Over the holiday break I traveled to Scottsdale with my husband and our two kids. A couple of years ago, we started a little post-Christmas tradition: just the four of us escaping for a few days to rest, relax, and recover from the holiday chaos (and the emotional hangover that is December). It’s quickly become one of my favorite traditions.
We’re also shamelessly soaking up every ounce of sunshine to mentally prepare ourselves for the rest of a very frigid Midwest winter. 🥶 If seasonal affective disorder had a mascot, it would be me by February.
All this warm weather has me thinking about seasons. Not just the weather kind, but the seasons we go through in life and money.
There are seasons of growth, abundance, prosperity, and harvest. And how do we feel about those seasons?
Oh, we love them.
Life feels lighter. Money stress is lower. Confidence is higher. We’re thriving. We’re glowing. We’re ordering the guac without checking the price. (Yum!)
But here’s the thing: those seasons don’t just magically appear.
They almost always come after a different kind of season first.
A season of planting.
A season of pruning.
A season of building roots when it feels like nothing is happening above ground.
And while those seasons are just as important as the harvest, let’s be honest about how we usually respond to them.
We hate them.
We avoid them.
We complain.
We sulk.
We quit.
We tell ourselves, “Maybe I’m just bad with money,” and call it a personality trait.
If you’re currently in a planting, pruning, or root-building season financially, you’re not behind, you’re being prepared.
And if you want to experience a future financial harvest, here are three things you can start doing right now.
1. Open your Bible
Seriously.
The first step isn’t meeting with a financial advisor or aggressively paying off your credit card – it’s aligning your heart, mind, and money with God.
I’ll say it this way: if everyone managed their money the way the Bible teaches, we’d have a lot fewer money problems.
If you’re not sure where to start, Proverbs and Luke are two of my favorite books. Open your Bible and ask God to speak to you. Ask Him to show you exactly what you need to hear that day. (Spoiler: it’s usually not what we want to hear, but it’s always what we need.)
2. Check your circle
There are seasons when we cannot do life – or money – alone.
Who are the wise, healthy, God-loving individuals in your life who encourage you, challenge you, and remind you of your potential when you forget it?
If you don’t have those people yet, that’s okay! Reach out to a local church or your university and ask about small groups or Bible studies. Community isn’t optional – it’s essential.
Your posse matters. Choose wisely.
3. Activate your financial plan
Notice I didn’t say “make a plan” or “make a budget.”
Why?
Because a plan that sits untouched is just a very optimistic piece of paper.
Instead, activate your plan.
Meet with someone you love and trust – someone who actually understands money – and ask them to help you create a realistic financial plan for the next 3–6 months. Then (as Nike says)…just do it.
If you want to move out of your current financial season and toward a season of harvest, you have to start planning, planting, and yes – pulling some weeds.
Sometimes you can’t control what season you’re in.
But you can control how you respond to it – and what you do while you’re there.
May this be the year you stop waiting for things to magically change and start taking intentional steps toward the life you’ve always dreamed of.
Your harvest is coming. 🌱
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