This month’s blog posts will center around the theme of Harvest. While most of us are not farmers and do not rely on a physical harvest of crops for our livelihood, we can all relate to the changes a harvest brings. A fall harvest brings farmers to the end of a season of growing and ushers them into a new season of reaping the benefits of the last season. Whatever amount of work and effort was put into the previous season, the yield would likely be promising.
Each of us is in our own season. Whatever we pour our time and energy into within that season will yield a crop specifically for each of us. If someone spends a season working long hours, pouring into a career, he or she would likely yield satisfying pay or a promotion, while other areas may be neglected. If someone else sows seeds of discontent and negativity in their life through their daily choices , their next season may not look much different, or perhaps worse.
In my own life, I have times where I have poured my energy into one area that I felt a gifting toward, but other areas of my life suffered. I didn’t have a fruitful harvest at the end of that season. God had to take me through a difficult time to refocus and put energy into more important areas of my life. He stripped my life down to the few things that He entrusted me with, so I could focus my sowing and tending to my children and my marriage.
Our short season in Louisiana was a time of sowing within my family. God took all comfort and familiarity from me to start over in a foreign land, trusting only in Him and caring for my people. I believed that God had a purpose for us there. I obeyed Him by supporting my husband in his career and giving my children the attention and care the needed. After that season ended, abruptly after only ten months, I am now able to see the yield from that harvest.
My marriage is stronger than it has ever been. Not perfect, but stronger. After eighteen years, my husband and I have had to work through more challenges and trials than we have wanted to. I had to lay down pieces of my life I was desperately clinging to in order to make the move south. I had to trust that my husband was making the right decision by moving our family of 6, half-way across the country. We have had to push one another to communicate more and release our preconceived expectations. We have made an effort to work more diligently on our own growth in order to better care for one another’s needs. We are each a work in progress and I can honestly say I am thankful to be by his side as we till the soil of our marriage together.
Another yield from our harvest is how our family cares for one another. While in Louisiana, our children had to learn to rely on and trust each other with their emotions and needs. The older kids had to step up and help the younger ones more than they had before. When we came back to Virginia my oldest was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. We have all had to endure a learning curve that goes beyond dealing with normal moods of a young teenager. Her pain is real and severe. Because of her pain her moods can fluctuate from serene to scary. My little ones have had to learn to exhibit patience and care as they have watched their hurting big sister. They have had to sense when to be calm and quiet and when it was okay to be with her in her room. We are still working on normal character traits that will only improve as they grow, but overall, I see kids who genuinely make an effort to exhibit patience and care with one another.
Reflect on the season you are in. What are you sowing into your life in order to have a productive harvest in your next season? Make a list of areas where you could use some more focus and areas you may need to step away from. Ask God for guidance so that your time and energy spent will reap a bountiful harvest.
In the coming weeks, I will be reflecting on areas I have spent sowing in my current season as well as changes that have come with each season. King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” God has a plan and purpose with each season we enter into. Whether your current season is one of joy or mourning, comfort or unknown, what can you diligently spend time doing in this season in order to learn and carry into the next season to come?
Leah Lively 