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Speaker 1: Well, hey, they're friends. Just a quick heads up that

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Speaker 1: I am taking a tiny little break and I'm also

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Speaker 1: getting ready for our Lent series which begins in the

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Speaker 1: middle of February. So this is a replay of one

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Speaker 1: of my favorite scriptures. I do hope that you'll settle

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Speaker 1: in and enjoy it. God has something new for us

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Speaker 1: every time we hear his word. So here you go,

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Speaker 1: life audio. Well, hey they're friends. I'm Jody Nisnik, and

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Speaker 1: welcome to our new year's series. It's just a little

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Speaker 1: space to reflect on the goodness of God and how

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Speaker 1: He is leading us as we enter into this new

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Speaker 1: season together. We're going to take a quick break for

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Speaker 1: a word from our sponsors, and then we'll be right

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Speaker 1: back for our meditation. We are doing today's meditation following

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Speaker 1: the Lectio Divina method of scripture meditation, and if that's

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Speaker 1: new to you, head into the show notes and download

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Speaker 1: the free Lectio Divina Guided Journal that I've created for you.

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Speaker 1: It outlines exactly what Lectio Divina is, where it originated,

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Speaker 1: and what you can expect from this process. Plus it'll

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Speaker 1: give you some space to take notes on your meditations.

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Speaker 1: I'm also going to guide you every step of the

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Speaker 1: way through this time with the Lord. So with that,

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Speaker 1: let's just get started. I want to invite you to

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Speaker 1: start with settling in and taking some deep in and

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Speaker 1: out breaths, and as you breathe in, just ask the

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Speaker 1: Lord to help you be present here right now and

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Speaker 1: to let go of everything else. Ask him to help

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Speaker 1: you be mindful of His presence with you. And as

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Speaker 1: you exhale, just want to encourage you to do a

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Speaker 1: quick little scan of your body. Where are you feeling

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Speaker 1: tight right now? And just consciously loosen that up and

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Speaker 1: ask the Lord to just hold on to anything that

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Speaker 1: feels heavy for you right now. Continue to take those

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Speaker 1: deep in and out breaths, and as you do, let

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Speaker 1: me pray for us. Gracious Lord, thank you for this

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Speaker 1: time set aside to hear your word. And we pray,

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Speaker 1: by the power of your spirit, that you would help

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Speaker 1: us to let go of all of the distractions around

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Speaker 1: us and to just really hear your word, and that

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Speaker 1: you would use your word to God and lead us.

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Speaker 1: We ask that the Spirit would help us notice exactly

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Speaker 1: what we need to notice, Lord, and that then you

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Speaker 1: would guide and lead us into the conversation that we

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Speaker 1: need to have with you. So, Lord, we pray all

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Speaker 1: of this with expectancy that you are going to show

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Speaker 1: us something in your word, and we pray that you

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Speaker 1: would do that for our good, and we pray it

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Speaker 1: for your glory in the name of Jesus. Amen. Well,

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Speaker 1: today our meditation comes from a few verses out of

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Speaker 1: Psalm thirty seven, And we actually meditated on a few

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Speaker 1: different verses from Psalm thirty seven in our summer series

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Speaker 1: from twenty twenty three, and I'll put a link to

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Speaker 1: that episode in the notes if you're interested in listening

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Speaker 1: to that meditation as well. But Psalm thirty seven truly

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Speaker 1: is one of my favorite psalms. The Lord used this

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Speaker 1: psalm in my life to help me heal from some

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Speaker 1: deep pain, and he used these words to help me

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Speaker 1: wait on him to do the work that only he

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Speaker 1: could do, and to remind me to do what he

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Speaker 1: was calling me to do and to let go of

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Speaker 1: the rest. So I'm excited for us to meditate on

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Speaker 1: these verses from Psalm thirty seven, and today we're going

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Speaker 1: to use this CSB, the Christian Standard Bible Translation. Now,

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Speaker 1: the first time I read the passage for you, it

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Speaker 1: is really just to hear the words so that you

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Speaker 1: know where the passage is going. This is our first

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Speaker 1: reading of Psalm thirty seven, verses five through nine. Commit

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Speaker 1: your way to the Lord. Trust in him, and he

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Speaker 1: will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn and

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Speaker 1: your justice like the noonday. Be silent before the Lord

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Speaker 1: and wait expectantly for him. Do not be agitated by

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Speaker 1: one who prospers in his way, by the person who

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Speaker 1: carries out evil plans. Refrain from anger and give up

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Speaker 1: your rage. Do not be agitated. It can only bring harm,

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Speaker 1: for evildoers will be destroyed, but those who put their

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Speaker 1: hope in the Lord will inherit the land. Now, as

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Speaker 1: I read the passage for you again, we want to

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Speaker 1: ask the Lord to draw our attention to something in

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Speaker 1: this passage. It might be a word or phrase. It

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Speaker 1: might even be an idea that springs up, but no

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Speaker 1: matter what it is, just trust that whatever your attention

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Speaker 1: is drawn to is exactly where God is leading you.

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Speaker 1: And then hold onto that or jot it down, and

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Speaker 1: I'll give you some space after the reading to reflect

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Speaker 1: on it. So this now is our second reading of

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Speaker 1: Psalm thirty seven, verses five through nine. Commit your way

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Speaker 1: to the Lord, trust in him, and he will act,

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Speaker 1: making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like

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Speaker 1: the noonday. Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly

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Speaker 1: for him. Do not be agitated by one who prospers

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Speaker 1: in his way, by the person who carries out evil plans.

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Speaker 1: Refrain from anger and give up your rage. Do not

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Speaker 1: be agitated. It can only bring harm, for evildoers will

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Speaker 1: be destroyed that those who put their hope in the

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Speaker 1: Lord will inherit the land. Take a moment now to

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Speaker 1: ask the Lord, that is what you drew my attention

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Speaker 1: to connect to my life.

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Speaker 2: Right now.

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Speaker 1: Now for our third reading, I want to invite you

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Speaker 1: to notice again whatever you noticed in the second reading,

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Speaker 1: and then we're going to respond to God by taking

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Speaker 1: another step with him. He may show us a sin

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Speaker 1: that we need to confess and repent of. He may

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Speaker 1: invite us to take a step of trust to remember

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Speaker 1: a truth, or maybe we just need to spend some

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Speaker 1: time worshiping Him or perhaps something else. But be open

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Speaker 1: to the spirit guiding you, and then we'll have some

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Speaker 1: space after the reading to have a conversation with God

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Speaker 1: about this. This is our third reading of Psalm thirty

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Speaker 1: seven verses five through nine. Commit your way to the Lord.

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Speaker 1: Trust in him, and he will act, making your righteousness

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Speaker 1: shine like the dawn in your justice like the noonday.

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Speaker 1: Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for him.

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Speaker 1: Do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way,

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Speaker 1: by the person who carries out evil plans. Refrain from

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Speaker 1: anger and give up your rage. Do not be agitated.

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Speaker 1: It can only bring harm, for evildoers will be destroyed,

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Speaker 1: but those who put their hope in the Lord will

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Speaker 1: inherit the land. So take some time now to respond

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Speaker 1: to God. Now for our final reading, I want to

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Speaker 1: invite you to receive these words, resting in God's goodness

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Speaker 1: and his love for you, resting in your security in Christ.

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Speaker 1: And just receive these words. No matter what the Lord

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Speaker 1: has revealed to you, just receive these words with his

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Speaker 1: infinite love covered over them. This is our final reading

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Speaker 1: of Psalm thirty seven, verses five through nine. Commit your

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Speaker 1: way to the Lord. Trust in him, and he will act,

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Speaker 1: making your righteousness shine like the dawn, justice like the noonday.

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Speaker 1: Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for him.

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Speaker 1: Do not be agitated by one who prospers in his

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Speaker 1: way by the person who carries out evil plans. Refrain

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Speaker 1: from anger and give up your rage. Do not be agitated.

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Speaker 1: It can only bring harm, for evildoers will be destroyed,

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Speaker 1: but those who put their hope in the Lord will

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Speaker 1: inherit the land. O, Lord, thank you for your word.

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Speaker 1: We pray that you would help us wait on you.

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Speaker 2: Lord.

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Speaker 1: Would you help us to be expectant that you will

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Speaker 1: act on our behalf, especially if it feels like something

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Speaker 1: wrong is happening around us or to us. Lord, the

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Speaker 1: psalm speaks of not being agitated by somebody who's prospering

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Speaker 1: in their way, or by somebody who's carrying out evil plans,

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Speaker 1: and it just feels like we see that everywhere, and

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Speaker 1: sometimes that makes it hard to trust in you and

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Speaker 1: what you are doing. But Lord, right now we reaffirm

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Speaker 1: that you are a good God, and that you are

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Speaker 1: in control, and that none of this, none of what

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Speaker 1: is happening in our world, none of what is happening

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Speaker 1: in our lives, is out of your control. So Lord,

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Speaker 1: renew our hope in you, our strength in you, and

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Speaker 1: our trust you, and help us to wait on you.

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Speaker 2: Lord.

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Speaker 1: We thank you for today a new day to hope

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Speaker 1: in and trust you help us to do it. We

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Speaker 1: pray this in the name of Jesus.

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Speaker 2: Amen.

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Speaker 1: Well, friends, just a few quick things before we close.

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Speaker 1: I just want to remind you that we've created a

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Speaker 1: special series of guided reflections to help you enter into

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Speaker 1: this new year with intention. I know we're a few

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Speaker 1: weeks in, but I just want to encourage you it

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Speaker 1: is not too late to spend some time looking back

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Speaker 1: over the last year and assessing where you are in

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Speaker 1: the present and asking God how he wants you to

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Speaker 1: move forward. So this series of reflections, we're calling it

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Speaker 1: a guided retreat, but you can do it over a

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Speaker 1: few mornings, you can do it over a long afternoon,

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Speaker 1: or you can do it over a full day. However

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Speaker 1: it works in your schedule. You'll find a link to

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Speaker 1: the retreat information in the notes. I do want to

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Speaker 1: remind you that there is a small cost for this,

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Speaker 1: but if for some reason that's prohibitive, just let me know.

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Speaker 1: I'll make sure you get one. I also want to

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Speaker 1: give a quick shout out to our partner, Life Audio.

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Speaker 1: If you go to lifeaudio dot com you'll see all

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Speaker 1: their other Christian podcasts. And I also want to say

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Speaker 1: thank you to those who have left reviews recently, I

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Speaker 1: read every single one of them and they are so

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Speaker 1: deeply encouraging to me. So thank you, and please keep

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Speaker 1: reviewing and sharing the podcast. Finally, thank you for joining

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Speaker 1: me on so much more because we really do believe

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Speaker 1: Jesus has so much more to say to us, and

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Speaker 1: we are creating space to listen.

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Speaker 2: Creep