08/18/2026
“I’ve learned that if I pray for God to move a mountain, I need to be prepared to wake up next to a shovel.”
— Hallie Long Tarpley
Today, those words hit differently.
There are seasons in life when you pray for a miracle because, honestly, you don't see any other way through. You pray for God to move the mountain that's standing in front of you. You pray for provision, for doors to open, for strength to keep going when you are tired.
And then sometimes, instead of waking up to find the mountain gone, you wake up with a shovel.
I think that's where we are right now.
We are praying for a financial miracle. Not because we aren't willing to work, but because we are willing to work—and we need God to meet us in the middle of that work.
We don't want handouts.
We don't want someone to simply rescue us.
We want to build something.
We are working hard to grow Back Porch Peanuts and Lemonade into something that can provide for our family. We're learning, creating, cooking, selling, promoting, showing up, and putting one foot in front of the other. Some days the progress feels huge. Other days, it feels like we're digging the same hole over and over again.
But maybe that's what faith looks like sometimes.
Maybe the shovel is God's way of reminding us that He will provide the strength, the opportunity, the ideas, the people, and the open doors—but He still expects us to pick up the shovel.
We are trusting God for the miracle, but we are also willing to work for the miracle.
We're willing to dig.
We're willing to sweat.
We're willing to start small.
We're willing to keep showing up when the numbers don't look the way we want them to.
We're willing to believe that a little business selling boiled peanuts and lemonade can become something much bigger than we ever imagined.
Because this isn't just about peanuts and lemonade.
It's about building a future.
It's about creating something with our own hands.
It's about proving that starting over doesn't mean starting from nothing.
And it's about trusting God enough to believe that the mountain in front of us doesn't get the final word.
So today, we're picking up our shovel.
We're going to pray like God can move the mountain.
And then we're going to work like He handed us the shovel for a reason.
We don't know exactly how God is going to make a way. But we believe He will.
And while we're waiting on the miracle, we're going to keep digging.
One peanut.
One cup of lemonade.
One customer.
One order.
One opportunity.
One day at a time.
Lord, give us the strength to dig, the wisdom to know where to dig, and the faith to keep going when we can't yet see what's on the other side.
We're not asking for an easy road.
We're asking God to bless the work of our hands.
And we're ready to work.
