This past week has been wonderfully full at my house. There is nothing better than good food, laughter and after-Christmas bargain hunting! My sister and her children spent the last couple of days after Christmas with us and we have had a blast! We cooked our brains out, parented, cleaned, and generally distracted every shopper within 10 feet of us everywhere we went. We always have a great time when we're together. But now she's gone. She has taken my eldest child with her to go camping with her family in the desert for a few days. Since I am down to one child and I don't have to go to work until after New Year's Day, I want to use this time wisely. As I considered my options during this "down time," I remembered a paper my pastor handed out a year or so ago. The paper is entitled "Heart-Searching for Prayer Preparation and Personal Revival." It is a simple collection of scripture and questions designed to walk the reader through a journey of reflection, confession and forgiveness with Jesus. There are moments in the past year where I failed others; there also moments where others failed me. Sadly, there are moments where I failed Christ. Some of these moments were glossed over by me and never properly confessed and/or settled. There is no reason to allow past hurts to affect our future. We live under Grace, for heaven's sake! Forgiveness is available to us and we need to offer it to others as well.
To begin the new year afresh, I am going to take time over the next few days to make proper use of the document my pastor made available to me. This will be my first personal retreat and I am looking forward to the journey. If you are interested in doing a bit of spiritual inventory yourself, I am making the information available to you. I was going to type it all up here, but I was concerned about violating a copyright. Besides, if someone else has already done it and I can just point you in the right direction, why re-invent the wheel?
I am praying for those of you who choose to join me in this time of personal assessment. Blessings.
link: Heart Searching for Prayer Preparation and Personal Revival
2 comments:
Hi! Suzanne,
I will be praying for you while I am away at my own "personal prayer retreat" tomorrow. This will be my 9th PPR. The woman who mentored me as a new Christian got me started doing PPR’s. They have been such a blessing I have tried to keep it a priority at the end of each year.
I also have two different resources that are similar to the "Heart-Searching..." pamphlet; if you want a copy of let me know. One of them is on spending a "Day in Prayer".
I pray God will pour out abundant blessings on you and give you direction and guidance for 2007 as you seek His face this week.
Love to you!
Kathy
It sounds as if you had a wonderful Christmas with your family, Suzanne! I really missed being with my parents and sisters this year. Nothing beats cooking, cleaning, parenting (or attempting to parent), and shopping with your sister. It's indescribable! :) I purposefully did not call just so you would have uninterrupted time with them all. I am so glad that you had a memorable holiday.
As you undergo the next few days of personal retreat, I will be praying for you, my friend. I pray this will be a sweet time of rest, reflection, and refreshment. Enjoy!
~Cynthia
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