Listening and Purpose
In the busy-ness of the last month, I've been sitting on a story, one that I didn't want to try to share until I had adequate time to write it out.
I mentioned in a February post that I learned what Lectio Divino was at church. It's basically a way to read the Bible and respond. There are five steps:
Silence
Silent preparation for the reading.
Read
Read the scripture.
Meditate
Reflect on words, phrases or sentences that speak to you.
Pray
Respond to the words that God stirred in you.
Contemplate
Rest in the presence of God, allowing the words to root, and write what God is saying to you.
This was February 12, 2017, as a church we read Matthew 14:22-33. The words and phrases that resonated with me were "Take Courage!" and "Come."
Because I am a writer, I scribbled down quite a paragraph for my prayer.
"I'm afraid. I'm afraid none of my interviews will result in a job. I'm afraid to want to grow my family and afraid for my marriage to go wrong again. I'm afraid to make new relationships and friendships. I am living in fear, and I know that's why the words "Take courage!" and "Come" were what stuck out. I hope that it means to take courage in movement. I hope these words mean impending change."
As I contemplated, this is what I wrote:
Because I doubt myself, I wondered if I heard wrong, so I didn't share this with anyone. But I held on to it, keeping it in the notebook that I carry everywhere with my day to day lists and tasks.
Two weeks later, on February 26th, we toured the home we're now living in. February 27th I received my offer letter for my current position.
It's clear that I did not hear wrong, and now I'm settled into these new roles and contentedly waiting to see what that purpose may be.
I mentioned in a February post that I learned what Lectio Divino was at church. It's basically a way to read the Bible and respond. There are five steps:
Silence
Silent preparation for the reading.
Read
Read the scripture.
Meditate
Reflect on words, phrases or sentences that speak to you.
Pray
Respond to the words that God stirred in you.
Contemplate
Rest in the presence of God, allowing the words to root, and write what God is saying to you.
This was February 12, 2017, as a church we read Matthew 14:22-33. The words and phrases that resonated with me were "Take Courage!" and "Come."
Because I am a writer, I scribbled down quite a paragraph for my prayer.
"I'm afraid. I'm afraid none of my interviews will result in a job. I'm afraid to want to grow my family and afraid for my marriage to go wrong again. I'm afraid to make new relationships and friendships. I am living in fear, and I know that's why the words "Take courage!" and "Come" were what stuck out. I hope that it means to take courage in movement. I hope these words mean impending change."
As I contemplated, this is what I wrote:
Because I doubt myself, I wondered if I heard wrong, so I didn't share this with anyone. But I held on to it, keeping it in the notebook that I carry everywhere with my day to day lists and tasks.
Two weeks later, on February 26th, we toured the home we're now living in. February 27th I received my offer letter for my current position.
It's clear that I did not hear wrong, and now I'm settled into these new roles and contentedly waiting to see what that purpose may be.
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