad trying to decide where to draw the line between need and want.

That *is* what the holidays are supposed to be about, right? I mean, there are those who would say it's more honest to call it the shopping season, but those people just don't have the right kind of loved ones. This is a great time to be thankful for the blessings we already have, and to make more memories, together!

Celebration Season: June - October.

How can you not celebrate when
there's yummy goodness on the grill?

Vacations. Staycations. Fairs. Festivals. Carnivals. Barbeques. There's just so much to celebrate!

Awakening Season: April & May. 

My sister, again. She does some great stuff with her camera!

Have you ever walked in a garden in the Spring? Or worked with tweens/teens?  Flowers opening to the sun. Tragic mudslides. Beauty and devastation, side by side. Teens and flowers. Yup. Spring.

Quiet Season: January - March. 

January 2012, Steilacoom WA, during the "snowpocalypse."

With just a few tiny exceptions, there's really not much happening at this time of year. We're recovering from the togetherness (and expense) of family season, and preparing for the coming awakening & celebrations. Plus, there's the likelyhood of snow. Hmmm... sounds like a good season for sleeping, reading, and rediscovering yourself. Oh, and the average person lasts until about March (less than 100 days) with their New Year's Resolution. Seems like a good time to change the subject -er- season.

Now that we're on the same page, let me say it again. Welcome to family season. Enjoy this time with family and friends. Celebrate the many ways they make your life richer, better, more fun, more interesting. Whether you are looking at falling leaves or twinkling lights, think of the countless little ways your loved ones make your life more colorful, and count yourself blessed. I know I do.

In the trees near by, the birds make their nests and sing. From the sky you send rain on the hills, and the earth is filled with your blessings.                            --Psalm 104:12-13 GNT

The Cactus of Thanksgiving

A couple years back, a friend of mine gave me a flowering cactus, to replace a treasured houseplant that just had not been able to survive my black thumb. She assured me that even I could keep this gem from dying.

Turns out she was right. It's still alive. Even better, it's blooming! Which took me by surprise, partly because I thought it was a Christmas Cactus (she tells me it is actually a Thanksgiving Cactus), and partly because in the last two years, it really hasn't bloomed before. Oh, sure, it has had buds a couple of times. One or two even opened. However, even a garden gnome could see that wasn't all it was capable of.

It's truly blooming now, though, and it looks great. I have to admit, I might have missed it. It's on top of the fridge - not a spot I look at often. Thank God it's so bright, bold, and obvious.

Now, being a black thumb, I'm not really sure why this time is different. It's living environment didn't really change. It's lived on top of my fridge for a while, getting moderate sunlight through the patio door. The amount of water hasn't been changed. The temperature inside is pretty much the same year-round, excepting that we turn the heater down at nights for bed, so winter/fall nights are cooler. Despite all that same-ness, the plant is blooming now, when it hadn't before. So, I know SOMETHING changed. Something indefinable, invisible, and critical. Somehow, now, the plant is finally ready to bloom. God only knows why.

GOD only knows why.

I don't really have to tell you why I thought this was worth a spot here, on this blog, do I? The plant could be me. It could represent my whole life, or just one certain area of it. The plant could be my family, blooming with understanding and compassion. The plant could be my friends, coming into bloom in their jobs and relationships. The plant could be our faith maturing and blooming over time.

I know what it means to me today. Today it is one part of my life, the place where I needed the most encouragement. Chances are, something in your life is like this plant, too.

You're afraid it might be dead or dying. Look again. It isn't. You might just have the wrong name for it, or be expecting it in the wrong season. It's surviving, despite the odds. In fact, it's growing, maturing... even if it's not truly thriving. 

If you think back, you might even remember a time when it sent out little test buds just to remind you that it was alive. A part of your life. Put there by God. Not to taunt and torment you, but to help you have hope. To remind you to look, wait, watch. Because each and every day, your cactus is getting closer to a full, bursting bloom!

Gardeners and farmers understand patience better than just about anyone on earth. Folks like me...well, we need a reminder every now-and-then. I am thankful that God knows just when to send them.