Day 30: Going forward

Reflect

You have reached the last day. Over thirty days you have told the truth about a loss, made room to grieve, rested, looked at your practical position, reached for people, and asked who you are beyond your work. You have looked at your gifts and possible callings, and taken small steps toward a plan. That is real work, and you have done it in your own way and at your own pace.

It would be unwise to say that everything is now resolved. It probably is not. Questions about work, money and direction may remain open for some time. But you are not where you started. You have a way of facing the questions: honestly, gently, with others and with God.

Isaiah records a promise that suits a day like this: behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. It does not promise that the wilderness will vanish. It promises a way through it, and water in it.

Notice the phrase "shall you not know it?" It suggests that new things are often already beginning, quietly, before we recognise them. Perhaps something has already started in you over these weeks, such as a clearer sense of who you are, a new relationship, a small direction. Look for it. Give thanks for it.

As you move on, keep the practices that helped: honest reflection, rest, a simple rhythm, prayer, community, small steps. You can return to any day of this journey whenever you need it. The days will be here.

Today, mark the journey complete, and make your milestone card if you would like one. Then carry on. You are not alone, and you are not behind. You are loved, you are called by name, and there is a way through.

Verse

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”

Isaiah 43:19 (KJV)

Journal

Looking back over thirty days, what has changed in how I see myself, my work and my future? What do I want to carry forward?

One small action

Write a short letter to yourself, to read in a few months, about what you have learned. Then make your journey-complete card if you would like one.

A 60-second breath prayer

Breathe in: “You make a way”

Breathe out: “I go forward with you”

Breathe slowly for about a minute, saying the first line as you breathe in and the second as you breathe out.