Holidays are great for personal reflection if I discipline myself to not think about work. These holidays I've been pondering the one thing I want to really nail this coming term. I've decided I want to ask myself 10 questions each morning when I get up, as I am reading the Bible, praying and journalling my prayers.
Here's the draft list:
1) What attribute of God is worthy of my adoration in this passage of the Bible?
2) What sin do I need to confess at this moment?
3) Thinking through the day ahead, what area of my life do I need to most ask for God's grace in?
4) How is Jesus the ultimate example of this attribute of God, the ultimate solution for this sin and the ultimate source of this grace?
5) Reflecting on yesterday, what was one thing God was wanting me to learn from the unexpected interactions I had with people?
6) Thinking about the conversations I have scheduled for today, where might Jesus be wanting me to put the old man inside to death, and to grow in the new?
7) Who is 1 old friend I will ring today?
8) Who will I write a letter to today, and how might I best encourage them?
9) Who will I pray for now, and how will I pray for them?
10) As husband and father, what is the one thing I can do today to lead and bless my family in a way that changes their lives for the better?
It's a big list. And ambitious. (Probably too ambitious of course, but that's nothing new).
What do you think?
I hope to keep finetuning it over this week last week of holidays.
Here's the draft list:
1) What attribute of God is worthy of my adoration in this passage of the Bible?
2) What sin do I need to confess at this moment?
3) Thinking through the day ahead, what area of my life do I need to most ask for God's grace in?
4) How is Jesus the ultimate example of this attribute of God, the ultimate solution for this sin and the ultimate source of this grace?
5) Reflecting on yesterday, what was one thing God was wanting me to learn from the unexpected interactions I had with people?
6) Thinking about the conversations I have scheduled for today, where might Jesus be wanting me to put the old man inside to death, and to grow in the new?
7) Who is 1 old friend I will ring today?
8) Who will I write a letter to today, and how might I best encourage them?
9) Who will I pray for now, and how will I pray for them?
10) As husband and father, what is the one thing I can do today to lead and bless my family in a way that changes their lives for the better?
It's a big list. And ambitious. (Probably too ambitious of course, but that's nothing new).
What do you think?
I hope to keep finetuning it over this week last week of holidays.
It's too ambitious for me. I hope that in God's strength it's not too ambitious for you, bro. 'Twould be a blessing to you and all around you.
ReplyDeleteDave, glad your enjoying your holidays. always a great time to think bigger picture. I like the way you have specific evaluative questions to force you to do some personal, pastoral and theological reflection. In the blurr of life and constant mindset of thinking about what others need from me I find it hard to make myself think about the sort of things in your list as well. But I'm not great with the expectation big lists can induce. My immediate thought was it could work for me to take 1 a day and hope to cover a cycle of 10 across a fortnight (average 5/week) just to be more mindful in general.
ReplyDeleteYeah thanks Chris - hadn't thought out those 3 categories specifically but it's helpful to label them.... was feeling for a shape and glad it's come out somewhat holistically.
DeleteAnd I agree - I need some sort of structure not as a straightjacket but as some sort of anchor and discipline in what seems to be an always-accelerating life.
Hey David, I think that your list would exhaust anyone by breakfast time. But some good questions. Maybe you could pare it down to 5 in morning and 5 at night, planning for the next day (Q7,8,9 in particular). Or just 3 questions morning/night. Ros Barrett
ReplyDeleteThanks Ros - helpful thinking! I'm wondering about doing the first 5 (and 8) in the morning by myself in a quiet 45 minutes.... then working out the answers to 6,7,9 and 10 as I walk to work.
ReplyDeleteI've discovered that with discipline I can write 1 decent A4 letter in 20 minutes or so.