Author Archives: Shannon


About Shannon

Alaskan homeschooling mama of eight sweet kids. Loves Jesus, writing, coffee, Dickens, and snapping a kitchen towel at my husband when he's not looking.

wait

Posted on by November 8, 2018

*This is an excerpt from Oh My Soul: Encountering God in Honest, Unconventional (and Sometimes Messy) Prayer, available for purchase at Amazon and anywhere books are sold. *

wait: a post about being [not so] patient

There’s a child in our dining room sobbing over math, over eight times four. But it’s okay, I’ve got this – step aside, folks, stand back – I’ve done this before:

“Make it smaller,” I tell him. “What is eight times two?”

“Sixteen.” Sniff.

“Great! Now, what is sixteen times two?” I check to make sure my super hero cape is ruffling in the wind, like it’s supposed to in the movies.

“Thirty-two…oh!” He writes down the answer, and I think he’s got it figured out…

…until ten seconds later, and he’s sobbing again…about nine times four. Good grief.

We try it again. “What is nine times two?” And then, thinking of a new strategy, I ask him, “If eight times four is thirty-two, what is nine times four? What is four more added to— ”

“WAIT!” he interrupts, trying to think. He’s already on the trail, but my chatter was in the way. “Thirty-six!” he yells, victorious.

It reminds me of that scene in Finding Nemo. Let us see what Squirt does, flying solo…

There is no work in life so hard as waiting, and yet I say wait…All motion is more easy than calm waiting. So many of My followers have marred their work and hindered the progress of My Kingdom by activity.

– God Calling, edited by A.J. Russell

When we get to the point of truly waiting – we’ve listened, we’ve obeyed, we’ve taken the leap – it is hard to not interfere. I want to hurry things along; I want to read too much into the situation. I want to yell at God for being a Big Meanie. It’s like peeking at the popcorn while it is popping, though – at best, we delay what we’re already waiting for, but at worst, it blows up in our face.

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

– Romans 8:24-25, ESV

And so I’m learning to wait. Apparently He thinks I need lots of practice at this.

The next time there was sobbing over multiplication, I was prepping dinner. We really need to enforce the “math before mental shutdown” rule.

“Mom, can I get the abacus?”

“Nope, you can do this.” Let us see what Squirt does, flying solo…A few minutes passed, sprinkled with wailing and moaning while I sautéd onions.

“Mo-oooo-om, can I get the abacus?” I hope you’re reading this in the whiniest font imaginable.

Wait. I will not overtry your spiritual strength…All your toil in rowing and all your activity could not have accomplished the journey so soon. Oh, wait and trust. Wait, and be not afraid.

– God Calling, edited by A.J. Russell

“I already said no.” Wait, and be not afraid…and I’m praying in the moment, but these poor onions. They don’t deserve what I’m doing to them at this point.

“Mom, can I get the abacus?” And, hey! I didn’t answer him again. See? This is me, waiting. This is me, not interfering. This is me, not letting my chatter get in the way. Patient Mommy…gooood Mommy…

“Why can’t I use the abacus?”

And then, it must be confessed, I flung the hero cape to the ground. Patient Mommy was done.

“Because I am a BIG MEANIE.”

See? I told you I need lots of practice.

without ceasing button

This is day 12 of Without Ceasing: 31 Days of Relentless Prayer. Find the other posts here. To get new posts right in your inbox, subscribe here.

give me a sign

Posted on by July 15, 2021

*This is an excerpt from Oh My Soul: Encountering God in Honest, Unconventional (and Sometimes Messy) Prayer, available for purchase at Amazon and anywhere books are sold.

____

God…just tell me. Which way? This thing, or that thing?

give me a sign: how to tell if we're waiting...or just stalling

We ask for doors to open, doors to shut, and when we go to check, they’re swinging back and forth on their hinges. Not helpful. This isn’t what I asked for.

He says, What did you ask for, Love?

And I think, oh…nothing much. Just an answer. A clear answer. A neon sign. Something really bright with flashing arrows would be perfect.

I don’t usually use those. Especially when I already told you what to do.

And there’s the rub.

He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

– Exodus 3:12, ESV

And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”

– Joshua 3:13

Step in. You have to get your feet wet first. Walk where I tell you…and then watch Me hold the waters back.

Confirmation comes after obedience, not before: the waters won’t move while we stall at the shoreline. We think we want a sign for directions, but the sign He wants to give us is recognition for achievement. A crown.

We are so busy asking for excuses not to use our faith that we miss the opportunity to win the medal at the end of obedience.

You must rely on Me. Trust to the last uttermost limit. Trust and be not afraid. You must depend on Divine Power only. I have not forgotten you. Your help is coming. You shall know and realize My Power.

Endurance is faith tried almost to the breaking point. You must wait, and trust, and hope, and joy in Me. You must not depend on man but on Me, on Me, your Strength, your Help, your Supply.

– God Calling, edited by A.J. Russell

Sometimes when we say we are waiting on Him, the truth is…we’re just not trusting Him. We settle for so little in the stalling to obey.

How do we tell the difference? Are we stalling, or are we waiting?

Did you do what I already told you, Love?

Well, yes. I mean, sort of. Mostly, I think.

And I realize I sound a lot like my son when I ask him if he made his bed in the morning. And almost always, the truth is…no.

No, not really. I didn’t really do it all the way, just sorta spread the top blanket around to cover up the wrinkly sheets underneath. I thought that would be good enough.

And God tells me the same thing I tell my son: Go back and check again. Dig a little deeper, more than just making things look good on the surface. Do it right once, and you won’t have to do it over and over. You won’t have to keep asking me if it’s done, because you’ll know it is.

When we are stalling, looking for a sign, what we are really asking is, Is it good enough?

But when we are waiting on Him after the leap has really happened, we’re all-in, without a back-up plan. We won’t be looking for the rip cord in the parachute, because we didn’t bring one.