Approaching the New Year

I just finished reading A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans.  My daughter Kathryn is friends with Rachel and got me started reading Rachel’s blog.  Her writings have had a big impact on both Phil and me.  We have gotten to meet Rachel and her husband Dan on several occasions, and we have enjoyed getting to know them. Her book is an experiment she embarked upon to look at what the Bible specifically says to and about women. 

As a result of reading her book I have decided to embark upon my own “experiment.”  It is one that I have had on my mind before, but I could not figure out how to make it work.  Rachel’s book has given me an outline for how to structure my own project.

Over the next year I am going to begin to try each month to focus on a spiritual discipline.  The list of disciplines will be based upon The Celebration of Disciplines by Richard Foster.  I will select a topic for the month and post a list of practical suggestions on how to apply that particular discipline.  After that I will try to live with that discipline in focus.

Before I begin this project in January I have decided to take another passage from Rachel’s book and apply it.  In the final chapter she observes Rosh Hoshanah, the Jewish New Year celebration.  In leading up to the new year, Jews take time during this celebration to reflect on the past year and confess their sins.  I intend to do this, taking stock of the past year and confessing where I have failed and fallen short.  I will put those sins behind me as I look forward to a new year of opportunity to live a life more and more pleasing to the Lord.

I am looking for some partners in this undertaking.  I need some friends to accompany me to keep me accountable and also just to share the impact of these things in their lives.  I would happy to have friends near by who can meet with me to discuss what we are learning, but would also invite my online friends to join me virtually.  You can let me know if you’re in by emailing me or contacting me on Facebook.

The whole purpose of this project is to draw nearer to our Lord Jesus and to know Him better in the process.  The better we know Him, the better we will love Him, and the better we’ll be able to reflect His love to the world around us.