MODULE 5
Guidance: Meeting 1
DISCUSS: In this meeting, as the Discipler, you will share your Timeline and Life Theme with the disciple. Walk through your Life Turns and their descriptions, how they look on your Timeline, and your redeemed Negative Turns. Lastly, share your Life Theme and how you came about it.
Disciplers, if you have not completed a Timeline and Life Theme, see the resources, “Creating Your Timeline” and “Discerning a Life Theme”
ASSIGNMENT: Now it is time for you as the Disciple to create your own Timeline by using the resource below. Take note: it takes about 2 hours to complete the whole exercise, so be sure to set aside the time to do so! But if you ever need to pause and come back to it later, then that’s perfectly fine.
Creating Your Timeline
By Megan Koch, Inspired by Don Miller’s Book Storyline: Finding Your Subplot in God’s Story
One important aspect of following Jesus is understanding how God has used your life experiences to form you into who you are today. We often think our lives are chains of random, meaningless events. However, when we encounter Jesus, we realize that we have a God who is present in all of it—even the difficult times. We are often so overwhelmed with simply living our lives that we rarely have an opportunity to step back and ask, “What does it all mean?” This exercise will do just that.
You will identify 8-10 of the most pivotal events of your life story and plot them on a timeline, just like a screenwriter would do. (Some people may identify more than 10 events, some less.) Once you’ve identified these events, you’ll begin to build a redemptive perspective and recognize how God has used these seasons to shape you into who you are today. Once you see that, you’ll begin to understand your purpose and calling in new ways.
You’ll need to set aside about 2 hours to complete this timeline, so plan accordingly. Don’t rush. If you need to leave this project and come back to it again to complete it, please do so.
1. Pause
To begin, pause. Sit with God and ask him to guide you as you survey the significant events of your life together.
2. Identify Life Turns
Grab a journal or a piece of paper, and list every significant Life Turn you can think of. Life Turns are events that bring you through a “doorway” of sorts. Something happens, and once you’re on the other side, you can never go back. Life Turns can be as simple as the birth of a sibling, earning a spot on the team, or a conversation from a school teacher that changed your perspective. They can also be heavy moments, like the breakup of a friendship, the death of a parent, undergoing an addiction, or seeing poverty in another country. If you think of something, write it down. You can always refine your list later.
It can be helpful to work in time increments. Perhaps start with the first 5-10 years of your life, then move on through each decade of life from there, up until the present day. Give each Life Turn a title, and describe it in a quick sentence or two about how it impacted you.
These events can be both positive and negative in nature, so ascribe each one a number value on a scale from -10 to +10. Look at the following examples to see how you can:
LIFE TURN
Title: Graduated High School Rating (-10 to +10):______+7________
Description: Graduating from high school was a major accomplishment. I was the first person in my family to ever graduate. Realized for the first time what I’m capable of.
Title: Breakup with my boyfriend Rating (-10 to +10):______-8________
Description: The person I thought I was going to marry someday suddenly broke up with me. Sent me spiraling in my self worth and questioning God.
Remember to ask God for guidance. You probably have more defining moments than you realize. Also, don’t feel pressure to only locate events that seem like a “big deal”. Even very small things can have a big impact, like a volunteer opportunity or performing in an elementary school talent show. If it seems significant, write it down!
3. Draw Your Timeline
Once you’ve completed your list of Life Turns, grab a blank piece of paper or begin a new page in your journal. Turn the page sideways and draw a horizontal line across the middle. Place your birth year on the left end of the line, and present day on the right. Now plot your Life Turns in order on the timeline in sequence, using a vertical line for each. Allow the height or depth of the vertical line to reflect the positive or negative value you placed on each one. Label each line with the title you provided.
4. Redeem Negative Turns
After all of your Life Turns are plotted on your Timeline, return to the events you gave a negative value (anything below 0). These are your Negative Turns. On a separate piece of paper or in a new section of your journal, list out your Negative Turns—but this time, look at them from a redemptive perspective. Redemption is about recovering something that was lost. God doesn’t author pain and suffering, but he does redeem it. Identify God’s voice, help, gifts, and presence within these difficult seasons. How did you grow as a person? What did you gain through this suffering or difficulty? List out these redemptive elements under the same title you gave the Negative Turn in this new section. It look something like this:
NEGATIVE TURN
Title: Breakup with my boyfriend
Redemptive Perspective:
I discovered how important friendships are in my life when I went through this extreme season of loneliness and loss of self-worth. I opened up to more people, and found time to do new things I never knew I would enjoy. .
You will talk about this more with your Discipler, so don’t worry if you have trouble identifying these redemptive threads in detail. Just get started.