It’s the Great Pumpkin, Gretchen O.

Angels Unawares??

This morning I was feeling pretty stressed when I went out to feed and water the  hens.  You know how it is … too much to do, too little time. Belle is down with something. And Marc is in Puerto Rico for two days and Cade has a soccer tournament game tonight and the kitchen’s a mess and thunderstorms are predicted for later today…

So I decided to go out to the garden before the rain to see if some of the peppers were ready to pick, and to check on the few pumpkins still ripening. Well, only a few peppers were ready and the pumpkins were not, but as I was getting ready to go back to the house, something caught my eye … it was a large, dark orange pumpkin standing straight and tall – all alone - in the heavy brush area behind the garden fence.  I had to get closer to look because it was so covered in the shade of dense purple sumac trees and weeds.

It was a site was so strange and out of place I just stood there laughing out loud. Where did it come from? Yes, I planted pumpkins, but none that far back in the garden. And I didn’t remember throwing any old ones out that direction last year!

I’ve come to the conclusion that pumpkin was put there on purpose, by God, to remind me of two things: His presence, and His providence. Everything is going to be fine, He was saying. And, Gretchen, while I’m providing for you and your family, I will have a sense of humor, and you can laugh, too!

Yesterday while working out I was watching The Abundant Life on EWTN, and an author was talking about our guardian angels. I’m going to give credit for this morning’s joke to mine. Seems a little early in the season for those kinds of visitors, but I’ll take it. Christmas, with all it’s joys and trials, is just around the corner …