I recently heard someone say that there are two types of people when it comes to reflection—those who love to look back, and others who prefer to look forward. If I had to place myself on one end of the spectrum, I would most definitely fall into the looking back category.
I have not always been an end of the year reflection type, but over the years I realized that it adds great value to my life and here’s why. Without reflection, it is incredibly tempting to simply lump a year into one measly classification – good or hard. But, through looking back, I’ve learned that no matter what my year held there is always growth, themes of struggle, and moments of celebration worth noticing.
This year I wasn’t sure how I wanted to go about reflecting. I knew I wanted to do it, but I didn’t buy a fancy planner that asked reflection questions, and I didn’t feel like I had the brain space to come up with something creative. But praise God, He heard and answered my prayer, as the head pastor of our church, Matt Erickson, shared a sermon titled Practices for a New Year from the Psalms.
In this sermon he challenged us to spend some time look backing on 2019 before stepping forward. He presented three ways we can be intentional about looking back; because I loved them so much, I want to share them with you.
Give thanks – Psalm 136
Lament – Psalm 13
Repent of sin – Psalm 51
Here’s how I went about this practice.
I scrolled through the photo roll on my phone (thanks pastor Matt for that recommendation) and jotted down both highlights and struggles in a notebook. I am a big photo and video-taker, so this was an easy way to jog my memory for happenings throughout the year.
Once I had a full list, broken down by month, I went back through with a different colored pen and underlined themes I found throughout. After making a master list of sorts, I then made my way through the categories of reflection that pastor Matt recommended. Starting by reading the Psalm associated, I then worked through each section in a journaling exercise of prayer. I thanked the Lord for the sweet moments, lamented (named aloud sorrows and griefs), and repented of sin.
Through the process, here are a few things I recognized about 2019:
I had a ton of fun with Lola (my niece). Okay, let’s be honest, I knew I had fun with her – but looking back at each month I was overwhelmed by how much joy she truly brought to my life.
Chris and I spent more time just the two of us and it deepened and richened our relationship.
Game nights were frequent and joy-filled.
On the flip side, here are a few things that were hard:
2019 was a big year of adjustment. Adjustment to changes in friendships, communication patterns, and new rhythms.
Anxiety was hard – I grew a lot, so it also made the highlight list, but I’m still wading deep into finding triggers and learning to minimize anxiety’s effect.
There were times where I felt unseen in my current life stage. I’m still processing this one and learning how I can advocate for myself – so stay tuned.
Here’s why I find reflecting so beneficial: I would not have discovered some of these themes had I not taken time to look back.
Sitting in a local coffee shop, I literally muttered, “wow” and “huh… that’s interesting” when I discovered some of these themes. While looking around and wondering if the surrounding customers heard my hushed words, I thanked the Lord for the blessing of memory and the ability to look back; it’s this gift of reflecting that enables me to better step forward into 2020 knowing both the joys and the struggles I’m entering the year with.Without losing sight of the important ways I grew in the last year, this exercise equips me with knowledge that enables me to better set purposeful, and realistic intentions for the next year.
I haven’t quite gotten to the looking forward, aka goal setting, step just yet but I feel so much more able to do it. I’m really looking forward to it.
This method of reflecting was so sweet that it has birthed a new habit I am going to try as I step forward into 2020. Instead of waiting for the end of the year to come, I want to take time to look back monthly. That way I can get a more “in the moment” reflection of both the highs and the lows, and it will also make reflecting at the end of the year a little less intimidating. I will be able to pull up my monthly reflections and get a good grasp of the year.
Is this something you’d consider trying? If you’re intrigued, tap this link to listen to Pastor Matt Erickson’s sermon, and get your notebook ready.
Whether you’re a goal setter, or struggle to look back, my prayer is that you can walk confidently into the New Year, knowing that the Lord is before you and He will give you the strength no matter what comes your way.