How Do You Mark the Journey?

Andrea spent some time yesterday going through the stack of kids school work that they had brought home with them at the end of the school year. It was full of test grades, writing samples, math projects and the like.

Emerie had this great self-portrait that she had done that had her rendition at the beginning of the school year on the left and a more recent version she had done toward the end of the school year on the right.

Her teacher did a great job of continually capturing Emerie’s progress throughout the year. Each time we would come in to meet with her to talk about how Emerie was doing, she would pull out various papers from the course of the year, lay them out on the table and show us the progress she had made.

It’s not unlike the growth chart we have kept for the kids over the course of the last 11 years. Every so often they’ll dutifully stand with their backs against the wall so we can mark how they’ve grown up to that point. It’s amazing sometimes to see how quickly they have grown at certain points, while at other times their growth has been more subdued and slow.

It got me thinking - what is my spiritual growth chart? What are the markers that I’m placing down purposefully that I can look to and see movement in my spiritual journey?

I hesitate to use the words “spiritual growth” as we have commandeered them for the most part and equated the phrase with some type of “I know more (head knowledge) than I did last year.” While we get to know God better along the way, it’s more of an experiential knowledge rather than academic. I know Andrea better, not because I have made an effort to sit down, study, and research who she was, but because we have done life together for nearly 14 years.

Seeing spiritual growth in our lives is more a matter of guide stones and celebrations as a way to acknowledge and remember the journey.

Guide stones are markers - moments when we purposefully stop and note where we are at that point. They are a reflection of what we are going through, and how others (including God) are a part of that experience. This may be in some form of journaling/blogging, or it may be reflections made at key events in our life. Bethel is one of those places in Scripture (see Genesis 28 for the story). The key here is that guide stones are purposeful - most don’t ‘just happen’ in our lives. I may look back at my kid’s lives and remember a handful of moments that were spontaneous markers of who they were at that point. It’s more revealing, though, when I can take time to write down/record/video markers to later reflect on. Be sure that you are taking the time to stop, reflect and acknowledge God’s work in your life.

Celebrations are remembrances. They can be as robust as all-out parties (Catalyst is one of those, in my mind) or as subdued as conversations with old friends. These moments have stories as a cornerstone. We take the time to say, “Let me tell you what God has done for me” (Psalm 66 is a good example of this). Unfortunately, we have placed so much emphasis on individual disciplines (quiet times, reading our Bible, praying, tithing, etc.) that we have placed little to no emphasis on the communal side of our spiritual growth (which is equally as important). We need to have times when we can gather with one or two (or thousands) and celebrate both who God is and what He has done in our lives. Again, we must be purposeful - take time to share the stories of God’s involvement and interaction in your life with others.

It is these guidestones and celebrations that will mark our journey, and give us a glimpse, in hindsight, at the road and journey behind.

Posted 06.21.2009

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