No Pumpkins At My House

There will be no pumpkins at my house this fall. My sentry guards at the door, the concrete urns in which stacked pumpkins put on a show of orange topiary, stand empty this year with only the leftover dirt from the summer flowers. The porch has lost its hay stacks with scarecrows and giant gourds and every size of pumpkin snuggled in the hay. The flower beds boast of no cabbage or kale to decorate the walkway. I have one fall wreath from many falls past, but there are no pumpkins at my house this year.

The year 2009 has proven to be a most unusual year, not just for us, for the entire world. It is a time of economic downturn and unplanned changes, along with the ebbs and flows we all experience in the waves of life, good with bad, happy with sad, want with blessings. For us, new career changes that are excitingly hopeful and the anticipation of the dreams we have dreamed. We are so blessed, but there is wisdom in frugality during such times. While fall is my absolute favorite time of year…this is a very unusual fall indeed. So this year we will have no pumpkins.

And yet…while many changes have taken place, and the fall decorations are minimal and bare by choice…there has been a sort of decorating happening that has produced the most beautiful of harvest displays.

The swags of fall flowers usually cascading gracefully around my front door have been replaced with a beautiful garland of FAITHFULNESS. It proclaims, “All who enter here are offered the assurance that there are greater things to come at the hand of the One who has so lavishly provided!” A finer welcome you have never had.

The flower pots, which are usually brimming with armfuls of red and golden mums, are now filled to overflowing with the most striking blossoms of LOVE I have ever seen. Blooms too beautiful to describe with the sweetest fragrance of family and friends who have cheered and supported, prayed and inspired. I do not believe I will ever find fall flowers as beautiful as these again.

I cannot even remember what the haystack used to look like. In its place stands an arresting display of JOY. The pumpkins and gourds replaced with more appealing embellishments. A more intense appreciation of time spent with each other and the encouragement that commitment brings. Holding hands on the front porch, toasty toes by the fire in the chimenea, recounting treasures of memories of those who have loved us and we have loved back. A warming of two hearts devoted to standing the test of time and resting in a hope, not found in things made but in blessings bestowed. Joy only found in the safety of the Father’s hand.

There is no reason to look forward to “good” times. These are the good times.

So, there will be no pumpkins at my house this fall. They would detract from my new decorations.