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Show Notes and Community Sharing

Ponder and Share

We — and the Retreat Radio Community — would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on this subject. Please share your comments. It helps all of us grow!

What are you doing to strengthen your relationship with God? What might God be calling you to do — or do more of — on your journey? Where might God be leading you? What routine do you have? If you don’t have a routine, what can you start doing tomorrow?

Episode Readings

Psalm 23 (Continued from Episode 3

Episode Recap

This was a tough week for Mike as he was dealing with a bad cold. We had to stop our recording several times to allow him to recover from coughing attacks. Jay had a good week as Karen and he celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary.

Jay and Mike Share More About Their Faith Journeys

Jay shared with the community that this podcast has really helped him along his faith journey with preparing for each episode with reading and research. He also shared how he utilizes the time on his walks to become closer to God through prayer, and listening to other religious-based podcasts. Other times he finds inspiration from songs. Last week during one of his walks he listened to the Depeche Mode song “Personal Jesus” and shared on the show how every day is a test. God is who grades our test, and the good news is tomorrow is a new day with an opportunity to Ace the test.

Mike shared with the community his favorite aid to assist him on his faith journey. Mike said that he has been keeping a journal for the past twenty years. His journaling has matured over the years from the early days. Mike finds it helpful in writing his daily journal as writing a letter to Jesus. He always starts the entry by giving God thanks and listing things that he is grateful for. Mike said that he likes to include his challenges, asks for advice, and guidance from God. Mike also has started a new routine of saying the rosary each morning on his drive to work. It helps him face the challenges of the day, and also helps reduce any possible road rage.

Reading Discussion

On last week’s episode, we shared psalm 23 but didn’t have a whole lot of time to discuss it. Mike again brought up the fact that this psalm is more about living than dying. He also commented that God is always walking beside us. It is we who veer away from God. Mike also shared that fearfulness was a center point of his faith journey. We think that is true for a lot of our community, that we are always worried about something or someone. Worried about our job, a client, a meeting. Sometimes it is hard to let go and put our trust in God, but when we do we find peace. Mike said all we need to do is to try to live a holy life. We aren’t always perfect, and that’s okay because God knows we are trying. Jay talked about “My cup overflows” and how he feels blessed with everything God has provided. He feels grateful for his family, friends, church, and community. We also spoke about comparing ourselves to others. Someone who may appear to have everything, likely have a large void in their life. They use material things to fill the God-shaped hole in their life. Like the shepherd in this psalm, God always pursues us. He never gives up on us and will search tirelessly for us.