Wow!  What a great turn out on Thursday of last week!  It was so exciting to so many women at The Well, ready for what God has in store for them!  I'm thrilled to be with you all on this journey!

Some of you were not able to finish the assignment before we met Thursday.  No worries!  Keep working on that!  It brings an amazing find - (treasure), and God wants to speak to you about what you find!!  He's waiting for you!! Go spend some time with Him!

Awareness begins the journey to change and turning the tide!  

Discovery, digging, observing and looking begins awareness!!!  Use your timeline and questions from last week to continue the discovery.  Here are some questions to dig a little deeper. 

• What else might you find?
• What did you discover about your self, your life, as a daughter of the King? (can be more than one discovery)
• How did that discovery impact you? 
• What do you want to do with that discovery?
• What are you willing to do with that discovery?
• Do you see the discovery as a treasure?  If so, how? Or do you need to unearth the treasure still hidden in what may be painful, embarrassing or uneasy?  You know that will require some more digging!  Go for it!  What do you have to lose? Or I might say, what do you have to find?  Ask God to reveal the truth to you.
• Of the 7 basic needs we are discussing, where does your discovery land?  For example:  does it land where you lack security--is this the place from where you operate in your life?  We will be defining in more detail those basic needs next Thursday, and you will be able to more closely identify where your unmet needs are.  For now, see what seems to fit most with your discoveries.

Assignment #1  Journal your discoveries and the questions above.  

One of the exercises from last week was to evaluate your motives.  (see last week's blog) Of the 7 basic needs, which of the needs impact your motives in life?  Where are you beginning to connect the dots?  Could you draw a map?  Get creative with this!  

Assignment #2  Draw a map of the connections you have discovered thus far!  No right or wrong way to do this.  Can be very simple.  Be creative.

I pray for you daily as you run this part of the race set before you!  We will come together at our appointed time to share, laugh, cry, clap or dance, however the Holy Spirit moves us!  We will rejoice in our Lord God! I look forward to our time of sharing and learning! Come with the expectation that God will more than show up...because He always does!

I leave you with this passage today.  Let it soak into your spirit and allow the longing to grow!
"As the dear pants (longingly) for the water brooks, so my soul pants (longingly) for You, O God.  My soul (my life, my inner self) thirsts for God, for the living God."  Psalm 42:1-2 (AMP)

Grace and Peace,
​Patty​

"This is the way. Walk in it."  Isaiah 30:21

"What a great start to our new series "The Longing In You" at The Well.  I had several women tell me they were sure they were in the right place for the right time in their life.  There is hope that change can come, and when we take the first steps in the right direction we begin to feel empowered and our hope increases!

I love it when God starts stirring the waters!  It's time to let God "Turn The Tide".  

To quote Henri Nouwen from "Way of the Heart", "Many of us have adapted ourselves too well to the general mood of lethargy. Others among us have become tired, exhausted, disappointed, bitter, resentful, or simply bored.  Demands of this life are increasing and the satisfactions diminishing.  Some are still active and involved...but in their own name."

So how do we "turn the tide".  First things first.  Here are 4 activities we will be utilizing to "turn the tide".
1. Discovery
2. Treasure hunting
3. Great detective work
4. Solve the mystery

Here is your assignment for this week.  
Set an appointment with yourself, put it on the calendar, and protect it as though this was a paid appointment that you are going to get your money's worth.  Set it for several hours.  Invite your Heavenly Father into this time. Then do the following prescriptions:
1. Listen carefully.  For a long time!!!  Not just 10 minutes, but for at least 30 minutes or longer!  This is part of a practice of solitude. 
2. Examine your life (do a lifeline--directions at the end of this post, examine your early dreams as a child, examine your life with Christ since you received Him as Lord, describe the present) This step make take some time.
3. Evaluate your motives in life.  What motives drive you in life? What motives do you live life by?
4. Write down your concerns, what worries you, what seems to be elusive desires?
If you are unable to do this in one appointment, set another.  Make it through the process!

Come to class ready to discuss what you discovered!  Do not worry if you feel you cannot share openly, but if there are excerpts that you can, great!  We will discover together!

I can't wait to hear your stories!  It will be wonderful and inspiring!  And, yes, we will spur one another on!  Until next Thursday!

Grace and Peace,
Patty

(Instructions for lifeline:  On paper, draw a line across the page.  Begin by placing a mark on the line and write the significance of that mark with a date. Example: date of birth, 5th birthday because you got a pony, etc. until you come to the present.  Be sure to mark everything of significance in your life, good and bad.  Use two pages if you need to.)

"This is the way. Walk in it."  Isaiah 30:21