As water reflects the face,
    so one’s life reflects the heart.
Proverbs 27:19 

Welcome to the second annual Reflecting and Planning Challenge! You can join here. I love the truth of this quote: “Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different?” Though attributed to C.S. Lewis, the internet only agrees that C.S. Lewis didn’t say it, without giving credit to who did say it. Still, the truth of it remains. When I started working on this packet, I pulled out last January’s packet. As I reviewed it, I was reminded how the Lord has been at work in 2020, even though this year looked very different than I anticipated. I was also reminded how powerful it is to write things down and name them.

If you’re new to this challenge, it is a 15 page packet designed specifically for cross-cultural workers to reflect on 2020 and plan for 2021. While your initial reaction might be, “2020 has been a bit of a nightmare and I’d rather not look back, thank you very much!” I’m reminded of this comment made at one of the parties last year: “I’m so glad I did this packet because I thought all of 2019 was awful and marked by loss. This packet allowed me to record the hard parts and see that it wasn’t all awful. There was some good.”

Years like 2020 can be like a big heap of laundry. This challenge is designed to help you sort your laundry, so to speak, so that you can see more clearly what was good, hard, disappointing, and to be celebrated. Sometimes when a year is all jumbled together inside of our heads, hearts, and souls whatever is on the top of the pile is all that we can see. Sorting—aka reflecting and planning—help you to see gems or heartaches that you might miss because they are buried at the bottom of the pile.

This challenge will help you and the Lord reflect on 2020 and plan and dream for 2021. It is specifically designed for Christian Cross-Cultural Workers like you. 

When you join you will be sent a 15 page reflection packet. 

1. Print it out, transfer questions to a notebook, or type your answers directly into the document—whatever works best for you.

2.  Mark your calendar for January 6th or January 14th. You will be sent a zoom link for the parties where you can interact with others who have also completed this packet. The parties will be from 7:00- 8:00 a.m. MST and 12:00-1:00 p.m. MST. Paticipants can win one of the 20 prizes. (You’ll get a sneak peek of the prizes later this week.) 

3.  Spend time with God, your spouse, or a close friend working through this packet.

Left on your own, it is easy to keep walking around the pile of laundry intending to get to it. So, let’s help each other!