Like Gaines, I don’t find the harvest process an easy one. Savoring what I’ve sown doesn’t come naturally. It takes intentionality. For me, it looks like choosing a positive perspective as I look for ways to be grateful—for an unexpected call from my son, the fact that he’s joined a study hall on his own, or that he sought God about changing his major. (In case you’re wondering, yes, he did in fact change his major the first week of classes.)
And for all of the other areas of our lives (and my son’s life) that have yet to show fruit, I take those to God in prayer.
Gaines concluded, “This year, I’m waiting on fall the same way I always do. I’ll watch the sky. I’ll listen for rain. I’ll pause at the trees with turning leaves. But I’ll do it all a little more patiently. A little more gratefully, remembering that strength isn’t earned in endings or beginnings but in the space I’m forging along the way.”
If you’re like Joanna and me and sending a kiddo (yes, I still call them kiddos) off to college, you might want ideas to encourage your college student.
