When first starting out, keep it simple! Just grab your journal or print out your 12 months of recollecting, a copy for each person, pens and highlighters and get away for the night and recollect over the last year over a nice dinner.
We've enjoyed having something tangible to flip through. (there is something about page turning when it comes to recollecting) Plus it gives us a tangible product that we can go back to even as years continue to pass. These spiral notebooks have brought us great encouragement over the years as we've been able to pick them up years later and continue to gain wisdom and insight into what God is doing. What was once 12 pages stapled together has turned into a larger bound document ranging from 25-35 pages front and back. This project has grown over the years but when first starting out keep it simple and if you care to get creative you can venture into creating more of a permeant keepsake. Trust us, you'll love having something tangible that you can return to year after year. We also look forward to passing these Re:Collect journals on to our children someday, helping them on their journey of seeing how faithful our God really is.
Our First Retreat
This is a picture of our first Re:collect retreat. Ashley and I were enjoying Re:Collecting over the months and decided to get away for a night and go over all 12 months. We got a room at a local hotel and went out to eat that night and just started going over all 12 months and were blown away the practice of what reflecting over the past 12 moths did for each of us personally and together. We had such a great experience and were moved so much by this retreat that we've continued to do it since and honestly believe it to be the most impactful thing we do in our marriage.
How We Currently Re:Collect on our Retreats
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Book a hotel for one night
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We like to get away locally, but we have also done Re:Collect on a more extended trip out of town​.
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Most times we've stayed in our local area that has several restaurants and shops around it and we will hop around for coffee, dinner, and drinks at different places, re:collecting along the way.
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Print out your Re:Collect Journal
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If you are looking to increase the depth of this journaling practice download our Re:Collect Canva template here.​ (I download my canva template each year and print off two copies, spiral bound with a cover, at a local FedEx Kinkos.)
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We have added several additional parts to our annual Re:Collect journal from bible verses, personal liturgy's, pictures over the years, Big Thanks (see below), Highs/Lows, things were looking forward to in the new year, etc...
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Gather your favorite pens and highlighters! We write all over our journal, taking extra notes, highlighting major events, and making sure we know who we will be sending out our Big Thanks cards too.
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Big Thanks!
Once you start this practice you will start to recognize how certain people played a pivotal role in your year. Some people will show up BIG! You will even feel like without them, the year would have been different. It might be a kind gesture, a referral, a moment, a trip you shared...all kinds of things. It might be a family member who cared a large load for you. As you pur over your journal and something stirs your heart, you need to let these people know. We started to send out "Big Thanks" postcards to these people to let them know how much we appreciated them and the impact they made in our year. There are many apps out there, like Ink, that make this easy to do.
Questions to Ponder
While on our retreat after we Re:Collect over the last 12 months of the year, we will take time to ask general questions about what we've experienced, what worked or didn't work, what we are looking forward to, etc. This draws us into deeper discussions and conversations about our marriage, stage each of our children are in, along with where we feel the Lord is leading and guiding us into the next year. Below are some excerpts from the full Re:Collect journal we produce at the end of each year.
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Email: jthardcastle@gmail.com
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