Inside: What a bumper crop of hedge apples tells us about seasons of life, how death doesn’t get the final word, when closed doors help us walk by faith, and a powerful quote about contentment. ~

For the last several weeks, it’s been raining Osage oranges in my backyard.

I go out on the weekend and gather them all up, and by the following Saturday, the patio is covered again.

It’s not always like this. Some years, the trees that produce what are commonly known as hedge apples drop relatively few of their fruits in the fall.

This year, however, they produced a bumper crop even while many of the other plants and evergreens in the yard—mostly chosen specifically for their drought tolerance, by the way—struggled to thrive in the dry conditions.

I have no idea why this is, but my metaphor-loving mind can’t escape the irony.

Ebb and Flow

With Osage orange trees and in our actual lives, seasons ebb and flow. Some are marked by growth, others by decline or stagnation. Some are full of joyful abundance, while others overflow with stress, busyness or grief.

Just this past week, we passed the two-year mark of my father-in-law’s death, a friend’s husband died unexpectedly and I heard of a sad diagnosis in another friend’s family.

Combine those personal experiences of grief and sadness with what is going on in the world, and it seems as if death is having the final word these days.

And Yet, It’s Not

Near the end of the week, something my dad said during a family crisis was circulating in my heart. I shared a few thoughts about it on Instagram at Remembering Our Parents, and it seems fitting to share it here too.

A few years before my mom died, she experienced a medical emergency with a very uncertain outcome. I’ll spare you the details; let’s just say both her quality of life and her life itself were hanging in the balance.

Early on, when receiving dire information from doctors and social workers, I heard my dad say this more than once: “I don’t know how you feel about these things, but we’re Christians, and we don’t believe that death is the end.”

Despite the intensity of the situation, he was kind and calm, steadfast and full of conviction. Watching him taught me more about faith and how to respond in a crisis than I’d ever learned before.

By the time it was my turn to be in his seat, making medical decisions and hearing sad news about either one of my parents, it just seemed natural to share what we believed about God’s sovereignty and timing, as well as the assurance I had that I would see them again.

I wouldn’t have been able to speak like that had I not listened as my dad did it before me.

When God Provides

Speaking of Remembering Our Parents, it’s still very new, so I’m always looking for ways to get the word out about it. This is slow going, and sometimes gets discouraging.

Even so, as I wrote last week, when a door closes, that too is an answer. When we get a no, we can mark that possibility off the list and move on.

More than anything, this girl who likes to plan way ahead is learning that God provides when the need arises. Not necessarily ahead of time, from our perspective, but always on time, from His.

This isn’t always comfortable, but it does teach us to walk by faith.

If your mom or dad is no longer with us, I’d love for you to check out @RememberingOurParents on Instagram. Follow along, and consider sharing a brief memory about your parent this holiday season. You can find all the details, including a user-friendly submission form, right here.

Our stories matter, and that includes our stories about our beloved parents.

One Final Thought

As we move into the holiday season, Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible offers some powerful guidance about how to foster contentment in any season of life:

“Make more of your joys than you do of your sorrows. Make more of your gains than you do of your losses,” he writes. “Do this in your thinking, in your speaking, and even in your praying, and you will grow in contentment.”

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I’ll see you back here in a few weeks.

♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with Inspire Me Monday, #tellhisstory, InstaEncouragements, Let’s Have Coffee and Grace & Truth.