How to Enjoy Fun, Faith, and Fall with the Grandchildren
I love fall. In Texas, autumn brings a welcome reprieve from the scorching summer heat. Pumpkins perch on our porches while chrysanthemums bloom in our flower beds. While Texas takes a collective breath in the fall, God is at work. Let’s explore ways to point to Him as we enjoy the bounty of fall leaves, apples, pumpkins, and the harvest.
Fall Leaves
Have the leaves changed where you live? If they haven’t, that change is coming soon. As trees prepare for winter, they stop producing chlorophyll. That lovely green we enjoyed all summer breaks down, giving way to other pigments that have been there all along. Yellows. Oranges. Browns. When sugar is trapped in the leaves, reds and purples appear.
We don’t see those brilliant colors until the tree slows down. When the leaves stop their normal work of making energy for the tree, their beautiful colors emerge.
Hmm. What hidden colors or gifts or talents might emerge when our grandchild has some margin? Free time? Time and space to breathe?
Do you have gifts or abilities that your grandchild might enjoy? Do them together. You might uncover a hidden talent or simply discover a hobby that brings them joy. My friend Julie, a fellow author, is co-writing a story with her grandson.
Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”
Search for what is hidden in your grandchild.
Fall Apples
One fun fall game is bobbing for apples. A quarter of an apple’s volume is nothing but air. Pears, however, sink like a rock. Bobbing for apples brought this Bible verse to mind. Proverbs 24:16 reads, “. . . for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.”
Just as a bobbing apple won’t be kept down, God’s kids endure. Why? Because He is with us.
Always.
Now is a great time for one of your God-stories.
How did God come through for you and your family?
When were you about to give up only to have God move in a mighty way?
Share your stories over apple cider and baked apples.
Fall Pumpkins
Liz Curtis Higgs penned The Pumpkin Patch Parable in 1995, but the connection of pumpkin carving and salvation had been around way before then.
Step 1: Choose a pumpkin.
Ephesians 1:4 reads, “for he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”
Step 2: Cut around the stem and remove that piece. Scoop out the seeds. This represents the old creation before Jesus.
Psalm 103:12 reads, “. . . as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Step 3: Carve the face or design, then place a candle inside the pumpkin and light it. The light represents the Holy Spirit when He comes to live inside a new believer.
Ephesians 1:13-14 says, “When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
Harvest Time
Remember those principles of sowing and reaping we talked about in spring? (April 21st post)
1. You reap what you sow.
What did you choose to sow? What did your grandchildren choose?
2. You reap in proportion to how much you sow.
Did you go big or start small? How’s your crop looking?
What does your grandchild’s crop look like?
Do you see fruit?
3. For a plant to grow, a seed must die.
What died? Both in you and in your grandchild?
What flourished?
Celebrate your harvests!
Galatians 6:9 reads, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
If the harvest seems small, or it’s still growing, don’t give up. It will come at the proper time. Encourage your grandchild to stay faithful.
Prayer: Father, give us an abundance of opportunities to connect You with the joy of fall. I pray that fruitful crops have been growing and that You are pleased with the harvest. Thank you for pumpkins, apples, and fall colors. They bring us joy. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Harvest time, pumpkins, apples, and leaves. God speaks through them all. Choose one to share and help your grandchildren to hear His voice.
Resources:
Scripture That Helps Grandparents
The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs
Southern Living’s Easy Skillet Apple Pie (Our family loves this recipe. During the holidays, I add cranberries for some color and zing.)
Need a good fall read for your 8-12 year old? Check out The Kingswell Kid Detective series. Book 1, The Mystery of the Missing Falls, is available now. Kid-sized mysteries. God-sized truths.
Next week’s post: Humility: How to Prioritize Family Relationships.
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