Hello, Pumpkin.

Inspired by the Gathered Grace watercolor card, “Hello, Pumpkin.”

A Little Piece of History

Pumpkins have been cultivated in North America for thousands of years. Long before they became porch decorations and symbols of autumn, Indigenous peoples grew varieties of squash as an important source of food. Their ability to be stored through colder months made them especially valuable when the growing season ended.

Perhaps that is part of what makes the pumpkin such a fitting picture of autumn. It arrives at a point of transition, when fields are being emptied, daylight is shortening, and creation itself seems to whisper that change does not mean God has stopped providing.

Devotional

There is something beautiful about a collection of pumpkins that don't quite match.

Some are round. Some lean. Some are deeply ridged. Some are pale, some bright, some perfectly imperfect.

And still, gathered together, they belong.

Our lives have seasons like that too.

Some seasons arrive exactly as we imagined. Others look nothing like the picture we had carefully painted in our minds. There are seasons of abundance and seasons of waiting. Seasons when prayers are answered quickly and others when God seems to be working beneath the soil, somewhere we cannot yet see.

Ecclesiastes reminds us that God has appointed a time for everything.

That means we don't have to force every season to look like the one before it.

Autumn doesn't apologize because it isn't spring.

The trees don't cling desperately to every leaf because they are afraid another one will never grow. Creation simply moves according to the rhythm its Creator established.

And perhaps there is an invitation for us there.

Receive the season you're in.

Not because everything about it is easy. Not because you understand everything God is doing. But because the God who cared for you in yesterday's season has not changed with the calendar.

Maybe today you are flourishing.

Maybe you're waiting.

Maybe something familiar is ending.

Or maybe, after a long difficult stretch, you're beginning to notice tiny signs of something new.

Whatever your season looks like, you are still being held by the same faithful God.

So when life changes color around you, you can greet the season with open hands:

Hello, Lord. I'm here.

Show me what You are growing in this season.

A Little Grace to Gather 🍂

What would change if, instead of wishing for a different season, you asked God how He wants to meet you in this one?

Scripture

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1, NLT

Prayer

Father, thank You for remaining constant through every changing season of my life. When I am tempted to rush ahead or hold tightly to what has passed, help me trust Your timing. Open my eyes to the grace You have placed in this season, even in places I did not expect to find it. Teach me to receive today with gratitude and to trust You with whatever comes next. Amen.

From the Gathered Grace Journal, where a little watercolor becomes a place to gather a little more. 🌿