Before I write my posts, emails, or recipes, I spend time throughout the week praying about what I should share. My prayer is always that I would be an encouragement and a blessing to those who read my material, and that anything not of the Lord would simply be forgotten by the reader.

This week, I feel led to share a personal experience and some wisdom that came with it.

This time of year can be really hard, yet so exciting, on the farm. There is so much food coming in for our family and animals. Every year, with the help of my family, I vow to keep the gardens and pastures looking beautiful, and every year, I fail at keeping some of these areas looking good.

Yesterday, I was feeling discouraged and tired by everything I had to do. I really did not want to do the work that needed to be done in the afternoon. I needed to water and harvest, and I wanted so badly to get some lettuce seed planted. As I walked outside to get started, I was praying that God would give me perseverance and joy in the work I had to do.

I got started, and as a little time went on, I started feeling so thankful and joyful about the work instead of tired and discouraged. I was able to get more done than I even set out to do, and I truly had a fun time doing it while the kids built cities in their sand pile.

The world tells us that if we are tired or feeling discouraged, we need a drug, some caffeine, junk food, or screen time. But those things will only make our physical and emotional health slowly rot. My encouragement to you and to myself today is to pray in the little things and to be wise in how we deal with hard things.

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