Spiritual Mentor

   

                   A beautiful morning at Green Springs Gardens

 in Alexandria, Virginia this morning.

I met with a dear friend that has been a 

spiritual mentor to me for almost 30 years.

We had lots to catch up with time apart for COVID.

She is that friend a bit ahead of me on the road, 

with a willingness to pour into me.

She is wise woman and reflects

 the light of Jesus in all that she does.

Today her words spoke into what I am doing right now- 

"make every effort". 

She shared the Biblical study 

that she has done with those verses.

We looked for what God is doing in our lives.

Discipling each other- the best faith walk journey.

We prayed together.

And gave thanks.

Spiritual Parenting

 

This past week we were asked to share our thoughts 

about Spiritual Parenting with Sara's MOPS group. 

I had tossed the notes in the trash and then decided 

 that if I shared them here-I could find them again.

1.  Keep an Eternal vs Now Perspective.

Focus on ONLY now outcomes lead to an energy drain

Focus on eternal gives purpose to frustrating moments 

Parenting is a marathon not a sprint

Important to frame BEING vs DOING in Christian formation 

2. Always Practice Forgiveness

Model the language of the cross from parent to child

Be ready to confess and ask for forgiveness from your child

Let siblings practice forgiveness among themselves and allow                  them to be in charge of their relationship 

3. Story Telling Conversations Shape Disciples

Fine the time that works for your family- at the table, in the car

Family meetings give opportunities for all to have a voice,   

and a safe place to ask questions

A continually updated family covenant identifies values

4. Sticky Faith is Resilient through Struggles

It is important for children to understand spiritual warfare                and they are on the Victory Team

A Family Mission Statement is a valuable tool.

Celebrate Faith Milestones often.

 

5. God's Meta-narrative-BIG STORY- Gives a Kingdom Perspective.

Create memory chips by intentional repetition with music, 

worship and prayer

Kairos- the highly and lows of our stories serve as God's construction zone

Visual Faith tools can complement spiritual disciplines.

6.  Live Eucharisteo with Joy and Thanksgiving

Have fun and laugh a lot- it is contagious

Children are often the bringers of JOY

Find purpose in serving others together

• 

7. You'll Always be a Parent

• You always have permission to ask: "How is the Holy Sprit working in your life these days?"
• Affirm to your adult child that God's story is in their story
• Heaven is our ultimate family reunion- plan for it.

We made many mistakes as parents, (still do). But, God can bless mistakes and make good things come out of them. John and I were both blessed with parents that gave us a great framework for lives lived out intentionally in Christian faith. We look forward to all the things yet to learn about spiritual parenting. We look forward to learning from our adult children and the days to encouragement them in this important life work. Their MOST IMPORTANT life work.

(margins and alignment, font size  have been a challenge here and can't figure it out- what I see here does not get published)

 

Into the New Year- with Intent

 

This first part of 2021 has been 

to set up some of the practices

that I will continue to use as 

spiritual formation resources in my life.

Here is a photo of the Joy Journal 

that I have set up in a monthly 2 page layout.

The left side has spaces for noting 

one gift a day, a blessing, a gift.

I have done this practice for over 10 years now.

You can see the count on the side of the page

and by the end of January 2021- 

it will be 3558 days of gifts.

I would not remember all of His goodness

 unless I wrote it down.

The right side is what I call-

 Prayers by the Month.

There is a Scripture to pray into the situations

and over the people collected here on this page.

This practice helps me to "Actually Pray"

for the things and people

 I say will pray for in my life.

This free resource is from 

Visual Faith Ministry.

gifts-of-joy-journal-by-bev-wicher

This year I also set up my calendar 

tiny doodles journal for the whole year.

 I use a calendar from Concordia Publishing House

 and then cut it into thirds to fit my Traveler's Notebook.

This has a worked well for me this way now for three years.

 So, I will continue recording a phrase

 or image for each day from my daily devotions.

Any calendar will work and any devotion does also.

I choose 4 colored pencils 

for each month to make it simple.

 The calendars for the year can be downloaded right here:

cph-portals of prayer-calendars

Once a month I also set up my resources 

for the practice of Worship into the Week-

 using resources from Visual Faith Ministry.

There are half sheets, 

and Bible verses and the new resources

 has a Gelli print and some extra goodies. 

worship-into-the-week-faith-planner-kit

All I need comes right to my mailbox

 for setting up my 3 ring journal.

 I have been doing this practice for over 3 years now

 and it follows the 3 year Lectionary

 and has blessed my Worship life.

So- instead of making all sorts

 of New Year's resolutions- 

I used my time to set up a framework

 for being in the Word

 and recording the journey, 

so the I may tell the story

 of His Faithfulness in 2021.

Would you like to join me?

Print out the resources and come along!

Give the Holy Spirit something to work with!