It seems as though it was just last week that I was driving and looking at the corn and beans and they were lush and green and then I remember it was! In just a few short days my bean fields are turning yellow and my corn stalks are browning up. Ready or not, fall is here and harvest is just around the corner! It is at moments of realization like these that I have to be careful and not allow myself to become overwhelmed. The list of things to do is always full, but when you begin to have a time (harvest) in your head when they need to be completed, it can become stressful. This was more of a struggle when I was younger and a lot more ambitious. The funny thing I have learned over the years is that I knew it was coming. In fact, Fall and harvest come every year and pretty close to the same time whether I'm ready or not. The peace came when I just began accepting it.

This has been an occupational discipline that has helped me in life in general. Seasons in my life come and go many times without my knowing the beginning or the end or what may transpire. I don't know how many times I have heard over the course of my life 'storms will come and storms will go,' or 'this too shall pass.' It never really seemed practical or applicable until I got older.  A lot of it stems from "living through" multiple storms of life and seeing that there is an end. Some of it comes from seeing how life never stops moving. Things happen, changes occur, but the Sun keeps rising and setting everyday. The greatest thing for me has been seeing God through all of it. Knowing that He is with me all the time and will help me through everything helps me to have more peace everyday. It helps me to simply accept the storm or circumstances that I find myself in whether I like them or not. This is when peace that this world cannot give or understand begins. The key to it all is always remembering that there is an end that is only a beginning of its own, and after that all is well.

Blessings,

Chris