New Year Mini-Retreat

Whatever moments I can snag from this time until Epiphany on January 6th, I spend in prayerful reflection. I read through my journal. I ask God for wisdom. I seek out patterns: verses, conversations, issues, conflicts that I perhaps did not see before. I zoom out the lens of my life to seek a higher, more objective vantage point. Reflection is a vital aspect of our spiritual lives. Without it, we barrel through life, assuming we love the same things God loves and that we are on the right track based on the speed of our travels. But when I take time to reflect, I ask for God’s perspective on where I have been, and where I might be headed. This mini-retreat has become essential for me as I withdraw from whatever has busied me over the Christmas season. I look for God’s movements over the past year and turn my attention toward how I might be called to travel with Jesus in the year ahead.

I choose Epiphany as my soft ending date because it is the day the church remembers the wise men, the group of pagan travelers following a star to the promised King. I like this imagery of entering the new year by travelling toward Jesus. This is not a paradigm of goals to meet, boxes to check, or pounds to lose. It’s a light, illuminating the path ahead. It reminds me that I am not a machine programmed with a five-year plan; I am a traveler aware that I have not yet reached my destination. Mindful of those wise ones who traveled to welcome the Christ child, I turn my attention toward questions about my own journey.

As I stand at the threshold of a new year, I open in prayer and ask God where I have been, where I am now, and where I am headed. Here is an example of how this usually looks:

First, I look over the last year and make a rough outline or chart of what is taking up space in my life. How am I spending the resources entrusted to me, especially my time, money, and energy? Based on these facts (bank statements or receipts, screen time indicator on my phone, reality of how my days are organized), what does this reveal about what is most important to me? What do I prioritize; what am I attached to? What does my life reveal that I love? Is this an accurate reflection of my internal world?

Next, I move onto the present and go a level deeper. Based on the above information, what might God be calling me to see, know, or change? I’m concerned here with not only what I have deemed valuable in my life, but how I have discerned what is valuable, worthy, and good. Are my choices reflective of what I truly hold dear? Where am I on the path of life; what season am I in? (The responsibilities and roles of a full-time caregiver to young children are different from those of a retiree.) What are the unique limitations and opportunities of this season in my life? How has this last year reflected the joys and burdens of my stage of life? What season do I seem to be in spiritually? A faithful response in the dormancy of winter is different from the hustle and bustle of harvest. How am I cooperating with or resisting the spiritual season I am in?

Lastly, like the wise men, I consider what gifts I carry that God has given me. How have I received or rejected these? How is He leading me in this new year to offer these gifts to those around me? Is the path I have been on the way of Jesus? If not, where is He calling me to go? If yes, what do I need to receive from Him to continue on my way? What might I need to let go of to enter the new year faithfully? What distracts me or stands in my way?

Overall, I’m seeking to know if the life I am living is the one Christ intends to live through me. By gently opening myself in these places to God in prayer, I can better assess if my life’s rhythms, choices, and actions reflect what I truly value, love, and believe. I pull out my box of small cardboard stars, and I invite my family to enter parts of this practice with me, in whatever way they are able. We write a word or phrase on our star, if one comes to mind through these prayers, a light to guide our year. I keep these little stars, and through the year use them to focus my prayers for my husband and kids, and to remind me that no matter how dark the days ahead, the Light will come again.