New Year’s Eve morning is a quiet one at Starbucks. We’re reading backwards.
Every year, during the week between Christmas and New Year’s day, my husband John and I make a practice of reading back over our journals from the past year. As we do we try to pay attention to themes that God might be impressing on us. We look for holy moments of His faithfulness to be thankful for, and answered prayer. We try to read between the lines for blind spots we may be missing.
This is kind of like doing a yearly Examen. Looking for the activity of God. I’ve shared before that I’m spiritually ADD. If I don’t make a discipline of paying attention, I’m like the spacey traveler who perpetually makes a wrong turn and all of a sudden looks around wondering how they got where they are.
A couple of weeks ago I heard about a study that was done on 300 of history’s greatest minds from a wide variety of disciplines. The researcher, Catherine Cox, found one common theme among them. They all kept a journal of one kind or another!
Yeah, I know, I’ve written before about how journaling isn’t for everyone, but today, at this dividing line between old and new, maybe consider looking back over 2012 and…
Identify three experiences or choices that have been life-giving this past year…where you have seen the activity of God.
And three places where perhaps you’ve neglected to seek God’s direction, forgiveness, or the power to reconcile.
Sharing these with someone else may make it more meaningful. For me, I’m noticing the “with God” life this past year most clearly in places where I’ve stepped out, responding to invitations in new areas I would never would have dreamed up on my own (like in the areas of advocacy and reconciliation – so outside my comfort zone!). I’d love to hear what you see as you look back over the year!
