Menu

alt

Where's Your Harvest?

Spring gives promise of new life, of a better way, of new beginnings.
In spring, I start my garden. I have high hopes of fresh tomatoes, peppers, beans feeding my family.
I always buy too many plants.
I envision lush flowers, great harvests, calming landscapes…

But what do I get?
Fire ants eat everything. Dogs dig around my tomatoes to lie down. A gate left open once---and a cow mows the garden. A gopher eats a 50 foot row of beans in one weekend while we’re gone. Devil’s grass takes over when I turn my head. Chickens fly over the fence and peck anything red. Or if I get close to a harvest, we leave for vacation and someone else harvests all our tomatoes. A bizarre hail storm in summer knocks down all our corn.
Why do I spent hours, watering, weeding, preparing the soil, for this?

When my sons suggested some plant or revision to the garden, I tell them EVERY SINGLE REASON why they shouldn’t even try. It’s a wonder they even help me. I don’t want them discouraged later, I do it now. I don’t want them to expect too much, I’ve been there. I don’t want them to hurt.
When I asked my husband why I try again, he said, “Because you get a harvest.”
He sees only the harvest that arrives on his plate every night. He thinks it’s good.
I envisioned a harvest where I don’t struggle to bring it to his plate. I don’t see what’s there.

My harvest shows in other ways … with child discipline, with making my house a home, with my writing, with my life. Is there a harvest?
I recently had to instruct one of my boys, again, about the value of truth. I had praised him for how quickly and without whining, he had learned his spelling words ... until I saw his hand. He had written his spelling words there, then told me they weren’t his spelling words.
We had been there before.
This wasn’t about fire ants, or gophers, or weeds. This was about essential matters of life—truth, trust, living worthy of the God we serve. Where’s the harvest?
I wept.

I don’t like to struggle. I don’t like to fight everyone for everything. I grow weary. Why bother?
Maybe you’re there.

My husband gave me a card when I first started to write three years ago.
It said, “Life has two rules: 1. Never quit! 2. Always remember rule number 1.” Duke Ellington.
It hangs on my wall behind my computer so I can see it every day. It reminds me to keep writing. Even when books don’t sell. Even when I have no “following,” and my children don’t even hear what I say. Even when I must learn the hard way what I write. Even when I argue with God about exposing my heart every week. I write. I don’t see a harvest.

The grass is green. The leaves have budded. My lilacs fill my front yard with their fragrance.
Spring has come in my garden again.
And with it all the weeds.
I’ve bought too many tomato and pepper plants, again.
I dug up fire ants in every garden box that I own.
I spent a fortune on watering hoses.
But I try again.
Why? Because of the promise of the harvest.
As a mom, your harvest is obedient children who love God. Don't give up. Keep trying.
“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” Galatians 6:9



Displaying 1 comment

I just love your writing, it is so encouraging! Don't all of us feel as you do and it is so good to know we aren't the only one? (Why do we always seem to feel that we are the "only" one going through the mess of life?) I'm definitely going to share this with Katrina, who also has a messy life with those boys. Thanks so much!

I write about what matters...to you---
women, wives and moms---
about your family, faith and future.
I write about what's hard, what helps and what heals.
I show you how it's done. And not done.
I hold your hand as you find what matters to the Savior.
And let go of those things that mattered to you, but not to Him.
I write about what matters...to Him.
               Sonya Contreras

Click on book cover for details.

alt

alt


alt

alt
Tell of My Kingdom's Glory
Three Book Series
alt

alt

alt

Author of Biblical fiction, married to my best friend, and challenged by eight sons’ growing pains as I write about what matters.

Receive weekly articles by giving your email address below:

Faith
Find more articles about faith here:
What Were You Thinking?
Who Are You Watching?
Boundaries for a Better Life
God's Boundaries
Memories of a Hero Mom
The Ripple Effect
How Do We Think Like Jesus
Litany of a Waiting Woman
Ever Cook a Frog?
New Year's Reminders
They Galled Her Gammy
When God Speaks
A Russian Christmas Story
Be Thankful
Be Grateful
Are You Tired of the Same, Old Thing?
  (reprint)
Laughter—Why Laugh?
Mom
Are You Disturbed?
Unity of the Brothers
Encouragements To Declutter
Do You Have Too Much Stuff?
Too Much Stress
Getting Past the Noise—The Value of Silence
Are You Scatterbrained?
How Good Are You?
Looking for Something Good To Read?
A Cup of Cold Water
I Will Trust When I Cannot See
Encouragement—What Is It?
Being in God's Presence
"Einstein and the Professor"
When God Is Silent
Do You Crave Beauty?
Using Stories to Discipline
The Danger of the Wrong Story
Using Stories to Teach Lessons
God is in charge of the future
November Dare Joy Challenge
Ungratefulness
Developing an Attitude of Gratitude
Looking for Jesus
What Do Your Prayers Reflect?
Life's Little Pleasures
Daniel—Greatly Loved by God
Take Every Thought
Jars of Clay
What Do Your Words Reveal about Your Heart?
How Do You Get Strong Faith?
Too Busy for God's Word?
How Do You Think Like Jesus?
Reflections from a Mom
Pain—What's It Good For?
Why Marry?
Consider the Robin
One Life Who Made a Difference
What Day Are You Living In?
Interrupted by God
Is Jesus Really the Answer to Everything?
Are You Beat Up?
What's Your Hurry?
Are You a Manipulator?
Are You Salty?
Are You Condemned?
Trying to Understand?
Do You Expect Answers to Your Prayers?
Do You Eat Your Stress?
Need Focus?
Going through Trouble?
Immanuel—God with Us
Looking for a Relationship?
When God Says, "No!"
What Do You Do with Left-Overs?
How Great Is Your God?
Are You Needy?
How Do You See Sin?
What Do Your Words Mean?
Is Evil Overwhelming You?
Those Aha Moments
Is Your Soul Happy?
Are You Ignored?
Looking for the God Moment
Do You Know Truth from Almost Truth?
I Believe in Jesus—What Now?
Do You Have Your "Son"-Glasses On?
Less Is More
Singing His Praise
Are You Trying To Do It All?
What Do You Do with All These Prayer Requests?
Have a Problem?
Do You Know How to Pray?
Looking for God in Every Moment
Are You Receptive to God's Blessings?
Tell the Senate: Mothers Aren't Birthing People
Is Your Life Complicated?
How Do We Fight Evil?
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
Giving Up or Taking Away
the Bible is simple
Are You a Dripping Faucet?
What's Your Testimony?
The Final Move
Be Careful What You Wish For!
Are Your Prayers Answered?
I Choose Joy
What Have You Learned from Your Hardship?
Who Are You Trying to Change?
What's Your Five-Year Plan?
The Danger of "Aloneness"
My Colors
Are You a Whiner?
Are Your Works Approved?
Do You Think You're Stressed?
Is Your Soul Feeling Ragged?
God Speaks to the Heart of the King
What about the Details?
Have You Felt the Long-Suffering of God?
How Does God Lead You?
Do You Have Enough?
Don't Carry More than You Need
Cast the Seed
God Is Faithful
Are You Deceived?
Are You Essential?
Are You Safe?
Are You Tired of the Same Old Thing?
Does the World Make Sense?
Have You Seen God's Majesty?
Do You Feel Judged?
If You Only Had One More Day To Live
Are You Understood?
Do You Long for the Word of God?
Slow Down and Smell the Dead Leaves
Are You Hospitable?
Our Heritage Is Bought by Blood
Are You Disturbed?
Are You Depressed?
I Did It My Way
Finding the Simple Life with Meaning
The Simple Life
Do You Have the Right Words?
Did Your Dream Die?
On the Other Side of the Fence
Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence
Confessions of a Desperate Mom
Saving for Tomorrow
A Wedding Remembered
Who Will Stand in the Gap?
Are You a Protector or a Ruler?
Who Are You?
Are You an Image Bearer or a Wad of Cells?
Are You a Watchman?
Where Do You Find Meaning?
The Lamb of God as Told by a Scribe
What Love Is This?
Remember: The Symbols of Passover Explained
Tea and Rest
Do You Have Peace?
What Makes a Marriage Work?
When Life Is Awful
Are You Strong Enough?
Rules
Seasons
Be Faithful through Suffering
Do You Know the Word?
Wake Up! Strengthen What Remains
Are You Spit in God's Mouth?
Is Jezebel in Your Midst?
Do You Stand Against Satan Himself?
Are You Tired of Being a Mom?
What in the World Is Happening?
It's Not My Story
How Would Your Faith Compare?
Are You Sinking?
Are You a Rule Follower?
Useful for Him
An Intimate Moment with Mary
The Worldview that Makes the
   Underclass

Thoughts to Ponder
What Does It Take To Know the
    Heart of God?

See the Story in the Stars
Do the Scriptures Burn You?
Being in His Presence
Contentment: It's Not for the Timid
How Secure Are You?
How Do You Respond To Stupid People?
The Earthworm Is My Hero
Heart Issues or Issues of the Heart
Things Aren't Always What They Seem
More faith articles are found here:
alt
under the Table of Contents. Also available in book form.
Or here:
alt
under the Table of Contents. Also available in book form.
Articles on Suffering can be found  here, 
alt
under Table of Contents. Also available in book form.
Special Days
Remember: The Symbols of 
   Passover Explained
    

Aug 12, 2017 The Heavens Declare the Glory of God
July 4th, Freedom
What Is an American Soldier?
Valentine's Day: A Day of Love?
Memorial Day-A Day To Remember
Veterans' Day-To Honor Our Men
Fall Colors
First Thanksgiving Day
    Proclamation

Christmas: Stories behind the Songs
Christmas: Stories behind the Songs, part 2