January 30, 2026

The post high school years can be very stressful as a young adult. I recall feeling a bit lost. I was no longer in the same rhythm of schooling which had been my life for 12 years. I wasn’t yet working in a career field that I felt passionate about, and I was learning how to navigate friendships and dating relationships. I was in college at the time, but I felt like I was sort of stuck in limbo.

Fast-forward 25 years and now I have three young adult kids, a job the demands a lot, a house, marriage, and all the accompanying stress that comes with that. What I have learned is that those things ebb and flow throughout life, but they never really leave. They just change.

It was in that season of my life that one of my college professors shared with his students a piece of flippant advice one day at the start of class. It turned out to be very memorable and practical for me. It went something like this: Never make a major life decision in the month of February.

February is a tough month. Here in the Midwest, it’s still very much winter. Dark. Grey. Cold. Dreary. Christmas is long in the past and springtime feels like it’s months away. It’s a short month but it can pack a punch to the gut on the mind, heart, and body. The season can feel depressing. Those factors can take the many stresses in our lives and amplify them. They may feel heavier. Perhaps more hopeless. When things in our lives come to a head like that our first instinct is to jettison the thing that causes stress and make a change. Make a run for it! My professor’s advice was wise. February can play with our minds and hearts. It’s a season where things can feel a lot worse than perhaps, they are. We need help… a guide who will take us by the hand and lead us through these seasons.

Psalm 32:6-9

Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,    

that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.

⁷ For you are my hiding place;    

you protect me from trouble.   

You surround me with songs of victory.  Interlude

⁸ The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.    

I will advise you and watch over you.

⁹ Do not be like a senseless horse or mule    

that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

Some harsh words but also comforting! Christians are those who are being formed into the image of Christ for the sake of others. God’s living presence (his home) is inside of us. Our home is in him. He is excited to do this work of formation in us. So, we should pray!

There is a liturgical practice known as Centering Prayer. The idea is that we take one word – a one or two syllable word – and we center our prayer on that word. This word may come from a short piece of Scripture. It might come from the Spirit to your mind or heart upon a quiet moment just sitting with him. It may come from a spiritual song or reading. Either way, choose the word that God lays upon your heart for that day. For me the word “guide” hit me recently from the above passage. I sat with God and shared that word with him. I talked to him about all the ways that word showed up in my daily life. I talked with him about how I often need guidance. I pray for him to guide my family, our church, and our country. I allowed that word to take me into a deeper time known as Contemplative Prayer. This is where I commune with God… acknowledging his loving presence with and in me in that time. I listen to him speak that word over my life, my circumstances, my relationships, etc.

February isn’t a bad month. It’s a month like every other. Filled with joys and pain. Stress and rest. Ups and downs. But rather than be a people who react to the stressors of life, I want to encourage us to be a people who interact with the One who made us. The One who knows and loves us. The One who has made his home in us and who has many things to say to us. Listen to him. Let him pour out his presence on you and give you peace.

Entering February with you,

Nathan

P.S. If you feel overwhelmed or at a place where you want to give up, please contact a Christian counselor. Sometimes one of the best tools God gives us for our healing is a trusted counselor to help guide us through our stuff. You can contact me or our church office and we’d love to share with you recommendations of counselors in the Cincinnati area.

Nathan Hinkle

Lead Pastor

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