A Season of Trial is a Season of Growth

Hey y’all - It’s Sid! Happy Saturday!!

Many of you are probably finding yourself trekking through the last day of the 96th National FFA Convention! I hope you made so many memories! Make sure to tag @inffa.districtv in all your convention posts so we can check them out too!

Now some of you may not have been at convention this week, or maybe you weren’t on that stage like you have been dreaming of, or maybe the week just didn’t go as planned, and that is exactly what I want to talk about. Trials- by definition are a test of the performance, qualities, or suitability of someone or something. Trial can test us both mentally and physically and challenge our abilities and ideas. They take place in our lives all the time, some little and some big and they are occasionally hard to recognize in others' lives. However, it's what trials do for us that is monumental.

You may look at me and see a healthy, fun-loving 17-year-old girl, holding numerous leadership positions, having SAE projects that always are doing well, with a family that loves and supports her. For the most part, this is true. I am healthy, I love people, I hold numerous leadership positions that I am so grateful for, and my SAE projects are sometimes successful, and my family is extremely close. But...behind all the glamorous things you have seen on Instagram, I have been in a season of extreme trial. This year like never before God has challenged me over and over again. I began 2023 as most do, optimistic, ready to go, ready to learn, and excited, however, things quickly took a turn. Now I won't bore you with all the stories, but man life has been a challenge. From losing my dad to extreme self-doubts, to having to adjust to a new advisor...I have felt like giving up more times than I could count, but because of the mindset I adopted, I am still here with the goal to inspire all of you.

In the last few months, I have started to reflect and remember the kind of person I was before this year, before all of the trials. I realized how much I have grown and the different ways each trial had impacted my life. God didn't lay these challenges in front of me as punishment, but rather as an opportunity to grow. I now know the importance of holding family close, how to better handle conflict, how to listen more intently and have patience with not only others but myself. Here is where I challenge YOU...if you are in a season of trial, where it feels like one thing after another, adopt this mindset. The uncomfortableness you are facing today is just a trial, and a season of trials is a season of growth. You will reach the other side and you will realize why God laid this upon you. If your time at this year's convention didn't look how you wanted it to, don't sulk, but rather reflect and understand what it has taught you. The beauty in this world truly is that we are all working towards the same goals. Each of us are facing trials and knowingly or not growing through them. You might be sitting there thinking “Well Sidney, I’m tired of growing,” and I get that. Me too! However, at the end of the day, without growth, we would be at a standstill and to reach our goals we can’t live life at a standstill. So, as difficult as your trials may be, keep going. You are placed here for a reason and you are right where you should be.

A season of trials is a season of growth, and no one wants to live life at a standstill.

Love,

Sidney Julian (Stinson)

District V Secretary

Instagram: @s.stinson_