Laws of the Harvest

Cultivate the Fields of Your Life–Plough On

It is said that many people break their New Year’s resolutions by the end of January. In fact nearly 40% of the New Year’s resolutions made will have been abandoned by this time. There is even a day designated as “Ditch Your New Year’s Resolution Day” on January 17 to alleviate the guilt that often accompanies the giving up on these good intentions. The year has barely begun and people have stopped walking on the path they set for the New Year because they fail to realize that the harvest they want to see is dependent on time for its season.

The truth is that we still stand at the threshold of the year. Agriculturally speaking the seeds haven’t even been planted for this year’s harvest. We still remain in the season of planning and preparation. Giving up on this year’s harvest before it has even been planted reflects a lack of awareness on how harvests come to bear fruit. The harvest takes time and work. Indeed you will reap what you sow but the reaping comes in due season. It doesn’t happen overnight.

 

Women Pulling a Plough circa 1917

In this picture circa 1917, three French women took it upon themselves to bear the burden of pulling the plough because their lives and the lives of their children were dependent upon the harvest. The men were off at war and the retreating German army took the horses which were relied upon to carry the burden of pulling the plough. Planting needed to be done but the ground could not take the seeds until it was cultivated. So the women themselves took on the necessary task of pulling the plough because nothing was going to stop them from receiving a harvest.

Are you willing to do what needs to be done to see the harvests in your life? Start by looking upon the year as the farmer does. The farmer takes time to develop a harvest strategy in order to receive what is needed. What if you looked upon all those things you want to accomplish as potential harvests in your life? A harvest requires some planning and p-l-o-u-g-h-i-n-g and cultivating along with a lot of hard work long before one can even begin to see a harvest.

Is the goal you want to accomplish as important as the harvest was to these women whose families depended upon it to survive? Maybe your survival doesn’t depend on your goal—or maybe it does? The point is that your goal will produce a harvest in your life if you approach it as something that is planted into a field that in turn needs planning, ploughing, planting, cultivation, and harvesting.

It remains that this picture inspired other nations to send women out into the fields to insure there was a harvest while men fought in the war.I pray that it inspires you to do the hard work that needs to be done so that you receive the harvest you have been wanting for. Should the time come for ploughing and there is nothing to pull the plough with, may you remain determined to overcome any difficulties in order to cultivate the field for planting. I hope this inspires you to find a way to put your hand to the plough and plough on.

A Call to the Harvest

Plough on dear friends. Plough on.

Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

~ An Old Irish Blessing ~

Marian McCoy Boveri

 

Copyright: Marian Boveri @ www.AllThingsHarvest.com
Picture copyright: https://goo.gl/896YLg

 

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Winter Harvest–Decisions Like Seeds Determine the Harvest

The way to experience a bountiful harvest is to decide on what you want to see yielded in the field.  Harvests need to be created purposefully through planning and making the right decisions.  On the surface this may appear to be an easy thing to do.  Yet proper decisions do require some heart-felt reflection.  Without taking the time to reflect upon the true harvests you want to see in your fields, you may be planting the wrong seeds. It is in planting the wrong seeds that you first run the risk of reaping the wrong harvest.   Indeed as you well know–you reap what you sow.  Each decision itself becomes a seed planted in the field.

Each decision is a seed.

Each decision is a seed.

How do you determine the right seeds that need to be sown in the field?

Start with asking yourself:

  • What is the purpose of the harvest?
  • What do you want to see growing in your field?
  • How will this harvest impact your life?

This will help you formulate the proper decisions that will determine the direction of your planting.  Knowing the purpose of the harvest determines the decisions on what to plant in the field.  In the end the outcome of the harvests is dependent upon the choices and decisions you make regarding the seeds that are planted in the fields.  Strategic decision-making and planning is necessary to achieve the harvests you desire.

It is essential that you continually assess what is growing in the fields in order to make the right decisions on how to cultivate, nourish, and protect the harvest.   If what you have planted isn’t growing and bearing fruit, make sure you take the time to stop and reassess the field.  If you find something growing in the field that you did not expect or want, it may be that you have to plow the field under and begin again.

The key is to take the time to make the decisions that are needed to insure a bountiful harvest.

  • Take the time to reflect on your life and what you want to see in it.
  • Gather the seeds that need to be planted in the different fields of your life.
  • Make sure that what you want growing in your fields is actually growing there.

Remember, it is up to you to decide what harvests you want to see in your life.

What will you decide to plant in your fields?

Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

~ An Old Irish Blessing

Marian (McCoy) Boveri

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Winter Season–Preventing an Accidental Harvest

As January comes to a close, the planning time for this year’s harvest should be well underway.  If you want to see a bountiful harvest in your life–it will require planning.  Taking the time to actually sit down and decide on what you want to see growing in the fields of your life is essential to successful harvests.

Deciding on the direction you want your life to go in and the results you would like to see at the end of the year depends upon you.  Your harvest is directly dependent upon what you do or do not plant and cultivate in the fields of your life.

What will your barn store?

What will your barn store?

Whether or not you take time to plan the harvests you would like to see in your life–it remains that something will indeed grow within the fields.  Even fields that lie fallow grow something–though it may only be weeds or leftover fruits from a harvest past.

  • Do you want to harvest what you desire in your life or will you end up with an accidental harvest?
  • How often have you come to the end of the year, looked back on the goals you hoped to achieve, and realized that the cupboards were bare?
  • How often have you planned the harvest but failed to cultivate or plant the seeds?
  • How often have the fields in your life produced an accidental harvest?

If you don’t take the time to figure out what it is that you want growing in your field, the time will still pass and the growing season with it.  It is possible that some of what you want to see in your life will pass you by if you don’t use the opportunity to be deliberate about what you plant in your fields.

Take time to review the fields of your life and reflect upon the past harvests.

  • Did you plan the harvest or receive an accidental one?

In order to maximize the potential of your harvest:

  1. Identify the field
  2. Determine the harvest and its timing
  3. Select the seeds
  4. Prepare the field
  5. Plant the field
  6. Cultivate the field
  7. Watch over the field

Will this be the year that you grow a bountiful harvest or an accidental one?

Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

~An Old Irish Blessing

Marian (McCoy) Boveri

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Winter Season–Developing a Harvest Strategy

Winter is the time to live off the harvest of the previous season.  It is also the time to develop a strategy for the next harvest season.  Even when the fields are covered in a blanket of snow the farmer is planning the harvest.  This can make the difference between a successful harvest that can sustain you or a failed harvest that leaves you without proper sustenance.  Winter is the time to develop a harvest strategy.  It is the time for planning the next harvest.

Even when the fields are covered in a blanket of snow the farmer is planning the harvest.

Even when the fields are covered in a blanket of snow the farmer is planning the harvest.

Looking ahead brings life and meaning to the season of winter.  It cultivates hope and anticipation for all the blessings that the harvest can bring.  Without developing a strategy, however, the harvest is in danger long before the planting is to begin.  Knowing what seeds need to be planted in order to grow the crop that will yield the desired harvest is essential.

Your life is a farm that has various fields within which you can grow a successful harvest.  Just as the fields on a farm require planting with certain seeds in order to reap a specific harvest, the different areas of your life require the same.  It is essential that the farmer knows what he wants to harvest in order to do so.  It is essential that you know what you want to harvest in order to reach your destination.  If you don’t know the crop that you want planted in a field, how can you expect it to grow?  Planning can bring clarification.

The farmer takes time to plan the crops he will be planting for the upcoming harvest season.  He is intentional about what he plants.  He plans the sowing of his crops so that he can receive the harvest he desires.  Just as the farmer plans his harvest, you too need to take time to plan the harvests you want to see in your life.  Determining the goals you want to see accomplished will help you to determine the seeds you need to plant to receive the desired harvest.  You need to plan the harvest you want to see in your life.

Considering the various fields within each of the areas you want to see a harvest in your life can help you determine what seeds need planting and what fields need to be put aside for another season.

  • Fields of Faith
  • Fields of Family
  • Fields of Home
  • Fields of Health
  • Fields of Business/Career
  • Fields of Finances
  • Fields of Friends
  • Fields of Leisure
  • Fields of Self Development

Start planning your harvest by asking yourself some basic questions:

  • What fields need cultivating?
  • What shall the harvest of these fields be?

Once you know the fields you want to cultivate, you will know what to plant in those fields.  You may discover that there are fields that need to be put aside this year.  When a field is put aside and left unsown it is considered to lie fallow.

  • Are there fields that need to lay fallow this year?
  • Are there fallow fields that need to be reclaimed this year?

Just as a farm has different fields that can yield a harvest depending upon what is planted within, your life has different fields that yield a harvest depending upon what you plant and cultivate.

What do you plan to harvest this year?

Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

~An Old Irish Blessing

Marian (McCoy) Boveri

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Winter Season–Living Off the Harvest

Fall harvest celebrations were traditionally held to express thanksgiving for the abundance of plenty that could be stored up and lived on during the scarcity of the cold and dark winter.  Historically winter’s survival was dependent upon the harvest.  A poor or lost harvest meant certain desperation as concern for survival was indeed a real and pressing problem.

Winter's Harvest in the Barn

Winter’s Harvest in the Barn

Winter is a time for living off of the harvest.  In modern life, full dependence upon what can be harvested and stored is uncommon as food is pretty much accessible year-round.  If you look at the harvest as the results you have in the various aspects or fields of your life; however, the harvest does indeed once again become important to store up in order to survive life’s winter seasons.

What do you do if you find that your time of plenty was not so plentiful?  How do you live off the harvest when all you can see are lost hopes and dreams?  What do you do when your daily life has become a struggle just to survive?

Being caught up in the need to survive–even on an emotional level–can lead you to living in a suspended “crisis mode” known as “fight-or-flight”.  This primitive protective mechanism was important when confronted with a saber tooth tiger that required actual physical activity in order to survive.  However, today’s saber tooth tigers and failed harvests are oftentimes psychological stressors such as missing a deadline, traffic delays, financial issues, and such that do not require actual physical activity to escape immediate danger.  Nevertheless, the same “crisis mode” of “fight-or-flight” gets activated.

What you may not realize is that constant stress can cause you to actually get stuck in this “crisis mode” and start living everyday in mere survival.  When you get stuck in living in survival your decisions become impacted negatively.   Your ability to cultivate the seeds needed to have a good harvest is inhibited.  In essence, you get stuck living in the winter with no harvest stored in the barn to sustain you.  Excessive stress and a life lived with continual short-term emergencies lead to becoming overwhelmed.

So how do you change out of this “survival mode” and back into cultivating positive attitudes and beliefs?  How do you move away from focusing on just the short-term survival and start focusing on long-term results?

  1.  Increase your physical activity.  On the surface you may think, “How does exercise change my world?”  It gives your body a chance to engage in the “fight-or-flight” and burn off all the excess stress hormones.  This will lead to a clearer mind and more introspective thinking.  Even 10 minutes of activity will help regain clarity.
  2. Change your environment.  What you surround yourself with will impact your stress level. Changing your physical environment to reflect a more peaceful reality is essential.  Sometimes this may be getting out of toxic relationship or leaving a stress-filled job.  Changing your spiritual environment by seeking an understanding of your God-given purpose and direction will change your focus from just surviving to long-term thriving.  Spending time in prayer will help to bring peace and clarity.  Resolving to release negative feelings of worthlessness, shame, and guilt will help to build a more positive environment.
  3. Change your perceptions.  One of the easiest and effective ways to change your perceptions is to use affirmations.  Affirmations have the ability to change your beliefs through continuous repetition by replacing the negative thoughts with more positive ones.  Focusing on affirmations can also help to quiet the mind which is key to moving beyond the anxiety and fears into a place of clearer understanding, truth, and love.

What ways will you start storing your harvests in order to survive the winters of your life?

Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

~ An Old Irish Blessing

Marian (McCoy) Boveri

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New Year’s Traditions: Create a Harvest of New Year’s Resolutions

The end of the year brings with it the tradition of reflecting upon the previous year and making resolutions for the New Year.   Resolutions are made based on the outcomes you would like to see in your life in the upcoming year.  These resolutions essentially define the harvests you would like to see in the fields of your life.

This year I will...

This year I will…

New Year’s resolutions often get a bad rap because it would appear that many people tend to forget about them just a few weeks into the year.  They oftentimes end up like many dreams in life—never getting off the ground or coming to fruition.  If you truly examine what “resolution” means you will discover that by definition it is the “act of finding an answer or solution to a conflict, problem, etc.: the act of resolving something”.  [1]   What happens with a lot of resolutions is that people resolve to do something but fail to “find an answer or solution” [2] to achieving that very thing.

In other words resolutions often fail because solutions are not found to achieve them.  If you look at resolutions as harvests that you want to see in your life, you see that the resolutions themselves define the fields you want to yield a harvest in.  And as you well know—the crop that is harvested is determined by the seeds that are planted.  Just like the harvest, resolutions need care and tending in order to grow.  A good and abundant harvest requires a lot of hard work to cultivate the seeds that are planted.  But first the seeds have to be planted!

So how do you do things differently this year?  How do you come to the end of 2015 and celebrate an abundant harvest?

  • The key is to actually put the work into our resolutions.
  • Find the answer on how to bring about the result.
  • Plant seeds of doing in order to reap the harvest.
  • Turn the resolution into a goal with specific measurable results–make it S.M.A.R.T.
  • Determine the time in which the resolution comes to harvest.

How to harvest a S.M.A.R.T. goal:

  • Specific–What harvest do you want to yield? Know the specific crop you want to grow in order to plant the right seeds.
  • Measurable–How will you know that the seeds you planted are growing?  Know the specific milestones needed to cultivate your harvest and measure the growth.
  • Achievable–Can you grow this crop in your field?  Know what you can grow in your field and what will grow well in your field.
  • Relevant–Is this the crop you want growing in your field?  Know what needs to grow in your field in order to nourish your life or business.
  • Time-bound–How long will it take to grow this particular crop?  Know when the harvest will be and use this deadline to plan accordingly.

What harvests would you like to see in your life in 2015?

Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

~An Old Irish Blessing

Marian (McCoy) Boveri

 

[1] www.merriam-webster.com resolution

[2] www.merriam-webster resolve

 

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Harvest–What are You Sowing Into Your Life?

What are you sowing into your life?

what.you.plant.now.

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Thanksgiving Traditions–A Harvest Celebration of Gratitude

Thanksgiving, as we have come to know it, is a day set aside during November in which to express gratitude for the blessings received in relation to the harvest.  It comes at the end of November when the harvest season has finished and the many tasks of preserving the harvest have been completed.  As with all traditions, it is also a time of remembrance and a way of connecting the present to the past as well as to the days to come.

Harvest season was traditionally a time of preparation for the long winter ahead when food was scarce and surviving the winter was indeed a challenge.  So many of us today are disconnected from the struggles that the winter season brought to just survive.  It is through the traditions of taking time out to be thankful for all we have received and been given that we remain connected to those that went before us.

Thanksgiving Blessings

As you celebrate Thanksgiving this year be mindful of the traditions of the day–both old and new.  It is these very things that keep us connected to all generations.  Sometimes it is the simplest of things that create our special memories.  Be conscious of these traditions–both large and small–this year.  Take time to treasure your family through the traditions of the day.

Thanksgiving is also a great time to take stock and reflect upon the fields we have sown into during the past year and assess the yield they have brought in harvest.  What have the harvests of your fields produced?  Did you sow into a field and then cultivate it so that the harvest was abundant?  Did you sow into a field and then have the seeds eaten by the birds (oh and they will come) or did your field become choked with weeds?  Were you a good steward of all that has been given to you?  These are the things to reflect upon in our gratitude in order to have a chance to secure a better harvest in the future.

So I invite you this Thanksgiving to celebrate the harvest of all the fields of your life.  Count your blessings not only in abundance but in lessons learned.  Take time to reflect upon your fields.  Ready the soil of the coming year through the reflection of your blessings and even your lessons.  There is always something to be grateful for and it is through thanksgiving that we cultivate our fields for future blessings.

Wishing you and your family a most blessed and Happy Thanksgiving! stock-graphics-vintage-thanksgiving-postcard-0006

Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

~An Old Irish Blessing

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