by Richard L. Bergstrom, D.Min.
President, ChurchHealth/Re-Ignite
In 1989 when I landed back in Bellingham after a difficult season of ministry, I found myself with extra time on my hands.
I decided to use it to reconstruct my life up to that point utilizing a 3-ring notebook with plastic document protectors to hold my memorabilia. I gathered papers and items from my life to date and inserted them in chronological order into the notebook. The experience helped me gain perspective on my past and envision new chapters in my life to be written.
This summer, I decided it was time to update that notebook, but I found I needed an entirely new one to complete the task. I now have that second notebook completed, which picks up where the last notebook ended through the present time. Combined, they include everything from my birth certificate to documents from schools I attended, ministries we have been a part of, newsletters and books we have published, and noteworthy letters from significant people who have influenced my life.
In between those two notebooks, I have had several other chances to revisit my past.
- In 1995, I participate in a ReFocusing training through Church Resource Ministries using Robert Clinton’s work, The Making of a Leader.” In Clinton’s model, you learn to see your life in stages, as well as gain a vocabulary of life and leadership development. For example, a “DC” is a “divine contact” or a person who intersected with your life at a critical time in your development that changed the course of your life. Another is a “FC,” or “faith challenge,” when you were faced with trusting God for your life and provision. The experience was life-changing for me. I left that training and founded our non-profit ministry ChurchHealth in March of that same year.
- In 2004, I attended a conference at The Firs in Bellingham with Dr. Dan Allender of the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, who led us in a seminar he called “Learning to Love Your Story.” Dr. Allender helped us recognize and celebrate God’s hand in our lives.
- While vacationing on Kauai that same year, I read Jon Krakauer’s book, Into Thin Air, about the doomed Mt. Everest Expedition in 1999. It inspired me to do a life review process, thinking about the different stages of my life in terms of the multiple base camps along life’s way as we prepare for life’s “final summit.” To me, that was a way of reframing my thinking about aging rather than accepting the cultural paradigm of being “over the hill” at a certain age.
- During our ministry at Northshore Community Church in Kirkland, Washington, we invited Beth Sanders of Life Bio to lead our group in her life review curriculum titled “The Story of God…and Your Story Too!” Beth has gone on to lead a successful business in helping people capture and tell their stories. You can follow her at LifeBio.com
- Another resource that several friends have found useful is STORYWORTH. In this tool, you are prompted to answer questions about your life once a week for a year, after which you receive the stories bound in a beautiful keepsake book. Storyworth.com
- In our Re-Ignite Retreats and our book, Third Calling, we demonstrate a simplified method of reviewing one’s life by identifying life stages across the top of a page, with key questions down the left side for each category.
There are multiple reasons why life review is beneficial–whether you utilize 3-ring binders or another method. Here’s what I found:
- Tracing the events and milestones of my life has helped me to remember where I’ve been and what I’ve done.
- Recalling the past has helped me see God’s hand in my life through various ages and stages.
- Reviewing the previous chapters of my life has helped me to envision what next chapters are yet to be written.
- Revisiting some of life’s more painful experiences have contributed to resolving those issues and assimilating them into my total life experience.
Engaging in life review in my early 70’s feels much different than doing it in my 30’s, 40’s, or 50’s. At this stage of life, it feels less about what I’m doing next as it does gaining perspective on my life experiences. When I leaf through the two notebooks on my desk, they remind me how God has led us in each step of life’s journey.
Life review can be as complex or as simple as you choose to make it. I encourage you to start with a simple approach and then proceed to something more complex. You may even end up writing your autobiography, as my uncle did several years ago. Contact us for a conversation about how you can benefit from a structured process.
In the end, however, I am reminded of Paul’s words in Philippians 3:13b-14:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
