Harvest Festival

This week's Awesome Time Online is brought to you by Dave and Heather:

According to Google’s Scrabble dictionary, there are 161 words that can be made from the word Harvest!

14 x Two letter words

41 x Three letter words

61 x Four letter words

33 x Five letter word

10 x Six letter words

33 x Five letter words

Some examples are :-

SAVE, VEST, HARE, SAT, RAT, HAT,

How many can you find?

But there are 4 words that jump out at me, says Dave, which truly remind us of what Harvest Festival is about:

The first word is HAVE.

Harvest is an opportunity to remember and thank God for the many things that we have. When we go to the supermarket , the shelves are full of lovely food to buy (at the moment the shelves are not all full, so this helps us to appreciate what we HAVE more).

When we turn on the tap, there is plenty of water that flows out of them.

The second word is EAT.

Harvest isn’t just an opportunity to thank God that the supermarket shelves are full, it’s a chance to thank God that our tummies are full too! We have plenty to eat. There might be food that we find boring or we dislike, like Brussell Sprouts or Marmite, but we still have enough to eat and drink.

The third word is STARVE.

As we think of all the lovely things we have to eat and drink, it should make us think about those who don’t have as much as we do. 1 in 6 of the world's people  (that’s over 1 billion people) are hungry. Many children are dying of starvation. Harvest is a time to remember those who are not as fortunate as us.

Then the fourth word is SHARE.

Harvest is a time to help poor and hungry, and those in need. And also those  who are isolating at home and can’t get out to the supermarket.

Why should we share? The bible verse from Galatians chapter 6, verse 10 says that; 

“as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people....especially those who belong to the family of God.”

Jesus told a story about the fruit tree that didn’t grow fruit for 3 years. Just as the farmer was going to chop it down, he decided to give it another year …and it grew lots of fruit. Jesus was really talking about us - and about God. God has "planted" us on this earth and he expects us to produce good fruit in our life. What kind of fruit does God expect? Things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and gentleness. When God doesn't see these things in our life, God is possibly disappointed -- but is willing to give us another chance.

God tells us that we are to do good to all people. It pleases God when we look out for others. There are so many different opportunities to do this.

So... Harvest is a time when we can remember and praise God for all we have- food / drink / clothing / family and especially for Jesus who God sent to be our savior. But also a time when we can share by helping those in need!!

This week’s challenge:

Take the word AWESOMETIME  and see how many words you can make from this.

(Once again, Google tells me that there are 465 words to be made)

All I want you to find is:

1 x 7 letter word

3 x 3 letter words

And a special 4 letter word that you all need to find – clue: it’s very tiny.

Prayer:

Dear God, each season brings us something new for us to see and enjoy. With sunny days, and rainy days, our crops grow larger, Fruit and vegetables ripen, ready for us to harvest. Thank you for all  the food we have to eat, let us remember people who may not have enough.

Help us to be kind to others, in our thoughts, words and deeds

Amen