"God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end."   

- Luke 1:26-33 (NIV)

To be favored, to begin such a season of unknown, to be a part of something beautiful, changing, and never ending.

spiritual direction

"Spiritual direction means to listen to the other without fear and to discover the intimate, divine connections within your own stormy life history. It means to help others discover that their questions are human questions, their search is a human search, and their restlessness is part of the restlessness of the human heart--your own included...

When God enters into the center of our lives to unmask our illusion of posessing final solutions and to disarm us with always deeper questions, we will not necessarily have an easier or simpler life, but certainly a life that is honest, courageous, and marked with the ongoing search for truth. Sometimes, in living the questions, answers are found."

- Henri Nouwen, Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith

ask to listen

"Before the shift, we ask, 'What does God want me to do?' After the shift, we listen to what God wants us to become.

Before the shift, we want God to give us more options and open doors. After, we want him to limit options and close doors.

Before the shift, we ask that God would make our decisions successful. After the shift, we allow God to set us apart, so that we might be more like him in our decisions.

Finally, before the shift, we inform God of our plans and ask him to move through our efforts. After shifting from Ask to Listen, we look for what God is already up to in our world, and we listen for how we might engage ourselves where he is already moving.

Yes, God's agenda takes longer than ours. But by asking better questions, we will get more precious answers that will last longer than the quick and easy ones. Instead of praying, 'Lord, what should we do?' we could ask, 'Lord, what is important to you?'"

- Steve DeNeff & Dave Drury, Soul Shift