Listen to a Waiting Mom

Guest Post by Beth Vincent

I’m a doer. Friends describe me as responsible, capable, and practical. If a task needs to be completed, I’ll find a way to do it. This is a hard season to be a doer when so much of life is out of my control.

It’s been over four months since our schools and workplaces closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My husband and I continue to work from home, and we have no idea when our workplaces will reopen. We have two school-age kids.

My son’s first grade teacher provided excellent structure and support for the six weeks that we did remote learning in the spring. She went live at 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM each day and provided a weekly calendar of tasks to complete. We’re a schedule-oriented family and this structure worked for us.

Remote learning preschool was a little more challenging engagement, but my daughter enjoyed seeing her teacher online each day. Truly, it was a joy to do school with my kids and I enjoyed getting to know their teachers and classmates in a new way. There were a lot of tears and a lot of prayer, but we did it.

Now my doer mind is constantly trying to figure out what this upcoming school year will look like for our family. When school reopens, our son will be entering the second grade and our daughter will be entering kindergarten.

Until then, I’m stuck in the waiting … waiting for our local school to release their reopening plan. There is nothing for me to do right now except wait.

What I am learning during this uncomfortable waiting period is that God wants us to seek Him in the waiting. Every time I feel my mind start to spin with questions, I repeat Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Being still is not easy for me. Stopping my thoughts and making my mind still requires intentional action.

Even though the questions continue to come, God’s Word speaks steady.

When I ask: “What will in-person school be like? Teachers already work so hard, what new protocols are we asking them to add to their day?” He answers, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

When I ask: “If full time remote learning turns the best option for our family, how will I be able to continue working? I’m not sure that I can balance both for an extended period of time.” He answers, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

When I ask, “How will this school year, whether at home or in-person, affect our kids socially and emotionally?” He answers, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

When I ask: “What if there are not enough teachers and staff willing and able to return to school for the fall semester?” He answers, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

When I ask: “What toll has this taken on school administrators and staff who have worked long hours all summer to figure out how to do school in unprecedented times?” He answers, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

When I ask: “What about the parents that need their kids to go to school full time for their financial stability or their mental health?” He answers, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

When I ask: “What about the kids who need to be in school full time because school is their safe place? The place that they get food and support?” He answers, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Do you find yourself asking questions of God? Perhaps, His answer for me offers a comforting answer for you.

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

Beth and her husband Barry have two energetic children. She serves on the leadership team of MOPS, the Mothers of Preschoolers ministry at Centerville Community Church in Centerville, Ohio, and works part-time for Athletes in Action International as an Administrative Assistant.

Lessons Learned from the Recent Plane Crash

Incredulous! The sight before my eyes defied belief. On this steamy hot Saturday afternoon, I sat under a tree in my neighbor’s front yard and shook my head. People milled around in quiet conversation, but I withdrew into my own world and tried to make sense of the dramatic scene, a scene marked off by that ominous yellow tape and surrounded by a sea of flashing red lights.

A plane just crashed into our neighborhood.

Resting askew on the lawn right across the street, a single engine Cessna with a damaged wing stared back at me. My eyes scanned the site and absorbed the evidence: nasty tire marks, splintered mailboxes, and a twisted lamppost.

Where mothers push strollers, where children ride bikes, where couples take walks—where my husband jogs—a twenty-two-year-old pilot made an emergency landing. And, No. One. Was. Hurt. God be praised!

In a crystal clear sky, on a bright sunny July afternoon, at 5,000 feet aloft, this young aviator’s engine died. Died. Caught alone in the cockpit of a small aircraft, he faced an onslaught of decisions. Undoubtedly, his clear head in an extreme crisis averted a tragedy. The awe-inspiring facts stand out:

He did exactly what he was supposed to do.

His response to the crisis was textbook perfect.

His clear head, hours of training, and eight years of experience paid off.

The ability to think and execute in the heat of trauma is a life skill. Dare you and I ask what we do when our engine dies? Do we give up or panic? Or, like the young pilot, do we engage with the facts, engage with the options, engage with a plan, and land the plane?

Still, I gaze out the window of my study, contemplate the serene setting, and shake my head. All is well, but for God and the skill of this young man, the scene could be drastically different.

The plane crash in my neighborhood sheds light on other aspects of life, and thus leaves me with lessons to ponder:

• Engage with the facts

• Engage with the options

• Engage with a plan, and

• By the grace of Almighty God, land the plane.

His Loving Invitation Awaits Your Response

*Guest Post by Renée McIntosh

It’s a wonderful thing to receive an invitation! Invitations communicate that we are wanted and chosen. However, there is none more special than when God is doing the inviting. Something amazing happens, when spending time in God’s word, we learn to respond to His invitations. A precious relationship develops with those daily choices. Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes this ongoing relationship with our “Inviting God”: “In our meditation, we ponder the chosen text on the strength of the promise that it has something utterly personal to say to us for this day and for our Christian life, that it is not only God’s word for the Church, but also God’s word to us individually.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

God’s Quiet Invitation

We are called to a rhythm of life to take time to stop, be still, and listen for that often hidden, quiet voice of invitation. When my work gets hard—circumstances become difficult, schedules get full—more than at any other time, I need to hear His voice for that day. As a result, I often come back to Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30. He calls me back to that rhythm. He invites me (and you) with these encouraging words:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me–watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll earn to live freely and lightly” (The Message).

Ever since that first invitation that drew our heart into relationship with Him, God continues to invite us. Even though we might ignore His regular invitation, He keeps inviting us. Daily He reminds us of His presence, His leading, and His provision for what we need.

In Deuteronomy 17:18-20, we read God’s invitation to the Kings of Israel to experience His presence:

“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this Law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.”

Their response to His invitation involves three things:

• Writing out the Scriptures for themselves – a slow process of internalizing what God says in how to live and lead God’s people.

• Reading their hand-written words all the days of their lives – a constant reminder of the benefits of being a king who walked with God.

• Learning from the Scriptures – how to deal with pride and other issues of the heart.

God invites ME!

Through many years of walking with the Lord, I’ve discovered countless invitations from a God who loves me. He continues to “woo” me back into a right and deeper relationship with Him. He knows where my heart might be straying at the moment. Therefore, these God-given invitations have the potential to grow me into the character of Jesus as He calls me out of my “doing” and “striving.” His invitations powerfully refine what’s in my heart, shape me, and transform me as I respond to Him in my ongoing spiritual journey.

Consequently, if I sit long enough in God’s presence, I might hear Him inviting me: to listen, to trust, to remember, to love, to forgive, or to rest.

Recently I’ve been invited to WAIT. I’m waiting for a son to return to the Lord . . . waiting for recovery from recent back surgery . . . waiting for clear direction. Without doubt, David’s words in Psalm 27:14 encourage me to “wait expectantly.” This verse tells me to be strong, to let my heart take courage, and to wait for the Lord. Waiting expectantly demands my alertness to my present situation with an eye of watchfulness that God might do something even beyond what I could imagine. So I wait for my God who is a sure and steadfast anchor of my soul. This anchor is built on the goodness of God’s character and gives me hope! In conclusion, I know He is working on my behalf. In His perfect timing, He will give what I need most.

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

Consider what He might be saying to you today—what is His invitation to you?

*Meet my dear friend Renée.

Renée McIntosh is a wife, mother of 3 grown children, and a grandmother of 5. She has been on staff with Cru for 45 years – 22 of those years serving in Eastern Europe, and now lives in Franklin, Tennessee. She works alongside her husband, Dorsey on Faculty Commons, involved in International sending. Renee’s greatest passion is studying God’s Word and finding personal application for life and ministry. Her journey with the Lord has deepened through both life’s disappointments and joys. She loves cooking, hospitality, and coming alongside women in personal development, mentoring, and coaching.