Today, I have the pleasure of introducing Noelle Cablay to you as a guest blogger. She is a dear friend and always teaches me so much, not only in her words but also in the way she lives. She is an incredibly gifted writer and muscian. When asked if she might want to join us on our harvest journey she said she would love to contribute. I know we will all be blessed. Here is her thoughts on a Harvest of Joy.

Love, Kim

Psalm 67: 6-7 Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear Him.

Finding Joy in the Harvest Recently I got a huge boost. My little book won an award, and suddenly with it came a sense of legitimacy. I am now an award-winning author. My book is now an award-winning book, etc. But what I find so fascinating about this unexpected turn in the road of my life is how although the news of this brought momentary elation, it did not bring me joy. That is because the joy I have come to know is much deeper and more hard fought than the fleeting elation from accolades. I have discovered joy is a substance far different than happiness.

Let me explain. I am the child of an abusive parent. I have lived my life in some way running from the haunts of yesterday, while desperately trying embrace hope in tomorrow. I have worked hard, forging through to acquire an education, finally becoming a teacher. I won awards for that. And then once I was done with teaching, I decided to become a professional musician. I didn’t win awards for that but I did win the respect of my peers with whom I practiced my art. I did this all while being the best wife and mother I could be. And I toiled day and night in the fields of my life, planting seeds of effort amid the soil of pain.

And then after so many years of trying, conforming, fighting, working, sweating, and laboring, my life handed me a brick wall and I crashed head on into it. I was helpless against the swelling tide of pain at the realization that all my efforts could not protect my son from a life threatening diagnosis, or stop the financial mudslide of a global economic downturn, or bring homeostasis within as I tried to reinvent myself once more. And I remained pain filled until the day when someone whispered into my world words which, once they took root, began to change the course of me.

The Seeds of Contentment It was simply that I had value. I was loved. I was not alone and God had me on His radar. And they demonstrated this to me, in an unwavering way. And they reminded me that although it rains on the just and the unjust, the seeds of goodness once planted will find their proper growth in due time. Be patient and cry on the shoulders sent to bear you up. And in the end it won’t be about any accomplishment of your own but it will be because value is imparted to us. We are made in His image. We have value because He is valuable and He shares that value with us. Our outcomes are only a natural progression of a life surrendered to Him.

It took a long time for me to understand this. Before such a grand illumination there was a season of tears that watered the dry landscape of my soul. I had to till the fallow ground working through the pain of what happened so long ago as it mixed with the dangers of today. There within this process that I found a subtle forgiveness amid the rubble. And once that occurred then, unexpectedly, it happened. The stubborn rebirth. It was the emergence of something that had been just underneath, waiting for its due season. All the lessons and heartaches had collided within an explosive moment of understanding. And with that understanding came peace. I am ok. I am loved. God is here. And suddenly I saw in myself the fruit of the labor of years, and it was a realization that came with joy. An abiding deep harvest of joy that is confident, assured, and supported by the new world God has built out of the once dry soil of the old.

The Meaning of A Bountiful Harvest Book awards are a blessing. But they do not bring joy. They only add a moment of laughter and amazement. The real joy is found when you finally know you have been blessed by God because He loves you. This knowledge, once realized, empowers you to live a life that is more abundant. That is the real yield.