Tracking Every Season
I stood outside on May 30, in the dark, with my husband and one of our sons. We had hoped to catch sight of the Tau Herculid meteor shower. My husband went outside first and encouraged us to join him as he’d already witnessed several falling through the sky.
I’m not super familiar with space debris, so it’s not surprising that I had to look up the details for this event. Apparently, there was a comet discovered in 1930 that has an orbital period of about 5.4 years. Back in 1995 several pieces of this parent comet broke off and now in 2022, we are experiencing the meteors from this separation for the first time.
It is fascinating to me how as we orbit the sun, space is alive around us. Stars are born and die. Comets orbit without our intervention. Meteors light up the sky during different seasons. Planets orbit without collision. Our moon’s movement impacts the ocean tides to keep the water moving and remove pollution. And all the while, we likely don’t think much about any of this.
Scientists who are tracking the activity of space have to keep detailed written records because like this recent meteor shower it was 27 years before we saw the results with our own eyes. If nothing was recorded it could be easy to think it was a fluke, or to forget all about it! But the records help us to remember what has been seen and to look to the future.
This is true of our journey with Jesus too.
I don’t know about you, but I can be forgetful. Ideas move in and out of my mind all day long. Sometimes I will pause and dwell on an idea and allow for it to take shape, but other times they flit in and out and I move on without really grabbing ahold of what was trying to grow.
I have found that writing things down helps me to have a record of the work that God is doing in my story. It allows me to go back and be reminded of what I have heard the Spirit say to me in the past. It helps me to recount the ways that God has been with me in every season of life. It reminds me that I am never alone and that God is trustworthy and good. It points me back to passages of scripture that were pivotal. It gives me hope for the future.
The Bible is a gift. It too records for us ways that God has been showing up for his people for thousands of years. It is a record of God’s faithfulness and love. It is also a record of justice and correction. It speaks about hope and redemption, and it reminds us that one day all things will be made new.
As we enter into these summer months I thought it would be helpful to look at the practice of journaling - making space to keep a record of where we see God moving in our story.
At the moment your story might be more difficult than you can fathom. Write about it.
What is hard?
What has happened?
What are you grieving?
What do you long for?
What parts feel broken?
Are there any moments where you can see flashes of beauty?
Where do you see God moving?
At the moment your story might be full of deep joy and flourishing. Write about it.
What are you celebrating?
Where do you see God moving?
What is something new you are embracing?
What does joy feel like?
What has happened that you had been waiting for?
Where do you see beauty?
Regardless of what is going on in your story, it is worth recording. Be honest about what you are experiencing and know that this is private - between you and God - unless you choose to share it. These words don’t need to be filtered, edited, or jazzed up. They are a record that you can look back at a year from now, 5 years from now, 20 years from now - whenever you need to be reminded of where you have been and where you are headed.
~ Melissa