Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.
God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied;
Come to God's own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home.
-Henry Alford, United Methodist Hymnal #694

This is one of my favorite hymns, and the words remind me of growing up in rural West Texas, where my granddaddy was a wheat farmer. I'll never forget running through the waving rows of growing wheat, until the combines came into town and gathered the harvest each fall. In farming areas of the country, harvest is celebration and life. Whatever is gathered in at the harvest is what sustains the family for the next year, and gives resources to begin again in the sowing season.

I love observing this time of harvest and thanksgiving-of just being grateful for the bounty of home, food, friends, family and faith. Of recognizing the abundance of what I have and tucking in for winter with that gratitude warming my heart.

As we wrap up our stewardship season with Commitment Sunday on November 6th, we have a couple of weeks before we begin Advent. I invite you during this time to practice the gathering of the harvest in the "fields" of your life. What are the blessings that you reap from your daily life and relationships? And gather those boons around you, and let them make for you a safe place for winter. Take this time to celebrate this collection of goodness before the busyness of the holidays hit, and be thankful.