Fall. It is my favorite time of the year! Who couldn’t love the fall weather, the beautiful changing of the leaves, and everything pumpkin (and apple)! I know; I am that stereotypical person who buys all the pumpkin stuff and freaks out for the leaves. I know. But there is just something about fall that makes everything have a glow and makes the world right.
There are a lot of things in the fall that make the season even more joyful for me. I remember that my sweet Mama Sally (my mom’s mom who passed away several years ago, who was one of my closest friends) LOVED fall. There are about a trillion fall festivals that one could choose to go to, but we have our traditions of Burt’s Pumpkin Farm, the Ellijay apple season and festival, and sometimes Gold Rush in Dahlonega. I got married in the fall (one year ago this Saturday) with a beautiful glowing sun and golden leaves all around me and my new husband.
And I always remember having some of my Nana’s homemade applesauce.
Man, that stuff is GOOD. If you have never had homemade applesauce, please do yourself a favor and make it. It makes you feel like a kid again to have applesauce around the table, and it’s sometimes even better hot and fresh off the stove! Talk about golden… That’s the stuff.
So, I have ventured into trying to re-capture my Nana’s applesauce on my own. That’s a tradition I want my kids to experience, just like I did. And guess what? It turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. I even canned several jars of it! I am so proud of that applesauce. However, it was very time consuming. I canned a half a bushel of apples made into applesauce over a whole afternoon. I had several pots on the stove going at one time, and I made a mess in our tiny kitchen. There was a lot of waiting time, and obviously a lot of repetitive actions to take.
I think my applesauce-making reminded me of something.
Life can be like that too. You feel like you’re going in circles to figure something out, and you don’t feel like you can do anything but wait. You feel like you are doing nothing productive, that you are just going through the motions of day-to-day life while you are waiting on this “thing”. Just like you wait on apples to cook (which takes quite a while, by the way, especially when you want some applesauce!). BUT, while you are waiting on your apples to cook, or your prayers to be answered, Jesus tells us to be found modeling His character while we wait. 2 Peter 3:14 ESV says “Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.”
There are big decisions that we face each day. We pray constantly for direction. Sometimes we get an automatic “yes” or “no”, but sometimes we get the answer to “wait”. How are we spending that time waiting? Are we becoming impatient? Are we complaining?
Let’s let Jesus’ character shine through us like the light does the golden leaves in the fall. And remember, be patient when your apples are cooking!
-Lindsey
a musing marriage 