Episode 54: Olive Us Rest

Sep 2

Written By Rachael Wade

An interview with Bethny Ricks

Bethny defines rest and her journey to find it.

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The Seeds

Name: Bethny Ricks

Where do you call home: Ohio

Relationship Status: Married

Season of Work: Business Executive 20 years, Speaker, Author

Hobbies: Mountain Hiking, Fishing, Traveling

Jesus Journey: Gave me life to Christ after college, near death experience, father is a pastor so the seeds had been planted

The Branches

One of the four tenets of the NEW Olive Us Restored retreats is REST. One of the many definitions of rest is to cease work or movement to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength. How do YOU, Bethny, define rest, and what does rest look like for you?

The short answer that took YEARS to develop: 1) Pausing. Taking a moment to adjust my vision, ensure I know where my feelings/mood/wants/ are coming from and why. 2) I am honest with myself and others about capacity, so I am rarely overextended and adjust when I am overwhelmed. Overextended is when we take on more than we can handle. While overwhelmed is a feeling of commitment or external pressure.

The world is loud and fast-moving. In the West, we work, work, and in certain jobs or parts of the country, we are known to hustle harder. Tell the Olive Us family about the various vocations you’ve had and the places you’ve lived. Have you found yourself having difficulty pulling away from work in specific vocations? Certain seasons?

While in college I worked in Human Resources while getting a degree in Sociology and Criminology. During this time I also had various internships in the social sciences. Upon graduation, I worked as a criminal investigator for a law firm as I decided between law school or becoming a Sociology professor. I ended up going back into business and stayed there until the start of 2021. During this time I worked in Human Resources holding the title of Head of HR and Senior Vice President of Global Human Resources. I was one of the top young minority executives in my profession and the financial bandwidth to match. All of this put me in the hospital on the verge of a massive stroke at the age of 37 in August 2020. I am a prime example of the cost that comes with hustling yourself right into a grave. Not just a physical one, but a spiritual and mental one. So my message to men and women will consistently be, get off the treadmill. The people who created the treadmill…aren’t even running the same race.

Work is a good thing. Rest is a good thing. Both were created and ordered by God in the beginning. This generation will argue that it was easier to rest before cell phones. I’m sure the generation before will say it was easier to rest before computers, television, etc. What’s your thought on all our excuses to work more and rest less?

Excuses are walls built that keep us from the discomfort of growth. Behind each one of these excuses, no matter the generation or person, lies a choice: do you want to remain stuck? What are you hiding from? What are you scared of? Your comfort zone is not free, nor is your mundane, steps forward and take responsibility.

Bethny, you’ve written a book called “Face Forward: Reclaiming Hope When Everything Falls Apart.” Why did you write “Face Forward,” and how is “rest” part of reclaiming hope and facing forward?

I wrote this book for people who are stuck because I was stuck. I wrote this book for the forgotten because I have felt forgotten. I wrote this book for those who need permission to hope, try, lead, and get up again and again and again because I have needed someone to point me in the direction of “again.” Reclaiming what we have handed over starts with “leaning” not on what we know and have known but on God. The God who sits on top of time and stands not only in our today but our yesterday and tomorrow. So this book is for the hopeless who want to move toward hope-filled without all the pretty bows. It's for the leader and the forsaken. For every single person who has looked into the sky and said “God I am so tired, how did I get here” because I was once that person (and might be again) and there is power in being seen.

In your chapter “Splintered Hope,” you say, “Misplaced hope ushers us toward frantic living, unhealthy dependency, and a life built on and sustained by comparison. Talk about frantic living and how misplaced hope can affect our rest.

When our hope splinters, we begin chasing approval. Chasing the next “high or accolade”. Chasing the newest version of God who is btw unchanging. This affects rests because even if we pause our mind is busy, and we can't settle because we are not focused on Hope (Jesus) but hope found in people and things. The enemy needs just one small opening for doubt to creep in and when we are unrested…watch out.

What is resting in Christ?

Matthew 11:28 and John 14:27. There is no other place we are instructed to rest! God never tells us to find rest in man. So rest in Christ is whatever we need it to be based on the season we are in BUT the rest is in and with Him. So stillness, silence, praise, conversation, pausing, etc

Your last chapter in the book is called “The Power of the Pause.” You write:

“Pausing is not merely about rest; it’s the courageous act of introspection and surrender. It’s about waiting patiently for God’s response, even when the silence seems deafening. It is a decision to relinquish control and allow God to weave his purpose through our lives without resistance.”

Olive Us Restore Retreats will be a rest and pause from “normal” life for 2 nights and 3 days. Pausing and resting doesn’t necessarily mean getting away or going on a retreat. How is resting/pausing/ closely connected to our surrender to God and His purposes?

At the core, it is about releasing control to the One who is in control. The book starts with me standing in the rain, angry. Somewhat wanting to rush God and not being patient enough to listen, yet by the end, even in the silence, there is comfort because of Who is in control. So the question is, where is your hope? If you want to reclaim it all, it matters where your hope is placed. Can you let go of your anxieties and hand them over to God? Will you sit long enough to hear His voice? There is power in pausing, but the real freedom is in the surrender.

Olive Us Restored retreats will focus on rest, delight, connection, and growth. Why is this important for the Body of Christ and specifically for women?

We are not meant to be alone. We are made for community and we should read the story of Adam and Eve through this lens, not just one of marriage.