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At the beginning of October, my pastor held a special program that we called our version of "Octoberfest," spelling it differently from the traditional German folk Oktoberfest held in September. Oktoberfest activities in Columbus, Ohio, included live entertainment, kids' games and a paint-and-sip session. For our church festivities, we decorated our sanctuary with a silver vase holding wheat stalks on the altar and a medium-sized straw bale at the bottom topped with artificial pumpkins and gourds. Before this event, I hadn't really observed any special October festivals. I don't celebrate Halloween, and the closest I got to getting into a harvest mood recently was taking a Hocking Valley Scenic Railway ride with friends several years ago. Hocking Valley is in Nelsonville, Ohio, a historic Appalachian city in the northwestern part of the state. The rustic scenery along the train ride in the fall, with red oak trees changing color, is both calming and delightful to behold. It's a wonderful reminder of God's creative touch on nature as the season changes.

For our Octoberfest, my pastor wanted us to reflect on what the month of October represents spiritually. While the Bible does not have a reference to October, the timeframe on our Gregorian calendar corresponds to holy days like Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). My pastor encouraged us to think about harvest, renewal and repentance, and to honor God with gratitude for His promises of provision as we focused on our overall theme: "He will lift you up." Regarding harvest, I have always been intrigued by how sowing, planting and reaping are rooted in God's moral principles and shape the character and destiny of those who apply them diligently. We see one of God's early harvest promises in Genesis 8:22 after the flood, where He says, "As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night." It is remarkable that God often compares reaping His blessings to farming, where, in biblical times, farmers did hard manual labor to prepare the soil and plant their crops. Jesus' teachings in parables also reflected farming. In Mark 4:26-29, Jesus teaches the multitudes through the Parable of the Growing Seed, explaining that the Kingdom of God is "like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground." He waits patiently, day and night, for his seeds to grow. When the earth produces the crops, he gathers his harvest. Jesus followed this parable with His teaching on the mustard seed, which, when planted, is one of the smallest seeds, but "it becomes the largest of all garden plants" (Mark 4:32).

I believe meditating on God's promises of harvest is especially important now, amid the challenges of day-to-day living. As we near the end of 2026, many people are deeply worried about what lies ahead. Every time I look at the high gas prices at the pump or take note of increasing grocery costs, I lean on Bible promises like Proverbs 3:9, which tells us to honor God with our wealth and "with the best part of everything (we) produce" so that our homes will be supplied with everything we need. I can honestly testify that giving has abundantly blessed me.

October has been the perfect time for me to pause, be grateful for everything I have accomplished and overcome so far this year, and continue sowing seeds in God's Kingdom. I want to reap a bountiful harvest that will not only uplift my life but be a great blessing to others.

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Dr. Jessica A. Johnson is a lecturer in the English department at Ohio State University's Lima campus. Email her at smojc.jj@gmail.com. Follow her on X: @JjSmojc. To find out more about Jessica Johnson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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