Prayerful Review of the Week

I have not done this since the third week of December. While I would love to do this daily, I think it is more realistic to do it weekly. :) These are questions from Trevor Hudson who wrote Beyond Loneliness. This was part of the supplementary material he supplied through the Renovare Book Club

Prayerful Review of Week 2:

What made me feel most alive and in tune with God's plan:

• Celebrating Aunt Dot's life at the Memorial.
• Seeing my son's talent on display in the slide show he created.
• Laughing hysterically in the car with my family.
• The beauty of pure white snow across fields.
• The dancing light on snow and ice.
• Times in Genesis and the gospel.
• Praying the Scriptures.
• Talking with friends on Facebook.
• Meeting with my Kingdom Community after a long break. Hearing them tell Bible Stories!
• Two new classes of mostly 20-something students is so invigorating for me.
• Cross-country skiing in my neighborhood in freshly fallen snow.
• Reaching my goal of losing 10 pounds in a month. :)
• Eating really healthy fruits and veggies and lean meats.
• Watching He Named Me Malala documentary.
• Getting back to weight training doing The FIRM Time Crunch.
• Walking to my first day of class.
• Doing my Dial a Book Deliveries.
• The thrill of new books from the library.
• The validation of friends who know me well and for many years.

What made me feel most dead (and small and not God's beloved) and not in tune with God's plan:

• The non-validation of friends who do not know me well. (Well, one of them did try to validate me once she was over the shock of seeing me share my feelings.)
• Lack of compassion (and anger) from one of those friends. The shaming was something I don't usually encounter.
• Feeling like I cannot be myself around them for fear that they will shame me and make it about them rather validating my concerns.

Ways to show my love for God and others today:

• Worship at Suburban.
• Pray for those two friends and try to find a way forward for me that is honest and true.

Gifts God has given not already covered in feeling alive:

• My family is a daily gift. I love our peace and laughter. I love that my kids are best friends.
• The godly heritage of George's family displayed at Aunt Dot's service.
• Coming from a great town, El Segundo.