Welcome to my monthly newsletter, Hardship & Harvest. This is where I share more about the hardships I'm facing and the good fruit I'm harvesting. I'm here to encourage you to sow and bear good fruit even when life is hard. If you're new here, welcome!

Hello Reader,

I'll be honest--I didn't want to write this newsletter. It's easy for me to write about finding goodness in hard things when I'm seeing the fruit. It's harder when I'm not. And friend, I'm in the middle of the trenches right now.

Life right now feels a lot like a gardening experience I had last year. I had planted seeds that I hoped would grow into herbs and flowers, nurturing them indoors until it was warm enough for them to go outside... But once I placed them out on my patio, a squirrel came along and dug them all up that same day. All of that hard work felt like a waste.

When life feels out of control, it can feel like we're being toppled aside like those seeds. Sometimes it even feels like the seeds of obedience that we've planted in our life have been entirely uprooted. Like that squirrel, hardship comes along and threatens all of the work that we are putting in, and in that moment, it's really hard to see the goodness, beauty, or purpose.

But I'm reminding myself that in that gardening experience, I was able to salvage most of the seeds. I replanted them and covered them with new soil. I continued to nurture them. They grew a little wonky, but they were still beautiful. The harvest still arrived.

If you're in a similar place today, I want you to know that the Lord is still faithful. He will use whatever seeds you are sowing today and create something beautiful and worthwhile out of them. Even if they are being uprooted by trials and hardship, remain faithful to what the Lord has called you toward. Hardship isn't the end, friend. It's only the beginning of something beautiful and plentiful.

my hardship

I wish I could go into full details on this month's hardship, but what I can tell you is that this month has brought a plethora of hard things. My hardship involved some transitions at work for myself and my husband that have been both painful and stretching, with roles changing, friends leaving, and potential for new opportunities arising. While some of the changes have been good and right on time, others felt like an uprooting, and I'm still sitting in the pain of that.

There have been other hardships this month that feel too personal to share, but I've been struggling with some comparison, doubt toward my calling, and feelings of discontent all-around. I found myself in tears while driving to work today because it all feels like too much.

It's hard to write those words, but I want you to know that even though I write about bearing good fruit in hardship, the hardships still suck. I'm not immune from the feelings that you also feel in the middle of hard times, and I've been feeling them a lot lately.

my harvest

Earlier this month, I was able to go on an intern retreat with Lisa Whittle Ministries in Charlotte, NC. This was not only my first time in North Carolina, but it was also my first time meeting my fellow interns in person. The weekend was one that brought so much fruit for me: deep relationships, strong networking connections, and a fire beneath me to pursue some dreams I've been holding back on.

To be honest, I'm still looking for the harvest of the seeds I've been sowing this month. I saw an Instagram post today that talked about how when we are in wilderness seasons, low-hanging fruit of what is good can be hard to find. We often need to get granular, looking for the tiniest details that show God's goodness and grace. I'm in that place today, searching high and low for those small mustard seed-sized glimpses of goodness in the hardships I'm facing. The harvest will come in time. I'm holding onto that hope today.

news/updates

Thank you to those of you who have been invested in my writing journey and ask about the progress I'm making. It truly means so much to me to have your support! I've completely revamped by book proposal with the help of Lisa Whittle, and I've officially finished rewriting the first chapter to better fit with the new title/theme. I still have a ways to go with editing chapters two and three and updating parts of my proposal, but I'm proud of my progress.

Also, you are hearing this here first... I'm considering starting a podcast. Would you tune in? Let me know your thoughts on this, especially if you have any topics that you would love for me to talk about!

words for your journey

I only have a few things to share with you this month. I've fallen a bit behind on reading with the chaos of life. I hope to have more words next month.

1. An Essay (or Two): Existing Within/Finding Myself by Losing Myself on my Substack. These are two essays that I wrote about two years ago that I thought deserved to be shared. Check it out and subscribe to my Substack if you aren't already!
2. A Book: Find Your People by Jennie Allen. It can be hard to find community these days, but it's important that we have our people to do life with when things are hard. I loved that this book was so practical. I definitely took some of her tips to start making deeper friendships!

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Talk to you soon,

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