I’m releasing a special episode of The Love Offering Podcast that honors military families—and speaks to anyone who’s ever felt like life keeps moving faster than they can catch up.
My guest, Beth Runkle, is a longtime military wife and the author of Another Move, God?: 30 Encouragements to Embrace Your Life as a Military Wife. Through her experiences with deployment, relocation, and constant change, Beth has learned to find peace and purpose when life feels uncertain. She shares hope-filled lessons drawn from the life of Sarah in Scripture—reminding us that God is faithful in the waiting, the wandering, and every unexpected move.
Even if you’ve never worn the title “military wife,” you’ll find encouragement here for your own journey. Because no matter where we live or what season we’re in, we all face transitions, frustrations, and moments when we ask, “Another move, God?”
In this conversation, you’ll discover:
- How to trust God’s timing when your plans keep changing
- Why faith is the anchor that steadies us through uncertainty
- Encouragement to embrace your current season—right where God has you
Let’s pause this Veteran’s Day to honor those who serve and to be reminded that wherever we go, God goes with us.
🎧 Listen now: https://www.lifeaudio.com/the-love-offering/
With love and gratitude,
Rachael
Summary
In this episode of the Love Offering Podcast, host Rachael Adams welcomes Beth Runkle, a military wife and author, to discuss her journey through the challenges and blessings of military life. Beth shares her personal experiences, the importance of community, and how faith has guided her through transitions. She emphasizes the significance of obedience, the role of suffering in spiritual growth, and the comfort of knowing that God sees and cares for us in our struggles. The conversation also touches on the impact of military life on children and the importance of building connections amidst constant change.
Takeaways
Beth Runkle shares her journey as a military wife.
Finding God in the challenges of military life is crucial.
Obedience to God’s calling often involves change.
Suffering can lead to spiritual growth and sanctification.
God is always in control, even in uncertainty.
Building community is essential for support during transitions.
It’s about connection, not perfection in relationships.
God sees and cares for those who feel unseen.
The impact of military life on children can be profound.
Embracing God’s love can bring hope in difficult times.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Love Offering Podcast
00:58 Beth Runkle’s Journey as a Military Wife
05:30 Finding God in Military Life
08:35 The Heart Behind ‘Another Move God’
12:05 The Importance of Obedience
15:04 Suffering and Growth in Faith
18:23 God’s Sovereignty and Control
20:23 Trusting God’s Plan Amidst Uncertainty
25:16 Building Community in Times of Transition
32:27 Navigating the Challenges of Military Family Life
35:16 The Power of God’s Love and Presence
Transcript (AI Generated)
Rachael Adams (00:01.976)
Welcome to the Love Offering Podcast. I’m your host, Rachel Adams, author of Everyday Prayers for Love, learning to love God, others, and even yourself. Each week, we dive into meaningful conversations about how to live out the greatest commandment, loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Whether through inspiring stories, practical tips, or biblical truths, I hope to encourage you to love boldly, live faithfully, and reflect God’s love in your everyday life. Today, I’m excited to welcome Beth Runkle to the show. Beth is a long-time military wife, women’s ministry speaker, and Bible teacher who has discipled and encouraged countless women over the years. She and her husband served with military crew and during this, during his 25-year career in the Air Force, Beth learned firsthand the challenges and blessings of military life. Out of that experience, she has written a book called Another Move God: 30 Encouragements to Embrace Your Life as a Military Wife. In this book, Beth draws on both her personal journey and the story of Sarah in scripture to offer 30 hope-filled encouragements for women navigating deployments, relocations, solo parenting, and the unique calling of life in the military. Hello Beth, and welcome to the Love Offering podcast. I’m so happy to have you.
Beth Runkle (01:36.61)
Thank you. It’s an honor to be here. Thanks for trusting me with your audience.
Rachael Adams (01:41.112)
So before we dive into your book, I’d just love for you to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit more about your life, ministry, and family.
Beth Runkle (01:48.27)
Sure. Well, my journey kind of starts. I was raised in a church, very loving home, but I didn’t know Jesus. I didn’t understand what having a personal relationship with him was. I didn’t know how to do that. I married a man who was already serving in the military, and we moved three times in our first year of marriage. And then we showed up.
We unpacked again, and he deployed to the Middle East. And so I found myself really having a crisis of identity because I had been very career-oriented and thinking, What in the world have I gotten myself into? What would happen is that my husband would actually deploy four times in two and a half years. So he wasn’t home very much. And sadly, when he was home, I was not easy to be around because I was bitter about the changes that the military had required of me and how much my husband was gone and how transient and chaotic and uncertain our lives were. So our marriage began to have difficulty, as you can imagine. I was just not very easy to be married to. And I resented the military and everything it stood for. And sadly, I often told my husband that. Then we would begin to struggle with infertility. We moved again and I determined that I was going to do things differently this next move and try to get involved, make friends, and kind of overcome the year of loneliness. And so someone invited me to a Bible study, and because I was desperate for people, I decided to go. But also I think the Lord had begun to place a longing for me to get to know Him. So my husband and I actually did that Bible study together, and we began the very first time I ever studied the Bible, I opened the pages of Genesis and began with Sarah and Abraham’s story. So, through that Bible study, I realized I wasn’t saved. I understood why Jesus came and lived a perfect life: he had to take the penalty for my sin. And then I learned how to accept his penalty on my behalf and enter into a relationship with him.
Beth Runkle (04:12.27)
But in addition to learning the plan of salvation, I was also so personally impacted by Sarah’s story. Because here I did, I felt very unseen, unimportant. I was living in the shadow of my husband, and God said, in my sovereignty, I’m going to place you in scripture in a woman who holds many parallels to your life. Now, your normal listeners might not read Sarah and Abraham and think, That sounds like a military wife. But that was the life I was living. And when God told Sarah and Abraham to go to a land that he would show them, that’s what we in the military call a permanent change of station or PCS. Only we were doing it very frequently, but that’s another parallel I saw in Sarah’s life. Sarah was constantly on the move. mean, they went to from Ur to Heron to Canaan to Bethel to the Oaks of the Marne down to Egypt back to Bethel back to Egypt. So they were constantly on the move. And then Abraham was a warrior who deployed into combat. He went to rescue his nephew Lot from the four kings and all of their armies. So I realized that, you know, God’s word was applicable to my life and that God had a purpose and meaning for me as I supported my warrior. But more importantly, he gave me a call to be about kingdom work amidst all of the moving, all of the chaos, and all of the uncertainty and also just knowing that God was in control of it all, just like he had been over Sarah and Abraham’s life.
Rachael Adams (05:52.143)
Oh, I love that story so much. And I love this scripture, does speaks to our current challenges today. And so in your 25 years as a military wife with your husband while he was in the air force, I want to hear more of, know, you met God, I feel like in that moment of reading scripture in Genesis, but how else did you see him meet you in the unique challenges of military life?
Beth Runkle (06:19.064)
Well, you can always count on Him to be in control. And one of the things that I learned early on is that so much of my life was outside of my control. And things would happen that were a surprise, often a disappointment to me. You know, maybe your husband’s deploying or they were supposed to come home from deployment, and they don’t. You’re moving again. You know, those things are not a surprise to God. He is never surprised. It’s always part of His divine plan.
And I think that was also helpful, too, because in the beginning it was like, well, what about me? What about my career? What about what I want to do? And God began to change my perspective and to see that when a man or woman serves in uniform, they have a calling usually to serve their country. And it’s not unlike the calling that clergy receive. It’s something they feel is a special duty or obligation. And in the beginning, I just thought of my husband’s work as a job. And I didn’t understand that there was this calling, that this was something he had to do. And then through Bible study and through leaning into the Lord, God began to show me that if I was married to someone who had this calling, that I, too, had a calling on my life. And no, I didn’t wear the uniform. I didn’t pick up the weapons. I didn’t go on deployment. But I had a calling to reach all the people that I interacted with, a lot of them being military and some of them just neighbors or kids on, or families on my kids’ sports team. But I had a calling on my life, and it was kingdom-minded to be about bringing the kingdom to all these people that I was gonna interact with. So instead of feeling sorry for myself, I was like, ‘My God, there’s work for me to do.’ It’s not paid work but he has work for me to do for the kingdom as we move along and do this journey. And that was a privilege because my husband and I started our journey in the military, neither one of us was believer. And so we know what it did for our marriage, we know how it transformed our lives, and we wanted to share that with others. So I began, instead of feeling sorry for myself, just engaging others in community, encouraging women and couples to come to our home, sit on our floor of our very non-fancy base house, and do community with us and give glory to the Lord, so they too could know that he’s sovereign and he can be trusted in the midst of the turmoil and uncertainty of military life.
Rachael Adams (08:56.738)
Well, I can’t wait to continue today’s conversation, but we’re going to take a brief break to hear a word from today’s sponsor. And when we come back, we’ll talk more about the heart behind Beth’s book and what she hopes to offer to military wives.
Welcome back. I’m talking with Beth Runkle. So, as we mentioned, the title of your book is Another Move God, with a question mark. Like, so is this something that you, you, you said to your husband, you said to God, your children said, is like, is this a sentence that came out of your mouth quite often questioning what was going on each each move?
Beth Runkle (09:33.667)
I don’t know that it came out loud, but my publisher helped me come up with the title, but it’s partly because of my story. We moved 14 times, which is more than average. We were 1.7 years in every assignment. But then also looking at Sarah and Abraham’s life, know, all of the moves, all of the transitions in their life. And it is a big part of military life. Not everyone moves as much as we do. But, you know, looking back on it now, we can see that all those moves, although they were hard, caused us to have to rely on God. I think I’m a person who prior to becoming a believer, wanted to be in control of everything. And then God’s like, he has a sense of humor. He’s like, Hey, so we’re going to work on that for you. And so I’m going to make you marry someone in the military who’s going to move. But what I really began to see is that I believe that God ordained for me to move a lot because I was clinging to things of this world. And I think in a loving manner, he said, Beth, I’m going to keep taking things away from you until you will only cling to me because I’m it. I’m all you have, and you have to cling to me. And so it caused m to feel, I wasn’t in control. Like I wasn’t in control of anything. But God was. The struggles that I went through can bless other military spouses who are going through this journey and are struggling with all of the uncertainty. And I wrote the book because one of the things I embraced about the calling God had for me was engaging women in Bible study in my home. Often, mostly military spouses, but I did have women in uniform who came to my house, too. And that just became my ministry. We would show up; I wouldn’t even have boxes unpacked, and I would begin inviting women to my house for Bible study. And I love the Word of God, and God’s Word can speak to every challenge, to every lifestyle. And we worked through many books of the Bible together with this growing group of women that God allowed me to minister to. But I remember thinking to myself frequently, Why hasn’t someone written something that can specifically address the unique concerns of the military lifestyle. You know —the uncertainty, the transition, your husband deploying, solo parenting. And I love the word of God, I’m a learner. And I began seminary five years ago, just because I wanted to learn more, and well, it was COVID. So I had to, a lot of our ministry shut down due to COVID. And so it was in seminary that I really felt the Lord say, that book you’ve always wanted. I’m equipping you to write it, even though I didn’t go to seminary with any goal. So it was really just a step of obedience to use the experiences that I’ve had and my love of the word to try to point other military families to realizing that God can be relied on, and not just that, that he sees them. He sees them in their struggles and he cares.
Rachael Adams (12:56.588)
You mentioned obedience as you were just talking. And, I think that that’s one of the biggest themes that I’m hearing is even from the military standpoint. I mean, that’s the person in charge told you to move. You moved. Equating that to our spiritual walk, when God tells us it’s time to move or change seasons or cut something off, we do it. And so there’s some, it’s like an immediate obedience, not a delayed obedience, and we see that in Abraham and Sarah’s story. And so talk to us a little bit about that. Like once we maybe even hear God’s voice, it’s time to move. We then have to take the next step to actually obey. So talk to us about obedience in this process.
Beth Runkle (13:43.885)
Well, when you’re a military spouse, you don’t have a choice. But that was a shift that God had for me. You know, to be saying, okay, God’s moving us. And so that meant God would give me a new assignment. And often we had to move to places we really didn’t want to go. My husband was a pilot, and he did a lot of instructing and pilot training. So some of the places that you have to move with great airspace don’t have a lot great below it. But embracing, you know, that, okay, we may not have chosen to go here, but God has something for us to do. And I think just, you know, the last eight years, you know, my husband left active duty. Now we work in full-time ministry to the military as missionary, I just think that the best place to be is in the center of God’s will for us. And often obedience means change. I’ll speak for myself. I don’t like change. I want to know what to expect. But I think that, as faithful followers, we have to be willing to pivot when God tells us to. And it is hard but he grows us, and he grows us in our relationship with him. And just our whole journey here on earth is sanctification. It’s being more like Jesus. And I think God says, if you move from here to there, you’re going to look more like Jesus because you’re going to have to go through some hard things, but you’re going to grow closer to me. And then you will be more impactful for the kingdom. One thing that I’ve been seeing this last year is that obedience is not always unicorns and rainbows. Sometimes it involves suffering and we don’t like to sign up for suffering. But I think that is the, you think about Jesus, he suffered greater than any of us. And I think that one of the ways that we can look more like him is to go through suffering. That is sanctifying. And this is a hard lesson that the Lord has been teaching me. But we don’t get to say that being surrendered to the Lord doesn’t involve suffering because I think that’s where he refines us.
Rachael Adams (16:21.142)
Yeah, no, I agree because a lot of times there’s maybe this misconception that if God is communicating to us, that we’re going to feel at peace and that it will be easy. And I think that could be the case sometimes, but what I’m hearing you say is it could involve sacrifice and a lot of suffering, what he’s asking you to do. And that still could be God’s voice leading you to do that.
Beth Runkle (16:45.974)
Yeah, and I think just what I’ve been going through the last six months is different. I’ve had things God has asked me to do that are outside my comfort zone, but I still feel He’s calling me to do them, like writing a book. But you rely on the Holy Spirit because you have to, because you don’t have the abilities in and of yourself, and striving isn’t going to get you there. Like you have to surrender and say, Holy Spirit, show up. But what I’m seeing is like, as I move to this next level, that suffering is also sometimes like, it’s not just that you have to move beyond your own strength. I’m gonna give you some pain because you’re gonna grow in your walk and you’re gonna grow in just looking more like Jesus and having more compassion.
Rachael Adams (17:37.263)
This may seem a little off topic, but I hope I can convey what’s in my head. We’re doing a Revelation Bible study right now at my church. Did you? Okay.
Beth Runkle (17:45.782)
Awesome, I studied that last year. Yeah, so rich, so great.
Rachael Adams (17:52.129)
Yes, and today’s we’re only halfway through and so there’s so much more that I know that I’m going to glean but today in Bible study we were talking about the seven trumpets and then there’s the seven you know the seven churches and the seven scrolls and all of the things and how God continues to bring different plagues and bring different warnings and bring as much warning as he can because he loves us so much. He’s like this long-suffering constant pursuer of our hearts, and then the teacher or she took that back to Exodus and the plagues and how God doesn’t want anybody to perish because he’s going to try to do everything that he can to draw us closer to him. And so that actually was the topic today: all of these these earthquakes and the locusts and the scorpions and all of the things, even though we know that as part of God’s judgment, it’s actually his love to bring that suffering so that people will then respond to his heart. Does that make sense what I’m trying to say?
Beth Runkle (18:55.886)
Absolutely, I think I might have done the same study that you did. Yeah, I did that, and I also did BSF’s revelation last year, so I was doubly in revelation. Yeah, and that was one of the big takeaways that I had from Revelation is that, yes, there’s judgment, but he’s bringing that judgment so that more people will turn to him because ultimately, his goal is that none may perish.
Rachael Adams (18:59.082)
Yes. Jen Wilkins’ Revelation. Yes. Yeah. So good.
Beth Runkle (19:24.974)
And that’s why he lingers returning. And from the Revelation study that I did last year, the thing that kept coming back and back and back to me is that he is on his throne and he will be on his throne. He remains in control, even though there is wrath that’s associated, but he’s on his throne, and everything that he does, I believe, is motivated out of love. And just the majesty of his throne and what we have to look forward to. But yes, I believe in that wrath, there is actually it’s all motivated because of love and wanting more people to return to him. So I went into the study of Revelation with a bit of trepidation because it’s kind of scary. But you know, the very beginning of Revelation says you will be blessed by those who read this aloud.
Rachael Adams (20:15.798)
Me too. Yeah.
Beth Runkle (20:24.33)
And I was like, so blessed. It really strengthened my faith and deepened my understanding of the character of God. But I actually loved it. But I had to wrestle with some of it. And I think that’s something that God’s just really impressing upon me lately is wrestle with scripture sometimes and ponder it and ask the Lord what he’s trying to teach us through this instead of rushing to my commentaries.
Rachael Adams (20:55.35)
Yes. Well, and I’m glad you mentioned that because that’s been one of my takeaways too, about God being on his throne. He is already victorious. That’s the language. It’s already been done. It’s finished. We don’t have to worry. And so you talk a lot. You mentioned earlier that you struggle with wanting to control things, but knowing that God is in control —he is sovereign. And so talk to us a little bit about that, this, you have embraced God’s peace in the middle of like constant change, and maybe an encouragement for the woman listening, when maybe her circumstances are maybe feeling a little bit out of control.
Beth Runkle (21:32.547)
Yeah, well, that probably is my favorite character trait of God over my journey as a Christ follower because my life was always out of my control. I mean, you live in a constant state of uncertainty when you’re a military family. And we would get an assignment or a move canceled or an assignment changed, and my husband might deploy or not come home when he was supposed to, all the things, right? And I would just say. God is in control. Like, this is part of His plan. And, you know, I had to not keep looking at my circumstances, but lift my eyes and look to my God. And the way I do that is by being in God’s Word. You know, one of my life verses is Romans 12: 1 and 2. You know, and verse 1 basically tells us that we are to live our lives as a living sacrifice. So that means everything I do, you know, I’m to do it for the Lord. But then he goes on in verse two, and this is the Beth paraphrase version. But he goes on in verse two to say, you know, we are not to be conformed to this world, but we are to be transformed by that renewing of our minds. And so for me, that is where the rubber hits the road. I have to be in God’s Word to remind myself of His character, to remind myself that he is faithful even when I am faithless, even when I’m like, Lord, I don’t know how you could be doing good out of this, but I know that you are still on your throne and I know that you’re in control, and so I trust you for what I cannot see. And you know, I’ve been around for a while now, so now I have some life experience where I could see that something came down that we don’t want, that we can’t imagine how it would be good. But now we can look in the rearview mirror and say that was good. God used that for good. He used that for his kingdom purposes. And I think one of the hardest things that I had to face, which actually has nothing to do with being in the military, was our struggle with infertility. So primary and secondary. We adopted our first child. He’s from Russia. We definitely feel that God was calling us to do that. He gave us a heart for global orphans and just What a tremendous opportunity to introduce a child that likely would have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, right, to raise them in a loving home. And then God did bless us with a miracle pregnancy. But we wanted more children. We tried to adopt four more times ,and we tried to conceive all those times too. God never gave us more children. And that was about 10 years of not knowing why.
God had closed that opportunity. But I clung to the fact that I knew that God was good. I would sometimes weep with him over the scriptures. I’d open it up and say, Lord, look at your heart for the orphans. Look for your heart for the fatherless. Like, I don’t understand. But I knew that he could be trusted. And so it was a whole 10 years of, you know, not being able to have children, not being able to adopt, until eventually God called us to ministry. And a lot of what I do is I work with cadets at the Air Force Academy, and we were always burdened with special needs children. And again, God closed the door to that. And I have lots of children now, but they are spiritual children.
They are children. I say I have an empty nest because both my kids have just recently graduated from college and I’m like I have an empty nest but other mama’s birdies visit me all the time and What a joy it is if we had adopted the special needs child that we thought we were being called to I don’t think it would be doing what we’re doing now and I think We love what we get to do. I get to be a part of all these young people’s lives. They come over or I disciple them
Beth Runkle (25:53.473)
And I am their mom and dad’s age, but I’m not mom and dad. And they’re very teachable for the wisdom I have to give them. They’re excited about falling in love with the Lord. And that’s beautiful. Now, was that an immediate answer that I knew why God was saying no? No. But I’ve been around long enough to know that God’s plan is always best. And you know, sometimes he says no to things that we think are really good. And it’s because I think ultimately he’s concerned about the kingdom. We’re so focused on our little life and the inconvenience to us or our pain. But God is so much bigger than that. And he sees the whole world he desires. And so sometimes he’s going to cause a little bit of pain for us because it is for our ultimate greater good and His glory. And I love what we do now. I love it.
Rachael Adams (26:55.928)
Yeah. I think that’s such a good point. And especially for the woman listening, that’s maybe at that pain point. I even, as you’re telling your testimony, can still hear the pain in your voice. I mean, and you can see it on your face. And so that’s still real and that’s still a grief, but seeing now where God has you, I think we’ll give everybody hope. It is definitely giving me hope. And so we’re going to continue this conversation with Beth, but we’ll take another brief break. And when we come back, we will talk about the role of community.
Welcome back. I’m talking with Beth Runkle about her book, God Another Move, or actually another move God. You mentioned you were bringing people into your home everywhere you went. You still had boxes on the floor, but you would still bring people into your home. And so that takes a lot of courage. Are you an extrovert? I’m just thinking. So, for me, I’m introverted. And so it takes a lot of effort for me to get myself out there. I’m so glad when I do, but this isn’t always natural and it’s not always easy. So give us some more tips on building community, especially for those women who are just feeling really lonely wherever God has moved them.
Beth Runkle (28:15.148)
Yeah, well, first of all, I think I’m a middle of the rotor. You know, I love people, but that doesn’t give me energy. So the first several moves that we did, those three in that first year of marriage, and then we were there for a few years, I just was terribly lonely. I wasn’t embracing the community, I wasn’t getting involved, and I had a job. And really,
Well, there are two things that motivated me. First of all, when we moved again, I was a seeker, and I said, “I’m gonna do what I can to get involved because I’m tired of being lonely.” And on top of that, hold on a minute, what was I about to say? And then on top of that, we showed up at a new unit and there wasn’t any community in that unit. And typically, that is something that we have in the military. Different communities and different career fields can have more than other. But at our previous base, there was a built-in community. And although I didn’t get involved in it a lot, because I was working then, and I traveled a long distance to get to my job, and my husband was deployed a lot.
We showed up at this new unit, and no one was welcoming people. There was no spouse’s network. There was no getting involved. And I, like I can sometimes be, I complained to my husband about why it was different? Why wasn’t anybody doing it? And that sure was a shame. And he very graciously looked at me and said, Well, you know, you could do something about that. And so he had the idea that we could reach out to his unit commander and ask if I could begin doing that.
And so I did. I would bake a dozen slice and bake cookies, real fancy. I created a front and back page of where to get your hair done, where to go to the vet, and what are some recommended restaurants. It was a fairly small town, so it wasn’t a ton of work to pull together that list. And then I began just calling people and telling them I’d like to come welcome them. And really, what that did was transform my perspective about this is uncomfortable to, wow, I could be creating community and making a difference. And then, in the process of doing those welcomes, I’d become a believer. And then I began inviting people to join me for Bible study. And God gave me the opportunity. He did it, but he gave me the opportunity to be part of seeing women come to Christ because I had welcomed them and invited them to my Bible study, and they were desperate for community.
So I just really think it was a shift for me in my perspective to, woe is me, and oh, I’m uncomfortable, and I don’t want to put myself out there, to really that God had work for me to do, and it involved being uncomfortable and taking the initiative. But the more I did it, the less intimidating it was and God really You know, I would show up, I’d meet one other person that I could tell was a believer, and I’m like, hey, do you want to do Bible study and sit on the floor in my base house? And God would grow it very quickly because people need community. And I think even more so now in the digital age where so many of us engage on our devices, and don’t get me wrong, I have a device, I use it, it’s a great tool, but we have to get off our devices. God created us for the need for face-to-face communication with others. And so, even as I’m one of the older people in the military community now, I see they desperately need it. Now, it’s harder for them because they have kind of been behind their screen. But I really encourage people: you have to get out of your comfort zone, and you will be so blessed for doing so. And I think shift your perspective on, people are going to think I’m weird or I’m uncomfortable, or I’m not an extrovert, there are people in my sphere of influence that I can impact for the kingdom. And just really see it as a delightful opportunity and God-given assignment.
Rachael Adams (32:37.75)
Yeah. I love that example because you’re making it seem really simple. It’s not overcomplicated. You backed some cookies. They weren’t even homemade, and that’s okay. That’s the kind I make too, Beth. So it’s, you know, and then you just, you extended an invitation and then the Lord did the rest.
Beth Runkle (32:45.912)
They weren’t even homemade, yeah. Yeah.
Beth Runkle (32:52.622)
Well, in all those years inviting people into my home, I learned that when we first started doing it, it was a couples group, and then it very easily transitioned to women and couples. And in the beginning, I had this Pinterest view of what my home needed to look like to welcome people. And so I’m rushing around and I’m kind of, you know, not being nice to my husband to make our house like perfect. And then I ran across the scripture think it’s from Philippians, but it’s to show hospitality without complaining. And I was like, ooh, I’m not doing that, Lord. I was like, I gotta figure this out. And so God just really told me that it was pride that made one of my houses look so perfect. And so I had to lower my expectations for what my home needed to look like to welcome people, because ultimately I wanted to welcome them into my heart, not my perfect home. And so I just I just didn’t do everything. Now, my house wasn’t a mess, but I’m like, we’ve got some coffee and lemonade. And sometimes we let people stay and eat leftovers with us after, but that’s just, and that’s what I do now. I have cadets here all the time, but my expectations are really low. Cause what I’ve learned is that hospitality is about connection, not perfection. And I think that I was really blessed by them seeing, know what, she doesn’t have it all together. She’s not perfect, but she’s still willing to let me in and see her imperfections. And it goes beyond just my house, right? I am a broken person. We live in a broken world, and Jesus is the answer to that brokenness. So I think we can actually invite people into a relationship by not having it all together.
Rachael Adams (34:43.82)
Yeah. It makes people think almost more comfortable. And there are so many, if we’re lonely, there are so many other lonely people too. And, so I want to touch on your children. You talked about solo parenting. Talk to us about their experience in the military and with the moves and their loneliness and all of those things.
Beth Runkle (35:10.412)
Yeah, well, I would say in the beginning it seems pretty seamless to them because it’s just all they know. All they know is they move every year and a half or two, and Dad’s gone. But the longer we began to, like when my kids hit middle school age, they had to move nine or 10 times in their lives.
And we began to see some impact. I’m a big fan of Christian counseling. I’ve been to Christian counseling. My husband and I have been in Christian counseling. And we had to put our kids in Christian counseling. In the beginning, you think they’re super resilient and they’re not impacted, but then you start to see, and we just live ever more so in a broken world. Both my kids were in high school during COVID. So that created mental health challenges in and of itself. I do think that my kids launched easier than some of my non-military counterparts because they were used to change. They were used to having to make new friends like it or not. So they were all, both my kids went very far away to college, and they were able to launch pretty well in that environment. My son went to college when we were still on COVID lockdowns. So that gave them some resilience, but It’s not without hard times. I feel like sometimes people are just like, yeah, it just made my kid super adaptable. It does, but there were tears. know, Dad is gone. Sometimes we don’t know when Dad’s gonna be back. And to be honest, the solo parenting, especially the first few weeks when you’re getting into the groove, it’s super hard. And then it’s also hard when mom or dad —whoever serves in uniform —returns. Because you’ve gotten to a whole new normal routine and then you’ve got to let them back in, which is a lesson in humility. So there were some hard things. I do think they went through those hard things, and especially with my daughter, learned to desperately rely on the Lord in those hard times. And she is doing amazing things for the Lord in her life right now that I believe, I mean, God uses all things for good, right? He’s used some of those challenges, some of that suffering, some of her brokenness to create a more beautiful person who loves him more. But I don’t want to pretend that it’s always easy on our kids. But certainly, if you can trust in the Lord, I mean, we were living out how do we trust God with things we don’t know? How do we go to God with our fears, with our worries. You know, how do we choose His peace in the midst of hard? So they got to see that worked out, but it wasn’t always easy. But they really grew because they saw, hey, my mom and dad have to live out their faith.
Rachael Adams (38:17.878)
Yeah, yeah, it’s the refining and sanctifying like we talked about earlier. So one of the questions I’ve been asking all of my guests this season is, Is there a biblical concept of love that you think applies to this topic today?
Beth Runkle (38:31.66)
Well, there’s a lot for my book, but one of my favorites that I feel like is just something special that can really appeal to any woman is the account of Hagar and how, you know, Hagar was rejected. She was marginalized. What happened to her with Sarah and her having to leave and being forced to father or mother a child for Abraham, you know, It was super unfair. But God goes to her when she’s, you know, and shows her the well, and she says, You are the God who sees. And I just think that’s a beautiful picture of God’s love for any woman, especially for the woman who feels insignificant and lonely. I believe Hagar was incredibly lonely. You know, God said, I mean, scripture says it’s the angel of the Lord. Some people believe that is an early manifestation of Jesus. The very first person that he revealed himself to is a rejected, marginalized, lonely woman. And so the love of God, any woman that’s out there, man or woman listening to this, and you feel like nobody sees you, God, Elroy, he sees you, and he cares, and he desperately wants you to come to you in that place of brokenness because he cares so much about you. And that’s military, non-military, wherever you are, whatever season you find yourself in. I believe that God is looking down with just incredible lov,e and he wants to minister to you in that place of brokenness.
Rachael Adams (40:15.67)
Yeah, wherever you move, wherever you are, no matter what city, no matter what state, no matter what country, whether you’re at home, your church, or in your car, God can be present with you. He is with you and for you. I love that example. So Beth, tell us something you are loving right now.
Beth Runkle (40:35.97)
I love meeting with cadets. I do discipleship with them, and I’ve been taking on a few more. It is really just a joy to do life with people. We do life together, but we also open the scriptures and point people to God. But just to see that God can use our vulnerabilities really for His glory, if I’m willing to take down my mask, you know, and say, hey, I’m still struggling, and they are too. And just that God can use, I had no idea. I went through all this moving and all this change that God was then going to use me to pour back to this community, to people that are about to launch out into their military career and don’t know what to expect and everything’s so uncertain, but to say, you know what? I’ve been there, and God was faithful. But I just love getting to know younger people and pouring into them, engaging with the scripture. I mean, it’s just, it’s such a joy. Like, I can’t believe this is my job, that I get to help people grow spiritually. And in this season, when I am an empty nester, you, my kids are launched. They don’t need me on a day-to-day basis, but God has given me other people who want to be poured into.
Rachael Adams (42:01.047)
Yeah, I say that a lot about what I get to do in this podcast, writing, and speaking. think what a privilege and what a joy it is that I get to do this. I feel so fortunate. So Beth, I know I want to stay connected with you. I’m sure listeners will want to. So tell us how we can best do that.
Beth Runkle (42:18.274)
Yeah, so the easiest place is my website. It’s bethrunkle.com. That’s B-E-T-H-R-U-N-K-L-E. And yeah, I’m on social media, BethRunkleWrites. I’m also on YouTube. A lot of the content I do is for military spouses. I talk to them about spiritual matters, but I also sometimes just address some, like, hey, this is the information I would have liked to have known. You know, how do you get ready for a move or how do you deal with reintegration when your spouse is coming back from deployment? So just really like to help let people know that I believe that they’re seen by God in those hard places.
Rachael Adams (42:58.442)
Yeah, those are really valuable resources. And so I’ve been encouraged, even though I’m not a military wife, I still have been encouraged and gleaned so much from today’s episode, as I’m sure everyone else has. So would you just pray for us as we close?
Beth Runkle (43:13.056)
Absolutely. Father God, Lord, you’re holy and mighty. Lord, and we praise you that you are the God who sees us. And I praise you that, as we listen to this program, people all over are listening, Lord, and I believe you want to say to them how much you love them and care for them, and that you have plans and purposes for them. And you can be trusted even when we cannot see.
Lord, I pray for Rachel’s ministry and for the love offering podcast. Lord, I pray that everyone listening would see that they can be a love offering to the people around them and make a difference for the kingdom. And maybe it’s even with just one person, or maybe it’s being a love offering to their children by pouring into them in this season.
Lord, I pray that we would keep our eyes on you and not our own strengths and not our own abilities, but on what you can do in and through us. Lord, and we thank you for your word, which is living and active and sharper than a double-edged sword. I just pray blessings upon Rachel’s ministry and that you would multiply the kingdom as a result of her efforts in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Rachael Adams (44:27.37)
Amen. Thank you so much for being my guest today.
Beth Runkle (44:30.094)
Thank you.
Rachael Adams (44:32.536)
Thank you so much for listening to the Love Offering Podcast. I hope today’s conversation encouraged and inspired you to love God, love others, and even love yourself a little more. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and leave a review. It helps others find the show and spreads the message of love even further. To connect with me, visit rachellekadams.com. While you’re there, be sure to download the Love Offering Calendar, a free resource filled with simple daily ways to love those around you. Don’t forget to pick up a copy of my book, Everyday Prayers for Love, and Beth’s book Another Move God? A special thank you to Life Audio for supporting this podcast and making it possible. To find more great podcasts, visit LifeAudio.com. Thanks again for joining us today. Until next time, let’s make our lives an offering of love.
