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(Aaron Burden\/Unsplash)<\/p>\nBy Dr. James L. Snyder<\/p>\n
This summer was the best I have had in a long time. I enjoy summer because the weather is always warm, sometimes even hot.<\/p>\n
I was so focused on enjoying my summer that I did not realize fall had arrived.<\/p>\n
The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage came into my office the other day and said, \u201cDo you know what day it is today?\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking at her with a smug smile, I said, \u201cYes, my dear, I do know what day it is. It\u2019s today.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Aaron Burden\/Unsplash)<\/p>\n
She chuckled and said to me, \u201cOh, you don\u2019t know what today is. It\u2019s fall. Don\u2019t you keep up with anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking at her with a bit of hesitation, I said, \u201cWhat do you mean it\u2019s fall?\u201d<\/p>\n
The critical thing about summertime is The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage stocking up on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year\u2019s activities. She packs the refrigerator and freezer to their maximum. By the time summer is over, she is already prepared for the upcoming holidays.<\/p>\n
It takes her a few weeks to find the right turkey for the holiday season. She is an expert in finding the right turkeys; after all, she found me.<\/p>\n
Now that summer is over, I have graduated into the fall season. There are some advantages to this time of the year, and I am still learning what some of them are.<\/p>\n
One advantage I use as much as possible is the weather. In the fall, it is colder than in summertime. Of course, with me, when the temperature drops below my age, I am freezing.<\/p>\n
So, there is an advantage to this because if The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage wants me to go outside, I renege and say, \u201cOh, boy, I really would love to, but it is so cold I really can\u2019t handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking at me, she will smile and say, \u201cIf you think it is cold, why don\u2019t you put on a sweater and then go outside?\u201d<\/p>\n
The other aspect of the fall season is the many holidays celebrated during this time. They go from Halloween to Easter.<\/p>\n
Of course, the great benefit of all these holidays is that The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage organizes our family get-together. It is during the summer that she stocks up on all the food for these get-togethers. Then, when that holiday comes, I really do not care what holiday it is; I am going to celebrate the food she puts on the table.<\/p>\n
I do not think anybody makes a better pumpkin pie than The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. My favorite pie is the one I\u2019m eating at the time. I would make up a holiday if it meant I could have one of her pies.<\/p>\n
If it weren\u2019t for all these holidays, I wouldn\u2019t have gotten to see some of my family. Therefore, the great thing about graduating to the fall season is about families. Nothing is greater than gathering around the dinner table with your family and eating the delicious food that is there for us.<\/p>\n
As I considered gathering as a family to celebrate, I thought of a verse in the Bible: \u201cOh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men\u201d (Psalm 107:8, KJV).<\/p>\n
Gathering together is a great time to celebrate all that God has blessed us with during the year. And He has blessed us wonderfully.<\/p>\n
Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, FL, with The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Telephone: 1-352-216-3025. Email: jamessnyder51@gmail.com<\/a>. Website: www.jamessnyderministries.com.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Dr. James L. Snyder This summer was the best I have had in a long time. I…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":402951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-402950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-texas","11":"tag-tx","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115608760587452105","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}