Solitude

Week 7 solitude

By personality and temperament, are you drawn toward being alone or toward being with people?  What does this suggest about your practice of solitude?

So I actually love being alone.  I am definitely an introvert, and I crave solitude and silence.  Having a husband and now two little boys, neither of these things come around very often.  I guess this suggests that solitude is a practice that happens often and easily for me.  To some extent this is very true.  It is not uncommon for me to drive my car in silence, or to have complete silence when I am home by myself.  I am not a person who needs to have noise or people around to feel comfortable.  So naturally solitude is pretty easy for me.  What takes a little more work is making it purposeful and useful.

One aspect of this chapter that is a massive challenge is this idea of speaking less overall and making what I do say count.  This does not come naturally at all.  Even as I was reading the chapter I felt challenged to speak less.  I was not expecting to see that as part of solitude.  Foater never ceases to challenge.

simplicity

Simplicity

Week 6

In Foster’s discussion of simplicity in chapter 6, what motivated you?  What made you concerned or anxious?

                Reading chapter 6 was quite liberating.  I am constantly looking for ways to simplify life.  I have never thought of simplicity as a discipline, but I see the reason why Foster addresses it in his book.  I really like that he gives the ten suggestions in how to live a life of simplicity.  In reading this chapter, I am motivated by each of these steps.  The ones that are the biggest challenge for me currently are nine and ten. 

A few years ago my husband and I were educated on the vast and horrific fact of modern day slavery.  When we were first told of this hidden horror, we were given a ton of information.  One piece of this was learning to make responsible purchases.  Never had we thought about where our clothes or electronics had come from.  After learning more, we realized that some purchases are not so innocent.  As time has gone on and life has become more busy, finances a little more limited, we have fallen out of the habit of making educated choices in regards to the things we buy.  While this may seem extreme, it is something that I truly believe falls under the ninth suggestion Foster gives.  He says to “reject anything that breeds the oppression of others.”  I am motivated to be a better consumer and to make more educated decisions in regards to the companies I give my money to.  

Putting God first is always a challenge for me.  This is why number ten of Foster’s guidelines is another challenge.  There are so many things that easily push God to the side, this is a terrible and frankly lazy way of living.  Reading this chapter once again reminds me how intentional I have to be to truly put God first, above all things.  It is crazy to me how easily other things quietly begin to push God aside.  I really have to be intentional and conscious of this or I easily find myself frustrated and depleted.  How good God is to constantly remind me that he is all I need.  That without him, nothing really matters, that with him no matter the circumstance life is truly better.  How easily I forget and how gently he reminds me of these things.  He is a good and faithful God and he deserves all I have to give.

Study

Week Five:  Study

What have you learned about practicing the Discipline of Study in your work on Celebration of Discipline so far?

                I realized very quickly that what I thought about “study” was actually quite different from Foster’s explanation of study.  In many ways I was excited to read this chapter because initially I thought to myself, finally something that seems a little easier.  As I began to read I realized how very wrong I was about study being easy.  So what did I learn?  A lot!  One of the biggest things I am realizing is that I am a really good reader, but I am terrible at giving the information I read a chance to make a change.  Foster says, “The purpose of the Spiritual Disciplines is the total transformation of a person.”  This quote alone is my challenge.  It is letting God totally change me.  I can read the assigned readings and check it off the list without too much difficulty, but I struggle to make breathing room.  By this I mean; I struggle to allow what I read or study to go deep and do what it is meant to do, change me.  As I read about the four steps in study, I see how deliberate I need to be.  I also realize how much more time I need to carve out.  A reoccurring theme for me as I read this book is that I need to allow more space in my life for God.  Wow is He having to really tell me this over and over again.  I have to admit I almost laughed out loud as I read Foster talk about taking a few days of solitude to study for 12 hours a day.  This seems obsurd….at first.  Then I realized how much I need to be steeped in the Word of God.  What a challenging chapter.

                So where is my starting point on this?  Well, since I will have a newborn here very shortly a couple days of solitude really is out of the question.  But, one of the things that Foster also talks about is reading the same short book of the Bible every day for one month.  This is where I will begin.  I will try to implement these four steps of repetition, concentration, comprehension, and reflection.  I know that God is so faithful, when I give even the smallest effort I never regret the time I spend with Him.  I also realize that the more I “know” God, really know him the more grounded I will be. 

It’s funny I pray often that my son will know God at a young age, I want him to know God, not just know of Him.  I guess it is about time I work a little harder to be that example.  This translates in so many ways to leading worship.  The more I know God the better I know how to follow Him.  The more effective I can be in leading because I will see and sense where the Holy Spirit is leading.  When I sing the songs, I can sing with more conviction and understanding because I don’t just think that God is good, I will know it.  I am excited to put more effort into this discipline of study.  I really think I have been waiting for this challenge, now it’s time to actually do it.

Fasting

Week Four:  Fasting

What ideas or insights from Chapter 4 are especially challenging, motivating, or helpful to you?

                So fasting has always been one of the disciplines that seems most intimidating to me.  I always feel like fasting is for the “really spiritual” people that I know or have heard of.  The challenge for me this week was changing my mindset more than anything.  I have limited personal experience with fasting, and although the experiences have been quite profound, it is by no means something that I incorporate into my life on a regular basis.  In fact, this is probably the discipline that I have the least amount of experience and practice in.  Another challenge for me is so few people that I know of fast on a regular basis.  I guess part of this might be that those that do fast do not broadcast it, but I actually think that it is practiced quite rarely by people I know.  If it is practiced and I for some reason know about it, it is rarely a fast from food.  More often I hear people converse about fasting from things like television, Facebook, media as a whole, or a certain type of food.  I was fascinated by the discussion point of fasting being a commandment or not.  I honestly have never looked at fasting as such an integral part of my walk with Christ.

                I think the most helpful parts of chapter four are the practical tips Foster gives about fasting for the first time.  Things like doing a lunch to lunch fast to start, and to start slowly then progress to longer fasts.  I appreciate that he gives a starting point especially since this is something that feels and is so foreign to me personally.   The suggestions he gives in the journal are equally as helpful.  I really like that he suggests to pay attention, and take note of the responses to the fast.  The excerpt he includes in the book on page 58 where the responses to fasts are recorded over time was quite enlightening.  It definitely is challenging me to find a way to make fasting a more routine part of my life.