Consider, Review and Revise: Vision Casting

Once I decided that I would be healed from the wounds of broken vows and this broken relationship, I knew I had to have a plan for recovery. There is no way to sustain healing without a plan to live healed. I had to consider the best ways to help myself and my children through divorce and create an atmosphere of wholeness and healing for them. That included having a working relationship with their father. That took planning.

While I was on the path to divorce recovery, I got sick. Not just flu or pneumonia - disablingly ill. For nearly two years I battled illness in addition to awesome nature of this huge life change, going from having a husband and a full nuclear family to being a divorced woman with children.  I had actively engage as a  focused advocate for my family AND advocate for myself in a sea of doctors, specialists and human resource people for my health and our financial livelihood.  It took a plan.

Annually reviewing the outcome of my choices, I question whether I've lived up to the standard I set and if my life is in a desirable condition. Am I living how I want? Did I achieve anything? Was I a good parent, sister, daughter, friend, servant of the Lord? Did I do all that I could to represent Christ on this earth? Was my stewardship equal to the mandate of my Christian life (did I spend my money, time and gift accountably?) Did I do anything to bring something good into the world? What do I need to do going forward?

At this very moment you are sowing seeds that will bear fruit in the next season of your life. You reap what you sow. In order to influence what your gonna reap, you have to be cognizant; aware of what you've planted and plan to plant better or differently. I call this process Vision Casting.

"Choice, not chance creates our destiny."
Bishop C. Garnett Henning

Consider springs preparation for summer - what an easy correlation. We all know the idiom that April showers bring May flowers; or that Spring comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. These both suggest that a certain condition (rain, wind, temperature) affect another condition (vegetation, temperature, bounty).  There is a connected process; real evidence that its a cause and effect thing. What nature does in the spring affects the conditions of the summer.

For my personal vision casting, I block out uninterrupted time to give it my full attention. Get a room in a nice hotel, put out the do not disturb sign and try NOT fall asleep, but focus on the task at hand. (Yes, I have so gotten a room for the weekend with this intention and spent most of that time sleeping. Hmm...being a woman is hard in an ADD world!) Get some comfy lounge wear, pencil and paper, nice comforting music and energy food, and go for it - dig into it. Start with a free flow of writing about the year in review.

You could Vision Cast without reviewing, but I believe the results are just better if you know who you are. To know that is to bear in mind from whence you came. Talking or writing about the successes and failures of this past year gives a tangible, concrete picture and positions us for new growth.

Intrinsically, I know the value of looking at the past before making a new plan. One of the most credible reasons for review is supported by the very existence of the Bible - a look at the past of our Christian faith to show us how to live in the right now.



We live in a world of situational attention deficiency - there is just too much going on. Our fast paced technologically sustained world and the constant situations that arise won't allow us to effectively store the detailed plan in our minds. To move steadily through an experience like divorce we need the presence of peace and purpose with a steadfast hope for those things to come.

The word of God plainly mandates us to record our visions to make them understandable, which will give us the strength to stay focused in fulfilling them. Writing it down, taking it from your mind and making it tangible, takes some of the chaos out of living.

Do you do something similar to vision casting in your life? How has it helped you? Do you believe that not making a plan is still the same thing as making choices about your standard of living? What have you read, heard or experienced that helps you manage your life? Share it with me in the comments section.

Although this is not a contest posting, there may be a gift for fruitful comments. Make sure to include your email address in your comments!