A Season of Preparation

Fall is coming.
To a person who loves summer, that statement does not produce warm, fuzzy feelings.
Fall means cooler weather, which becomes colder weather, which often means snow.
The cooler weather followed by the cold weather makes me happy.

That is not typical, I know.
I associate fall with things that make me smile.
Spectacular colors, chilly nights, and squirrels gathering nuts for the winter.
Preparation.

Preparation for the shorter days and longer nights.
Readying the house for the winter.
Readying myself for the hibernation that is sure to come.
As a young mom, I loved changing the clocks; the extra hour sleep, the cozy time inside.

Cuddling under a blanket and reading an exciting chapter book together.
Cuddling under a blanket with my own book when they went to bed.
A different kind of play; a different kind of family time.
Some people struggle when the grayer days set in.

I thought of fall as I put away my groceries.
I was washing apples and found myself associating them with this upcoming season.
The quintessential apple for the teacher.
Baking apple pies and apple cobblers; the smells of fall.

If you went trick or treating back in the day, getting an apple was not fun.
Who wanted an apple when you could have chocolate?
There were always the moms who made up little goodie bags with pencils and small toys.
There were always the moms who made popcorn balls.

I grew up in a time of relative safety.
The worse thing a parent could warn you about was not to take candy from strangers.
It was not until years later that I understood that admonition.
It was also in those years there was trouble with apples.

Someone somewhere decided to put a razor blade in an apple.
A horrific thing to do considering what could happen if the apple was eaten.
That’s when it began.
Your candy must be checked before you eat it.

All that tempting candy in your bag and you could have none of it until it was inspected.
Cursory inspection soon turned into having the candy X-rayed.
How ironic that on a night of tricking or treating, there really was something to fear.
Moms simply stopped giving apples; you were told to only go to the houses you knew.

All these thoughts came rushing back as I washed my bag of apples.
I looked out at my hanging plants that have thrived since May.
The begonia leaves are beginning to turn colors.
The creeping jenny that has cascaded down the side of the basket is now brown in spots.

Seasons are changing.
Each with its own beauty.
Each the end of something and the beginning of something else.
Each calling us to prepare.

I saw it as I drove along the road.
Tinges of color on the leaves.
Color waiting to burst forth when the Master Artist says so.
Color that will change the palette of everyday living to reds and oranges and browns.

People sometimes frown upon fall and winter.
Things are dying; everything is being readied for harvest.
The colors we wear reflect the colors we see.
It is a season of preparation.

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed.  And the Lord God made all kind of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:8,9,16, 17)

God saw that His creation was good.
There was only one thing that was not good; the fact that the man was alone.
God created a suitable helper for him.
God created a woman.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’ The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat any fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will surely die.’ “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some of it and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Genesis 3:1-7)

God’s Word says the woman took the fruit and ate it.
We often see pictures of Eve giving Adam an apple.
We do not know what kind of fruit she gave him.
The Bible does not tell us.

The Fall God speaks about in His Word, is so much more than a season.
The Fall was a time of disobedience; a time of wanting to be like God.
God the Father already had a plan to redeem His people.
He would prepare them through his Word and through His prophets.

God’s Word showed the need for a season of preparation.
A season of preparation between the Fall and our redemption.
The color palette is red, the color of His blood that would be shed for us.
In the fullness of time God sent His son, Jesus.

Preparation.
Belief.
Redemption.

All of that as I washed a bag of apples.