We are currently in Illinois visiting my mom and playing on her farm.
When you drive from Colorado to Illinois you have so much time to think and ponder.
We usually visit the farm in the summer so to see the landscape painted in golds, yellows, reds and orange was a treat.
Field after field was being harvested and it hit me like never before.
These men and women have worked all year for this.
The harvest.
They have prayed that the rain, weather and bugs would be perfect.
There has been a lot of down time….and waiting.
Now was the time to gather all that they had waited and worked so hard for.
It made me stop and really see for the first time what the harvest meant to these farmers.
I grew up in Illinois for my first 21 years and had hardly given it a thought.
I thought of my friends that farm and I wanted to call them and tell them that I got it..even if only for a little bit.
It made me think of all of us…..all the things we work hard for….waiting, praying that we have something to gather.
That we have a bounty from our hard work.
It made me think what MY harvest is.
My harvest is my children.
My harvest is my marriage.
My harvest is my business.
My harvest is my relationships.
And then there are the things I am going through that I hope the hard work I am putting into it now will reap a beautiful harvest later……even if it is back breaking work now.
My family is healing from my father’s affair.
We are doing {surprisingly}Â OK.
We are putting our work into it now.
We are working on forgiveness.
We are loving each other and supporting each other.
We are becoming stronger.
We are praying for the right “weather, rain”….:-)
In ways that I can not even see I KNOW my life will have a harvest from the pain we are going through now.
We will have a harvest because of how we are choosing to deal with the pain.
My children will have a harvest. Â Their lives will have a bounty that I can’t even imagine.
We all will.
What is your harvest?
jeanne, that is raw & eloquent & just beautiful.
& so very true.
you have been brave through this & you are making choices that will impact that harvest in your children’s lives.
on a lighter note, there was a whole lot of jeanne loving going on at our house this weekend. wink!
I’ve always tended my marriage and my family as my most special of harvests. After the coldest winter EVER tending my harvest, I’m surprised to be blessed with “little” birdies who are almost ready to fly off and tend their own harvest, while at the same time experiencing an amazing harvest of love I fertilized for years with no expectation of a bounty this amazing! Thank you for giving me a moment to appreciate it all even more.
XoX
thank you for sharing your heart so freely and openly.
i will continue to keep your family in prayer as you journey on this road.
blessings,
danielle
Hmmm, my harvest? The obvious is my home, business, hubby, children…….these are the things, and the people, I live for and love dearly.
There is another harvest I eagerly await though. The harvest of a specific family relationship. I have a certain family-in-law member that has never considered me worthy of my husband. This person has such an important role in all of our lives, but they choose to be absent as long as I am around. They are absent from my husband, because he chose me….15 years ago. Heartbreakingly so, this also means they are absent from our daughters lives, bcs I am the mother. We want them present, not absent, and we have begged for it.
Oh, I have never spoken of this to anyone, but your post has moved me this evening.
I will continue to wait. I will continue to plant the right seeds, and pray for rain.
Jeanne, thank you for this honest post. Thank you very much, it has really encouraged me.
-Amanda
My children… absolutely my children.
I was married for 5 years and 5 months pregnant when I found out about my now ex-husband’s affair. It was devastating, heart breaking and life shattering. How could this happen? My harvest is my beautiful faith that brought me through a dark time and made me ever so grateful for my strong stubborn Grace and my beautiful dancing Eden! Thank you for your post and my prayers are with you and your mom. Give those problems, worries and tears to God-He will take it all for you.
Amazing what the healing power of the spirit can do! I too, did a posting on “Field of Harvest” today. We live in NW Iowa…our Faith, Family & Farm is our Harvest….xoxo’s
My heart goes out to you……Praying for peace and guidance for you and yours. Hugs, Hugs, hugs…
Lisa
How very moving to read this, this morning! I had a rough morning getting the kids off to school and all I seemed to do well this morning was yell at them. I have never once said that my kids are my life or even my biggest accomplishment. This might be because I don’t find myself the ideal mom. I usually say I suck at it! I want that to change and have them be my harvest! Balance is a hard thing in this busy world. I’ve been slacking on blogging because I’ve been volunteering at my kids school a ton. But then my house starts to pay the price and so do the kids!
Lots to think about with this on this rainy morning, thank you! I am so sorry for the pain you are all going through. The path to healing starts with God and it seems like you have taken that path! Good luck and my prayers go out to you.
Oh, I got my bag and love love love it so much my dear! Lots of compliments already!
Thank you so much!
Megan
I went through similar things when I was 10 years old and I’m sure it affected my life in ways I will never fully understand. It’s also at least partially responsible for who I am and the choices I’ve made. The most precious part of my “harvest” is my loving and giving husband of 34 years, my two beautiful girls and my step-father (I never called him that – he was always Daddy to me) who came out of the kind of pain your family is going through. God Bless you and yor family.
I LOVE this post! Currenlty dating a farmer and I get how important this time of year is and like how you also give many examples of Harvest.
I grew up with a ‘farmer dad’ –it’s always exciting to see the harvest, the dust, the busy-ness, etc. my boys take turns riding in the combine and tractor. there’s a feeling in the air……
So, not only is there a monetary reward, but the harvest like you mention is reaping what you sow……..a good way to look at everything. We must be diligent in this life…..
xo
kara
Oh I love this post. Thank you for leading me to think about harvests and food in such a profoundly different way. As for my own harvest, I am reaping: God’s gift of Himself present in my life in very specific ways, a marriage that grows better by the day, our baby due to come into this world in January, friends that have become the best family I could ever have hoped for, and in-laws who help heal the damage my own parents did through their devastating brokenness.
Jeanne,
I have never posted on your blog but this post touched me deeply. In the past 6 mos I have had to say a lot of vulnerable and hard things to my parents. I have done it out of a desire to have authentic relationships with them and to protect my family from emotional abuse. It has been one of the hardest things in my life. I feel pain and rejection because I chose to be honest. My relationship with God has been dry and weary. Your vulnerability has reminded me of the Lord’s faithfulness and that he will give us back the years the Locusts have eaten. thank you, Leigh Anne
I understand your pain as I too went through what you are dealing with right now twice…but many years ago. I cannot say it was ever easy but forgiveness and love did come. I will pray for you. Each day I check to see when your new line is coming out what you are working on etc. We forget that the person writing the blog has a life daily happy’s and hurts. I will pray for your family. You are amazingly uplifting even when you are healing from pain.
Sherry
Reading this after a difficult day, you made me realize my personal harvest and it’s not so bad after all. Thank you for taking a risk and sharing your story.
Kitty
Absolutely beautiful post Jeanne…”Harvest”, a great name for your new line! Your family is in my prayers…
just a random passer by.
love this post.
my harvest is well, my harvest! my husband and i are farmers.
Love this. My dad combines fescue seed when the harvest is good. His best harvest was the summer before we got married 🙂
I love the idea of thinking of my family and marriage being a harvest. love that
just beautiful, your words and pictures
thanks for sharing
ps cant wait for your fall line 😉 wink!
What a thought provoking post. And a good way of looking at one’s life.
I’ve not thought about it that way, what is my harvest. But it does make me think.
And I love you photos of the fields. I live in Illinois, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful places on earth. There is an honest beauty about it. I love all of the seasons, especially on the farms. And just recently I got to ride in a combine during harvest for the first time, so awesome!
I wish you and your family well, and will say a prayer that you all become stronger and closer through the pain.
Beautifully written, Jeanne. We all have our harvest. As anything in life, you reap what you sow, so those things that are so important to us, must be the things we love most, and take the time to care, work and fight for. Sorry to hear what your family is going through.Being in your shoes, I know the hurt and passionate anger you must have right now. But I promise, it will eventually subside. You have such a beautiful family, and truly they will be your rock.
Jeanne this is a really beautiful post. I’m always blown away by what a gift for words and expressing emotion that you have! Love you ~
Wow. I’m sitting here thinking about a lot after reading your words: our harvest comes from our choices–whether we are making choices from scratch or making choices because of the result of someone elses choices…it ALL results in collected bounty we call our harvest…