Start of Year Learning

Stage 4

Religious Education

Reflection!

Welcome to another year and the next chapter in your learning journey. As one year closes and a new one opens, it is important that we take time to pause with God; to reflect on where we have been in order to have a sense of where we are going. As our loving and loyal companion on the journey, we pause to invite God into our heart so that we can share our joys, our worries and our wonderings with God for the year ahead.

Prayer:
Loving Father, I gather in Your presence.
I invite stillness into my heart.
May I breathe in Your peace and breathe out all stress and worry.
Holy Spirit, speak to me through this time in prayer so that the ear of my heart may understand God’s will.

View the following video below then read the following:

Sam Clear took the risk and placed all his trust in God. This happened after he spent time pausing, reflecting and listening for God’s whispers. By doing so, he placed himself in the passenger seat and allowed God to do the ‘driving’. By trusting God, his journey went from strength to strength.

Read the following reflection questions and select an activity at the end to assist you in processing your reflections:

Cherish and Challenge Questions for reflection:

Cherish:

What am I most thankful for from 2021?

What am I most thankful for as I begin the new year of 2022?

Which person or relationship am I most thankful for? Why?

What am I excited about this year?

Challenge:

What am I worried or nervous about?

Which person or relationship needs healing in my life? What can I do to bring healing?

What will help my faith and spiritual life grow this year? What can I do to know Jesus more deeply?

What are three questions that I would like Jesus to answer for me?

Activity

Create a journal entry titled ‘The start of the adventure of 2022’. Using the questions above as a guide, journal your thoughts as you wander through the questions. You may wish to include images or symbols as part of your journal. Commence the first line of your journal as ‘Dear God……..’

Use the instruction sheet below to create a micrography of your thoughts and reflections. Based on one or more of the questions, which phrase or word resonates in your heart and mind. Use this phrase or word to create your micrography.

Using a drawing app on an iPad, tablet or laptop, draw a plane bracelet. Then draw a bead or bracelet charm to represent your answer/reflection to each question. Your bracelet should have eight beads/charms by the completion of the drawing.