{"id":193,"date":"2026-01-12T14:21:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T20:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/?p=193"},"modified":"2026-01-13T15:47:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T21:47:14","slug":"%e2%9c%8b%f0%9f%8f%bcwait-youre-not-behind-youre-just-in-a-different-financial-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/%e2%9c%8b%f0%9f%8f%bcwait-youre-not-behind-youre-just-in-a-different-financial-season\/","title":{"rendered":"\u270b\ud83c\udffcWait! You\u2019re not behind. You\u2019re just in a different financial season."},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s quickly become one of my favorite traditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re also shamelessly soaking up every ounce of sunshine to mentally prepare ourselves for the rest of a\u00a0very\u00a0frigid Midwest winter. \ud83e\udd76 If seasonal affective disorder had a mascot, it would be me by February.<\/p>\n

All this warm weather has me thinking about\u00a0seasons. Not just the weather kind, but the seasons we go through in life and money.<\/p>\n

There are seasons of growth, abundance, prosperity, and harvest. And how do we feel about those seasons?<\/p>\n

Oh, we\u00a0love\u00a0them.<\/p>\n

Life feels lighter. Money stress is lower. Confidence is higher. We\u2019re thriving. We\u2019re glowing. We\u2019re ordering the guac without checking the price. (Yum!)<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing:\u00a0those seasons don\u2019t just magically appear.<\/b><\/p>\n

They almost always come\u00a0after\u00a0a different kind of season first.<\/p>\n

A season of planting.
\nA season of pruning.
\nA season of building roots when it feels like nothing is happening above ground.<\/p>\n

And while those seasons are just as important as the harvest, let\u2019s be honest about how we usually respond to them.<\/p>\n

We hate them.
\nWe avoid them.
\nWe complain.
\nWe sulk.
\nWe quit.
\nWe tell ourselves, \u201cMaybe I\u2019m just bad with money,\u201d and call it a personality trait.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re currently in a planting, pruning, or root-building season financially, you\u2019re not behind, you\u2019re being prepared.<\/p>\n

And if you want to experience a future\u00a0financial harvest, here are three things you can start doing\u00a0right now.<\/p>\n

1. Open your Bible<\/h3>\n

Seriously.<\/p>\n

The first step isn\u2019t meeting with a financial advisor or aggressively paying off your credit card – it\u2019s aligning your heart, mind, and money with God.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll say it this way:\u00a0if everyone managed their money the way the Bible teaches, we\u2019d have a lot fewer money problems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re 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\u2019s usually not what we\u00a0want\u00a0to hear, but it\u2019s always what we\u00a0need.)<\/p>\n

2. Check your circle<\/h3>\n

There are seasons when we\u00a0cannot\u00a0do life – or money – alone.<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have those people yet, that\u2019s okay! Reach out to a local church or your university and ask about small groups or Bible studies. Community isn\u2019t optional – it\u2019s essential.<\/p>\n

Your posse matters. Choose wisely.<\/p>\n

3. Activate your financial plan<\/h3>\n

Notice I didn\u2019t say \u201cmake a plan\u201d or \u201cmake a budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because\u00a0a plan that sits untouched is just a very optimistic piece of paper.<\/b><\/p>\n

Instead,\u00a0activate\u00a0your plan.<\/p>\n

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\u20136 months. Then (as Nike says)\u2026just do it.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Sometimes you can\u2019t control what season you\u2019re in.<\/p>\n

But you\u00a0can\u00a0control how you respond to it – and what you do while you\u2019re there.<\/p>\n

May this be the year you stop waiting for things to magically change and start taking intentional steps toward the life you\u2019ve always dreamed of.<\/p>\n

Your harvest is coming.\u00a0\ud83c\udf31<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s quickly become […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":306,"featured_media":194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":5,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"coauthors":[15],"class_list":["post-193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-action-steps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/306"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions\/213"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/moneytalks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}