If you ever find yourself to St. John, New Brunswick, be sure to visit The Pumpkin Patch. This local attraction isn’t found in any of the CAA books or travel guides, but it proved to be the highlight of our day. In fact, we liked it so much that we went way out of our way to visit it the following day as well!

It was while visiting the Reversing Falls that we heard about it. We were all enjoying the beauty of this local phenomenon formed by the extraordinary Fundy tides at the mouth of the St. John River. The falls themselves can only be perceived at low and high tides, but at low tide, the water falls into the bay, and at high tide, it falls into the river!

As I was scurrying about trying to take the best pictures, I suddenly realized that my youngest son was no longer with us. “Where’s Darien?” I asked my wife. She had a funny look in her eyes, but she simply nodded toward the information booth. Sure enough, there he was! And he wasn’t just looking at travel brochures! My shy son was actually talking with the lady behind the desk! Was he trying to locate some local tourist attraction that we didn’t know he wanted to see? This wasn’t like him at all!

We weren’t left to wonder long. In a minute, he came running over, waving a piece of paper in his hand: “Papa! Mom! I found the best ice-cream place in town! It’s called the Pumpkin Patch, and here is how you get there from here!” He pushed the piece of paper up under our noses.

To our amazement, it proved to be a map of the city, and the lady behind the desk had marked out the route from the Reversing Falls to the Pumpkin Patch! Darien obviously remembered how many times we had already gotten lost that day (See “Lost in St. John”)!

I glanced up at the Information Booth to find the lady who had helped him watching us. “That’s quite a boy you have!” she said with a laugh.

Yes. I couldn’t have agreed more. But there was just one little problem! We had already had an ice cream cone that day! And one the day before, and the day before, and-well, you get the picture! We didn’t need more ice cream! But as I looked to my wife and older son for support, the eager light in their eyes instantly told me that they had defected to the other side of the battle lines! How could I disappoint them?

The map proved to be quite good. We only got lost twice before arriving at this “sweet tooth” paradise, and we were barely parked before both boys jumped out of the car and ran into the store. None of the usual pleading to put down their books and get out of the car was needed today! Boy can they ever be fast when it comes to ice cream!

In the store we faced the impossible task of choosing among twenty-four soft ice-cream flavors, more than forty hard ice-cream flavors (we couldn’t count them as there were too many!) and a multitude of milkshakes and sundaes. There were some unheard of, exotic flavors like Puppy Paws, Praline Pumpkin Passion, Grasshopper Soup, Monkey Business and Turtle Tracks. No wonder it took us over half an hour to make our decision.

The prices were reasonable, so without having a clue just how big the scoop sizes were, we each ordered a large ice-cream (3 scoops). Imagine our surprise when each scoop was the size of three at a normal ice cream parlor! Our large cones looked like an ice-cream Tower of Pisa! The boys’ eyes were popping out of their sockets as they quickly set to work. They couldn’t believe the deal, and neither could I! Is it any wonder that we weren’t that hungry at suppertime?

We had barely finished ordering when I noticed the long line of customers waiting for their turn to order ice cream. I had never seen anything like it before. The mosquitoes had though, and they were waiting in droves for their own little snack; but even this didn’t seem to deter the line-up of ice cream seekers. Word had gone out that this was the best attraction in town! There were as many locals as there were ice cream flavors!

It is amazing how quickly word spreads when it concerns food, and it spreads even faster when there is a bargain to be had. However, the best bargain I know of isn’t received with such enthusiasm. The deal is too simple, too unbelievable. God, in his everlasting love for us came and died in our place. On the third day He rose up and now He willingly shares His resurrection power with those who accept His offer. His relationship with us was of utmost importance and sin had disrupted that fellowship. God wanted to ensure that sin was dealt with once and for all. Those who accept His offer and believe in Him will experience real life that will last for eternity.

With such a Friend as our Heavenly Father, why are so many not eager to know more about Him? Are we not taking His offer seriously? Why are those who profess Christianity not spreading His Word more enthusiastically? The King of Kings was willing to die for His creation in order to restore His relationship with those He loves. Isn’t this reason for rejoicing? I can assure you that this offer satisfies even more completely the sweetest tooth in the world.

“For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Rom 5:10-11 NIV)

So let us “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Col 4:5-6 NIV)

“Have you heard about the Pumpkin Patch? They have GREAT and INEXPENSIVE ice cream! But I know of an even BETTER deal that will satisfy you even MORE fully!”

Rob Chaffart