Harvest Time | Guest Post by Nana

Today, Nana is sharing her thoughts on this time of season… and if it is time for Halloween or Harvest festivities.  I find this guest post interesting – I love Halloween and never really understood how some people derive bad things from it.  It is only as evil as you make it.  Growing up, we always celebrated Halloween.  I didn’t find out until years later that my mom (Nana) didn’t like Halloween because of the evil connotations connected with it.  So, read on to find out what Nana has to say today…

Is it Halloween or Harvest Time?  Jeremiah 8:20 says “the harvest is past, the summer is ended” and it truly is happening with the change in the weather.  We have seen some beautiful leaf colors this year and having seen snowflakes already in our area.  In the month of October begins the harvest time and it also at the end of the month brings Halloween festivities. I read Halloween is the second best holiday that people decorate Are you a person who celebrates Halloween or do you celebrate Harvest Time?

I googled Halloween and this is what I found:

“Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints and martyrs; the holiday, All Saints’ Day, incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows’ Eve and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a secular, community-based event characterized by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating. In a number of countries around the world, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people continue to usher in the winter season with gatherings, costumes and sweet treats.”

When my children were in school we celebrated Halloween in their respective grades with a Halloween party and some schools have  parades. Children were allowed to come to school in costume. I remember the years my daughter was in Band, and the band members who wanted to could dress up in costume and wear that on the football field.

This year I had the opportunity to work “Harvest Party” at my grandchildren’s school. I didn’t see too much different other than no costumes allowed.  We played games; we had snacks and sent home sweet goodies for later.

But, harvest time took on a different meaning to me this year because I have been driving up to a rural area to visit and be with the grandchildren. There are a lot of farmers up in that county.  Seeing the fields take on their different looks from planting time, growing time, and the harvest time made me appreciate  how our lives could be compared to fields.

Don’t judge each day by the harvest that you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Isaiah 53:2 says “for he shall grow up as a tender plant”… we could compare those tender plants to our children and how we need to plant the seeds about Jesus and going to Sunday School.  II Peter 3:18 says “but grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

We all need to grow just as those young plants. We learn more and more about Jesus by Bible study and attending church.  After the growing season, then comes the harvest. To me the harvest is the rewards when we get to heaven.

Just like those farmers who reap the rewards of their hard work and nurturing their crops, we will be rewarded for growing with Christ… so if you are a Halloween person or a Harvest person, make it a good end of the season!

~Nana