Reflection

Looking Back to Move Ahead

/ Joshua Thomas / 1 Comment

“…In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ you should tell them, ‘The water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s water was cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.”

Joshua 4:6-7 CSB

For the last few years, I decided that I would keep a commonplace notebook, and as part of that, recap every month. I jot down major events that happened in my life as well as what I’m currently enjoying and what is filling my emotional tank. I have loved doing this, because it is a capsule of each month and where I’ve been. I always then, at the end of the year, look back through these notebooks and am reminded of what happened and how God moved in my life over the course of the year.

I use Field Notes pocket journals, and I have loved documenting the joys and little things in life so that I can be empowered to move forward. I believe it is so vital to look back and see how much you have grown in order to move ahead with a deeper passion. As a writer, I love journaling, but I believe everyone can benefit by taking time to mark down your reflections in order to have a history that you can look back and be grateful for.

When we look back, we see how God moved in our life, which gives us a greater ambition to move ahead in confidence that He will move again.

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What a Year of Choosing Love Showed Me

/ Joshua Thomas / Leave a comment

At the start of this year, dear Danielle and I chose a word that we would focus on. Similar to many ideas that come with the new year, we chose a word that we wanted to add to who we were, a character trait that would be pressed into in order to grow closer to who God is calling us to be. That word was “lover.” We wanted to move into this current year with forgiveness and make sure we showed love through every part of us. We wanted to be active in our love for people, because people matter.

Little did we know that a global pandemic would happen.

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Reflection and Growth

/ Joshua Thomas / Leave a comment

“Now we see only a dim likeness of things. It is as if we were seeing them in a foggy mirror. But someday we will see clearly. We will see face to face. What I know now is not complete. But someday I will know completely, just as God knows me completely.”

1 Corinthians 13:12

Two things keep sticking in my mind over the past year; reflection and growth. The start of the year, dear Danielle and I chose the word, “lover,” to be the word we would focus on and attribute to our mindset. Little did we know that this would be tested as everything changed in a crazy way. I am so thankful that we chose this mindset, because this year dealt with a lot, and there was a lack of love all around. I was ready for a year of busyness and wanted to focus on how to love better, but what happened was a year of resetting rhythms. I am thankful for that reset, I’m thankful for the time or reflection over the past and a growth towards what may be next.

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