Be Still



Summer didn’t feel much like a break and here we are back into what feels like will be another grind. Today is the first day of school for my kids, and like many parents, the weeks building up to this day have been filled with so many feelings running from excitement to dread. As I began to prepare for the school year, I found myself trying to figure out all of the things I need to do to make sure the kids succeed in school. I had returned to the rhythm of doing and producing I said I didn’t want to return to. 

Yet I started checking things off my list:


Watch all the videos the teachers send✅

Read all the emails from the principal, the superintendent, the lunch lady, PTA….✅

Download this year’s parent communication app...oh wait there are two ✅

Read the messages and sign-up for this and that...don’t forget that one as well ✅

Check to make sure they have all supplies for at-home learning ✅

Repeat that process for kid #2 ✅

Follow the school on FB, IG, and twitter (just in case they post something here that they didn’t post in the other 5 communication platforms) ✅

Arrange work schedule/activities around this new reality ✅

Pick up materials from school ✅

Buy pencils, highlighters, notebooks, and art supplies (will they even use these this year?)✅


In the weeks to come I know there will be tears, tantrums, and time-outs coupled with meltdowns and rebellion. I’m sure the kids will also have their own range of emotions in addition to mine. I keep hearing, “be patient and give yourself grace.” And I agree with all of that. Yet I’ve found myself not as patient and grace-filled as I would like to be. This morning as we prepared to send off the kiddos to their virtual classroom, I could feel the anxiety rising and my body telling me to relax, it'll be ok. 


In order to not return to the way things have always been, I need to constantly find new rhythms that will be life-giving and not force me to return to the cycle of doing and producing. Today I was reminded to Be Still.


Psalm 46 sounds like 2020. The psalmist reminds us that God is ever-present, especially in times of trouble, even as nations are in an uproar, and kingdoms are falling. Even as it feels like the earth has given way and like mountains are about to fall into the sea. Yet we are reminded to be still and reflect on who God is. 


As I let myself be still and breathe, I was reminded that it is the breath of God that will sustain me today. 


May your soul find peace as you weather life’s storm.


Weekly Activity

Be Still


This week I want to invite you to use the liturgy of the hours to help you pause throughout the day and be still. (You can pick a few hours each day that work for you if doing liturgy of the hours is too much). During this time spend 2-5 minutes doing the following:

  1. Engage in at least one minute of deep breathing to remind yourself that it is God’s breath that sustains life, not your doing.

  2. Attend to your body by being aware of where you may be holding tension and stress. It’s simply to be aware, not to do anything to fix it but to learn how your body responds throughout the day.

  3. Reflect on one thing that you are grateful for today (it can be the same thing for the entire day or it can change as the day progresses).


Further Reading 


I invite you to reflect on Psalm 46 throughout this week.


1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.

5 God is within her, she will not fall;God will help her at break of day.

6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The Lord Almighty is with us;the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields[d] with fire.

10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;  I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

 

Listen

I encourage you to listen to Travis Greene- “Be Still” at some point this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILK2vNeMwQI

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