Growing up in a farming family was fun, but hard work most days. Some summers were spent at my grandparents helping my grandmother to make lunch to take out to the field. Often we would drive out to see Grandpa or Grandpa would ask us to drive him out to the field to see the work being done. Getting to ride the tractor with my Dad, grandpa or uncles was the highlight of most of our trips. Often as we rode along they would point out different things about what the combine, cotton picker, or plow was doing. We would ride along talking, laughing and sometimes waving dust or bugs out of our eyes. The really fun times came when they allowed us to drive.
Those were days of growth, of love, and laughter. Days of spending time with family and just having fun together even if we were working. Days where there was so much work, little did we know our hearts were being cultivated by love. As we plowed each row, our heart was cultivated just a bit more.
Often I consider this in my own life, at work, and with family. Having post-traumatic stress is hard and it's tiring. However, when you're with family and giving God the space to cultivate or plow the field, it's an incredibly grounding experience.
There’s not exactly something new around each turn row. The rows are still the same, the scenery too, but the way in which we see it can be different. Our trauma, our story does not change but as we cultivate and plow the field of our heart and mind we can come to find that things don’t hurt like they once did. We can come to find laughter and joy in life like we once knew. We can see love in places where it felt like there was none.
We grow, we give, we laugh, we love. In time we heal.
As pure as the earthy smell of freshly plowed fields, our hearts and souls are at peace, trusting in our Heavenly Father, strengthened and disciplined by His blood. We no longer feel bound by our past, but free to move forward. We discover that the pain of our past can be used to help others in their healing journey. We come to find hope even in the darkest of times when we lean into God.
God, we know our hearts and souls can be a little tough to cultivate sometimes. Thank you so much for your strong, but gentle touch and always working to cultivate our heart and soul, even when it is hard work. Thank you for leaning into us and for being there when we need you most. Thank you for helping us to open our hearts to new possibilities and for teaching us to forgive and to love. Thank you for all the gifts that you have given to us. We are forever yours. Amen.
Thank you so much for joining us in prayer. Ya’ll have a beautiful day!
All My Love,
Jen
For more information about Get Strong with Jen! click here.
To view Lean Into PTSD - Day 5 of Prayer click here.
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