Calm Before The Storm

By Dawn Hall - Author, Coach - Professional Entrepreneur

I love to write! In 2017, I published a series of books called The Promise Series. It took ten years to perfect writing seven little books, each less than 40 pages, and just recently, I pulled them off the shelves to revise them. "Resting In The Promise" is the foundation for each book. On July 2, 2024, I was called to step away from everything in my life that wasn’t an immediate necessity. I was being called to rest in the promise for seven days. This was a welcome reprieve, considering the past nine months of my life had been an overwhelming and exhilarating ride that I was having a hard time stepping away from.

People often ask, "What is resting in the promise?" There are many ways to define this, which is why I wrote seven books about it. In brief, it’s trusting that there’s nothing or no one in this world that needs you as much as you think they do.

Because I had been writing and practicing resting in the promise for fifteen years, it became my lifestyle. A lifestyle of no hurry, no worry, a well-balanced schedule with self-care as a priority, a 20-hour work week, and no less than an hour of prayer time daily. I’m not talking about rattling off a list of people on my prayer list and pouring out my thoughts and feelings in a journal, but silent time, meditation time. Sacred quiet time that comes after the journaling has ceased, the body has settled, and the mind can be still to listen. Then, prayer begins. Prayer is listening, often filled with teardrops. Each drop expressing not one emotion, but more than we can name or possibly imagine.

Well, look who’s writing again. Writing is simply another word for journaling. Our to-do lists are a form of journaling, which is why they get so long, and until we stop adding to the list, the cycle is never-ending and there’s little time for rest.

How does one not write a list of to-dos? When one quits thinking they are responsible for other people or their happiness, or that things need to be done soon, or until one starts believing that we were not put on this earth to constantly do things, we were put on this earth to be. To be still and know God. To know God is to know absolute quiet without letting distractions, like the dryer buzzing, pull you away from the sacred still. When you know God and are in that sacred space of quiet, you will not even hear the buzzing of the dryer.

The past nine months of my life have been, as they say, the best of times and the worst of times. Only by the grace of God and my extended time practicing a lifestyle of resting in the promise, I was able to seemingly glide through what was the nine-month season of hurricanes, thunderstorms, and tornadoes, simultaneously destroying my mind and body, aching my heart, and withering my soul.

On one side of the storm, amazing women and events were swirling wildly and excitingly around me. On the other side, my son was suffering from an excruciating, sobering, and impossible situation, the kind usually seen on TV documentaries where one thinks, "That would never happen to me." But it was happening to my son, my one and only child, the child I chose to keep at the age of 18, the child I raised as an unmarried mom, the child who pierces my heart daily. And the only thing I can do to help is to be at the foot of the cross, praying that his suffering is not in vain and draws him nearer to the Lord, as we pray that this too shall pass. But we don’t know if this will pass. This could be my son’s new normal, and trust me, this is not a normal way to live on this earth.

As I mentioned earlier, I was called to rest in the promise for seven days, and right in the middle of those seven days, Beryl showed up! Hurricane Beryl was on its way, and I couldn’t have been better prepared. You see, my process for resting in the promise begins with nesting my home. First, I clear my schedule for seven days, keeping only the necessities: prayer, meditation, exercise, and clients who were scheduled upfront. Next, I nest my home, getting rid of unnecessary items and clutter from all the nooks and crannies. This doesn’t take long; I live minimally in a one-bedroom flat with a couch, lamp, and turned-off TV in one room, and a bedroom without a dresser. All of my clothes—or should I say uniforms—fit in my closet along with my bike, a few boxes, and baskets of knitting yarn and needles.

Knitting—I haven’t knitted in nine months! I’m so excited to knit again because that is resting in the promise, therapy for me. Eventually, I will have nothing left in my brain to write, and knitting becomes my meditation: knit, purl, and pray (listen). Hear the silence and recognize this is peace, not lonely, but alone with God. At first, it’s scary because you feel alone and untethered. But truly, you are not alone, you are in a safe, vast space of Grace with our Creator of the universe.

A deep and genuine thanks to all of you thoughtful people who checked in on me. It might have seemed that something was not going well in my life, but just the opposite. I’ve been healthier during this time period than in the past nine months. It doesn’t mean my life situation has changed; it means my mind has slowed to know its proper to-do list, my body is healthier, one clothing size smaller and vibrantly active, and my soul is well. There’s space for God’s grace to move through me again.

I wrote this short story because of Hurricane Beryl. On my first day of resting in the promise, I happened to come across a few hurricane-related items that encouraged me to charge my battery packs, make sure I had plenty of water and non-perishables, and be prepared for the upcoming hurricane season—Beryl’s upcoming appearance was announced a few days later.

This was a beautiful reminder that living a lifestyle of resting in the promise always prepares my mind, body, and soul for what’s to come. If I hadn’t been resting in the promise, I would have weathered Beryl in a hurry, with worry and a bit of anxiousness, which would have cluttered my mind even more, stressed my body, and left my soul even more downtrodden. Instead, by the time Beryl arrived and my power went out, I remained still, meditating and knitting throughout its spectacular performance playing in the background.

Even though Hurricane Beryl has left the Houston stage, and my electricity has returned, there are still just under one million without power. My heart is prayerful for power to be restored quickly.

As I stay faithful to my resurrected lifestyle of resting in the promise, remembering it’s a gift God gave to me and that is available for all. It’s a way of life where we trust God to write the to-do list, and believe when the list is simple, effortless—His list calms the mind to be still to know His thoughts, and His ways. There’s always a prioritizing of the body’s needs for it to be able to thrive on purpose to serve according to His perfect will—doing nothing in vain glory. It’s not easy to start this way of life, and it does take practice, one step at a time, but it’s worth it. I look forward to serving you well, to the utmost of God’s highest—resting in the promise.

Sincerely, 

Dawn

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