By Ralphine Major

She arrived a few days ago, but Mother Nature has not yet presented her in full splendor.  Just before she came, East Tennesseans celebrated the start of another school year and the Tennessee Valley Fair with cotton candy, crafts, candied apples, rides, and animals.  September also brought the harvest moon and hot dog roasts.  Then, she made her entrance.  Fall 2014 was ushered in with September’s cool mornings and evenings and warm days!

By the time Fall came, another season of football was in full play with big, yellow school buses making their way on Friday nights to stadiums filled with fans, marching bands, cheerleaders, and high school football players.  Saturdays are most often marked with college football games as players compete between the end zones.  The seasonal fall foliage in all its beauty begins to make an occasional appearance.

As October marches on, the calendar is filled with fall harvest festivals.  The Washington Presbyterian Church Apple Festival is a long-running event that offers a variety of fun and apple treats with its proceeds going to missions.  Trunk-or-Treat activities with pumpkins, cracker jacks, and hot apple cider finishes out the month as the page turns to November.  The much anticipated Thanksgiving holiday gives families and friends a special time to share turkey and the trimmings and time with one another.

As fall comes to a close, we are surrounded by reminders of the winter holiday—Christmas.  The onset of parades, tree trimming, and church programs help us prepare our hearts and homes for the greatest holiday celebration of all—the birth of a baby who became our Saviour and Lord!

“O, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”  Psalm 8:1 (NIV).