Here is the link: https://pray-as-you-go.org/player/prayer%20tools/2827
I do it on their app, and I downloaded it because I am in the high desert, and I lost connection with the internet while I was walking yesterday.
I walked down to Pringle Falls on the Deschutes River and around the loop in Wild River.
Now there are reflection questions that they encourage you to journal about. So, I thought I would do it here:
(Just got waylaid because of this Tribute for my basketball coach. More connecting for me. That is what people call on me to do. Every. Single. Day. But I digress.)
What natural objects, plants, animals, weather, and physical features caught your attention?
What didn't capture my attention? I loved the trees reaching up toward a sky doted with clouds, the brisk morning air against my bare legs, the rushing of the water through Pringle Falls and the sound it made crashing along, the rocks, the unusual wood that is different from the valley I live in.
What feelings, thoughts, memories did they stir up in you in response?
Freedom. Every single thing about nature tells me that I have freedom. I am not bound by the chaos of the times. This is my Father's world, and out of the chaos he brings peace and order and freedom.
What might God have been speaking to you through these?
That I can free from the chaos of other people's lack of inner peace and freedom. That I am not bound by it. I can be "careless in the care of God" (Matthew 6 in The Message version). I can fly free and unfettered. Not held down by another person's perceptions of me. I am not bound. I am free. I am free to believe in my heart despite the persecution that is occurring in our country today. Thought police are everywhere. I will not let people who are not free chain me down. He spoke really specifically about something that happened to me. I was right to find out the truth about a person. They showed me who they truly were. My heart breaks. I prayed for their soul. I am free from them. I feel like my emotional eating lately has been related to this being stirred up in me while in the Mental Health Coaching classes. I keep hearing him tell me to let it go for good. I am not bound or fettered by their opinion of me. I continue to go back to what He told me the first day George and I prayed about this situation. So, it was good to talk to God more about it since it was stirred up when I thought it was worked through.
How did your walk reflect the way you relate to yourself, the world. God?
I want to "walk in a relaxed manner" (like the book of the same name - I should reread that thing). I do when I am with God. I am careless in his care. I want to relate to the world with kindness not with chaos. Peace in my own soul before I engage with the lack of peace I see everywhere around me.
Were you keen to get to the end?
No, I could have gone on, but there is limited trails in this little development. So, I was right back at the cabin after walking to the length of all of them and the circle in the development.
Did you have a goal in mind?
My only goal was to connect with God, appreciate the beauty of his world, hear his voice, and have a dialogue with him.
Did you find yourself wandering aimlessly?
Not really. I did have a purpose to get to the other side of the river and to enjoy its beauty from that side rather than just one side. I went to the end of the trail. I suppose if it had continued, I would have continued to wander. I have no place I have to be today.
Did you find yourself playful?
Yes, at one point, I did feel like skipping. I think I need to relearn skipping. I did some stretching on the bridge, and that was invigorating.
Were you engaging your sense of touch, taste, and hearing or
remaining at a slight distance by just watching and thinking?
I engaged them all. I loved it. The faint pine smell is something I do not have in Corvallis.
What was God like?
"Indeed he is not far from each one of us...'In him we live and move and have our being.'" I believe this with all my heart. He was not just "with me" but "in me" during my walk.
How did God experience the walk with you?
I believe he delights anytime someone wants to come to him and connect with him. He was delighted to take a walk with me.
Did you discover sense of healing or wisdom for you on the walk?
Yes, there was a question whether the phone call I made in December was wise, and I felt very distinctly that it really was. It was helpful to know so I can move on from here without a vague notion. Now I know. I know better. I do better. So he gave me wisdom about all of that on the walk. It was a benchmark moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment