Tag: Questions

It’s that time here in Melbourne where the days are cold and fresh and we come to the halfway mark of the year. 

I’m not sure about you but I long to be somewhere warm about now. The kids have just gone on school holidays, there will be more family time and unstructured time in the home. Friends have disappeared up north to get a dose of sun for the week, and most of the regular life programming has taken a pause. It is usually the case that after our summer break we walk back into life with a pep in our step but we are far removed from January energy. As we mark the midpoint of the year that pep might have gone by the wayside and we are simply trying to put one foot in front of the other. 

In recent years, with all this in mind, I’ve taken time to intentionally reflect on the first half of the year. I love the book of Proverbs, and don’t dip into it nearly enough, but it has a couple of gems for us in terms of being reflective people. In Proverbs 4:26 we read, 

“Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established.” 

And then in Proverbs 14:8 is says, 

“The sensible person’s wisdom is to consider his way, but the stupidity of fools deceives them.”

Both these proverbs encourage us to be self-aware and reflective people, teaching us that it is discerning and wise to do so. 

Becoming this kind of person doesn’t happen naturally either. It is not really in our nature to stop, think, be intentional, and reflective of our lives. More often than not we bumble along trying to keep up with whatever responsibilities we have before us, some simply day by day. And so being intentional in this way is a form of discipline. We discipline ourselves to stop, to think, to be reflective as to what is going on inside and around us. We do so in order to observe what God has been doing in our lives and where he might be leading us. 

In seeking to do this in my life I work through 10 short questions, giving dot point answers to each of them, as an exercise in reflection. I’ve only just done it again for this year, and have found it really helpful. I share the questions below and pray they will be useful to you as well. 

All the best, and my prayers are with you, as you consider the path of your feet and the way you have walked this year. May it be an encouragement to you. 

Mid-Year Reflection Questions:

1. What are the most important events that have happened to me, or in me, this past 6 months?
2. What are the greatest breakthroughs in any category of my life this past 6 months (physically, emotionally, relationally, vocationally, spiritually, with other people, etc.)?
3. What has been the greatest struggle in my life this past 6 months?
4. What has been the greatest, and deepest, loss this past 6 months?
5. What was the area that has consumed my thinking, attention, and focus this past 6 months (health, relationship, future, etc.)? 
6. Where have I felt most vulnerable in my life?
7. Where have I most experienced the presence of God this past 6 months and why?
8. In the past six months, where have I experienced the greatest sense of consolation (peace, contentment, shalom, beauty, etc.)?
9. In the past six months, what area of my life has given me the most desolation (pre-occupation, depression, anxiety, etc.)?             
10. What is ONE word that would begin to sum up this past 6 months?