Peppers

September has arrived and my garden is showing its fall colors!

I see the brown of the dead and dying plants, but also the vibrant hues of the bell peppers, red and orange and yellow.

I am so grateful for these hardy plants that withstood the summer heat and are still growing in my garden. They remind me that God has a time and a season for all fruit.

I love the sugar snaps that come in the spring, encouraging me to keep the garden going. I love the new fruit emerging on the vines and stalks. I love the garlic and basil, the cucumbers and tomatoes that grow throughout the summer. And I love these peppers who transition me into autumn.

It is a beautiful day. Morning clouds have dissipated, and a clear blue sky stretches from the tops of trees to green lawns. The birds call to each other and those pesky squirrels scamper across the yard. I pull some weeds and cut some basil. The fragrant scents fill my senses. What a blessing to spend just a few minutes everyday soaking in God’s gifts in nature.

For what can be know about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. Romans 1:19-20.

Nature constantly reminds me of God’s creativity and His love of beauty. So many different plants and trees and flowers and blossoms and fruits and seeds. All with their own seasons and habitats and needs. The details of a flower petal, the variety of fruits, the interconnectivity of living things – they all bear witness to a creator who far exceeds our limited capabilities. And yet this same God cares enough to give us a variety of tastes and smells and colors, perhaps just for enjoyment, perhaps also for His own.

The skies proclaim His glory but this little patch of garden in my backyard does, too. It has persevered through unseasonal heat and unusual cool. Some of it has faded, some of it has died, and some lives on, still producing, still growing, still healthy.

There are some former interests that are fading in my life. There are some that have died. But others continue, even thrive, producing new and varied fruit. I have done no needlepoint this year, but I published a book. I have yet to harvest a tomato, but I have perfected a pesto recipe. I have thriving fig and raspberry plants. My garlic was successful enough to encourage me to plant again this fall.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land I will show you.” Genesis 121:1.

God has not asked me to leave my country or my kindred, but He has led me to some new places, some new interests, some new avocations. He has shown me new things. He has grown peppers of various colors in the September of my life.

Even more, God is teaching me how to continue to grow, continue to learn, continue to produce even in the autumn of my life. He has taught me that the garden can produce even in the winter. Perhaps I will be able to as well.

What a marvelous God we have! What a blessing that He shows us His eternal power and divine nature in the things He has made, even the simple things like red and orange and yellow bell peppers.

If you missed it – I have published a book, Garden Devotions, which can be ordered through Barnes and Nobles, Amazon, or the link found in the menu at the top of this page. If you are willing, leave a review! Many thanks.

Love in Christ, Betsy