Enjoy the season of pumpkin spice with joy in our hearts

Fall has finally arrived.

At last cooler temperatures have arrived which means less grass mowing, leaves falling, Friday night football and soon Three Rivers basketball.

Fall has arrived with everything from pumpkin spice oil changes to pumpkin spice Hershey Kisses and everything in between.

As I think about that I’m reminded of Pvt. Benjamin Buford ‘Bubba’ Blue in the movie “Forrest Gump” giving his soliloquy of the types of dishes you can prepare from shrimp.

Bubba reminds us “Shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, and sauté it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That’s about it.”

So it seems also with pumpkins spice.

Those who are into all things pumpkin can find a few of the following concoctions at their favorite food and drink establishment: pumpkin spice lattes, coffees, or pumpkin spice hot chocolate to wake you up in the morning; pumpkin pecan frozen custard, pumpkin spice milkshakes pumpkin pie Blizzards, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin spice donuts, muffins and donut holes, pumpkin spice beignets, (forgive us Café Du Monde), pumpkin spice and pumpkin pie Kit Kats to feed your sweet tooth; pumpkin spice dinner rolls and pumpkin spice Spam, to feed your hunger to name a few.

There’s evewn pumpkin spice flavored chews to clean your dog’s teeth.

What will they think of next to try?

But I’m perambulating, but I’m told that’s what ministers do.

Don’t you just love fall in the Ozarks with the changing of the leaves, the shorter days, and the smell of smoke in the air from fireplaces.

Fall is the perfect time take the family on a road trip.

Fall is the perfect time of year to also go to your favorite fishing hole (mine is the Spring River) and enjoy a few hours of fishing (trout).

Fall, like the other seasons of the year reminds me that in life, we have seasons.

Solomon the writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us, “For everything that happens in life, there is a season, a right time for everything under heaven. A time to be born, a time to die; a time to plant, a time to collect the harvest.”

I invite you to turn to your bible and read the entire passage.

It’s found in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

Our lives are also composed of seasons.

We enter this life as a small baby dependent on our parents to take care of us and nurture us and prepare us some day to be parents possibly ourselves.

As believers we are also dependent on others to help us grow in our faith.

First our parents and then by follow sisters and brothers in the faith.

We must pass on our faith from one generation to another as the writer of Deuteronomy instructs.

“Listen, Israel! The Eternal is our True God, God alone. You should love Him, your True God, with all your heart and soul, with every ounce of your strength. Make the things I’m commanding you today part of who you are. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you’re sitting together in your home and when you’re walking together down the road.” Deuteronomy 6:4-6

As young Christians we also have to take “small steps” and grow into mature believers.

As in life some Christians mature in their faith faster than others.

The Apostle Paul tells the early church at Corinth, ”I nursed you with milk, as a mother would feed her baby, because you were not, and still are not, developed enough to digest complex spiritual food. When I was a child, I spoke, thought, and reasoned in childlike ways as we all do. But when I became an adult, I left my childish ways behind.” 1 Corinthians 3:21 Corinthians 3:2; 1 Corinthians 13:11.

Even as a followers of Jesus, we have seasons of strife and seasons of joy that we must live our faith through.

We all experience change and transition in life.

Sometimes life is exciting and we feel on top of the world and at other times we just want to go away and escape the situation.

But we must seek to understand the seasons of our life and faith.

If we do not understand that there are seasons in life, we may draw the wrong conclusions about what is happening in our lives, or the reasons for it.

Be it good or bad, plenty or want season, we must never let the season we are in define who we are and we must not change what we believe according to what season we are in.

We can learn from every season we are in.

We must remember that God is at work in every season of our life, whether we feel close to God or far away.

Or as Mandy Hale reminds us “Even seasonal situations can bring with them lessons that last a lifetime.”

“Don’t run from tests and hardships, brothers and sisters. As difficult as they are, you will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line, mature, complete, and wanting nothing.” James 1:2-4

Or as the Aramaic Bible in Plain English translate James “May you have every joy, my brothers and sisters, when you enter various and many temptations.

We can then enjoy the season of pumpkin spice and everything nice with joy in our hearts.

That means even pumpkin spice Spam.

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Rev. Frank Chlastak began work as senior minister of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Poplar Bluff on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015.

Rev. Chlastak is a graduate of Northeast Louisiana University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and has served congregations of the Christian Church in Louisiana, Arkansas, Virginia, Oklahoma and Missouri. He believes that God’s love in Christ extends to all people, and that ours should also.

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Editor’s Note: This is a regular series featuring area religious leaders writing about faith, family and community. To participate or suggest a church, contact us at news@darnews.com or 573-785-1414. The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of the DAR.