e88 Echoing Silence: Entering

e92 Sabbath Invitation: Show Up

SOULWORK NOTES This month we are in a series called, Sabbath Invitation. We will be looking at Sabbath through the story of the crippled women found in Luke 13:10-17. This week, our sabbath invitation is Unburden. Breath Prayer Inhale: God I come to you Exhale: With all I am carrying Opening Prayer Gracious God, We come today with all our burdens Those we’ve been carrying for a little while And those we have been carrying so long They have become part of us Help us to hear your voice And learn to unburdened those things That come between where we are and where you desire we be In Jesus’ name, Amen. Text On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. -Luke 13:10-11 Reflection Summary Through the crippled woman story we learn: Strongholds skew our posture. Strongholds skew our perspective. Strongholds skew our progress. Although her life was skewed by an 18-year stronghold, she was not without hope. She showed up at the synagogue. She may not have even notice Jesus’ feet. She may not have been like the woman with the issue of blood, straining to touch the hem of his garment. She may not have been like Mary, getting her healing at the feet of Jesus. She may have just seen another pair of feet like all the other feet she had seen in the past 18 years. She may have missed Jesus sitting right there in her presence. She was in the presence of God and probably didn’t know it. However, she showed up. Sometimes, that is all we can do - come to the place of worship. Sometimes, we can only get to our position to serve or get to our favorite pew. Sometimes, all we can do is come. Sometimes, all we can do is show up. Guess what, sometimes, that is all God needs - for us to shuffle along until we show up where he needs us to show up. SoulWork Consider the following questions during your quiet time or in your journaling. What stronghold have been carrying? How has that stronghold skewed your posture, perspective, and or vision? Where is God asking you to show up? What would life look like if you showed up where God is waiting? SoulWork for Writers As one called to serve others through writing, sit with your answers to our SoulWork questions. Then, ask, what can you say to encourage you audience to address their strongholds. Don’t worry about the final product, just allow God to speak to you on their behalf through your writing. Then, when you are led, shape the message into a final form - blog post, word of proclamation, book, etc. Then, when you are led, share the message. Closing Blessing Prayer May you always be aware of God’s presence and goodness. May you never forget God’s faithfulness. May you trust in the God who loves you and longs to lift the burdens you carry. May your heart stay connected to the one who grace is greater than any stronghold May you ever see your lift through the lens of God’s love. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Go Deeper: Notes for the Journey If you desire to go deeper this week, I invite you to join my newsletter, Notes for the Journey. Subscribers receive additional resources—guided reflections, Scripture, and practices that are not shared on the podcast or in these notes. It’s a quiet space to continue this work with God, slowly and prayerfully, throughout the week. [Join here] [https://www.patricegerideau.com/join] If you’d like to help sustain this work, you’re welcome to support it here [https://www.patricegerideau.com/sanctuary]. > Until next time, may God bless and keep you, may God’s face shine upon you, and may God grant you peace as you continue your SoulWork. Disclaimer: The content shared on the SoulWork Sanctuary podcast is for informational and inspirational purposes only. While I am an ordained minister and trained spiritual director, I am not a licensed therapist or medical professional. This podcast does not provide medical or mental health advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional care. Please seek support from a qualified provider if needed.

e91 Echoing Silence: Resting

SOULWORK NOTES e91 Echoing Silence: Resting As you move through this week, notice where you are still striving. Not in the obvious places — but in the quiet ones. The way you measure your prayer time. The way you evaluate your stillness. The way you turn even rest into something to get right. We are not a resting people. And that restlessness follows us even into the presence of God. But rest — true rest — is not something we achieve. It is something we receive. It is the posture of a soul that has stopped needing to be in control. Not because everything is resolved, but because the One who holds all things is trustworthy. This month, we have entered. We have dwelled. We have listened. Now, we simply rest. We let the silence hold us. We trust that our open hands are their own kind of prayer. A PRAYER TO CARRY God of rest, I release what I have been carrying — the striving, the measuring, the need to get this right. Hold me. That is enough. In Jesus’ name, amen. Go Deeper: Notes for the Journey If you desire to go deeper this week, I invite you to join my newsletter, Notes for the Journey. Subscribers receive additional resources—guided reflections, Scripture, and practices that are not shared on the podcast or in these notes. It’s a quiet space to continue this work with God, slowly and prayerfully, throughout the week. [Join here] [https://www.patricegerideau.com/join] If you’d like to help sustain this work, you’re welcome to support it here [https://www.patricegerideau.com/sanctuary]. > Until next time, may God bless and keep you, may God’s face shine upon you, and may God grant you peace as you continue your SoulWork. Disclaimer: The content shared on the SoulWork Sanctuary podcast is for informational and inspirational purposes only. While I am an ordained minister and trained spiritual director, I am not a licensed therapist or medical professional. This podcast does not provide medical or mental health advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional care. Please seek support from a qualified provider if needed.

e90 Echoing Silence: Listening

SOULWORK NOTES e90 Echoing Silence: Listening As you move through this week, pay attention to what you almost missed. The thought that surfaced and slipped away. The emotion that rose and was quickly buried. The quiet nudge you talked yourself out of. God is not always loud. And we have grown so accustomed to noise that we sometimes mistake God’s silence for absence — when it may simply be an invitation to listen more carefully. Holy listening is not about receiving a word on demand. It is about becoming the kind of person who notices. Who slows down long enough to let what is already present rise to the surface. This week, don’t chase an answer. Just remain available. What God wants you to hear will find you. A PRAYER TO CARRY God who speaks in whispers, Open my ears — not just to sound, but to the quiet languages of Your presence. Teach me to listen with my whole self. In Jesus’ name, amen. Go Deeper: Notes for the Journey If you desire to go deeper this week, I invite you to join my newsletter, Notes for the Journey. Subscribers receive additional resources—guided reflections, Scripture, and practices that are not shared on the podcast or in these notes. It’s a quiet space to continue this work with God, slowly and prayerfully, throughout the week. [Join here] [https://www.patricegerideau.com/join] If you’d like to help sustain this work, you’re welcome to support it here [https://www.patricegerideau.com/sanctuary]. > Until next time, may God bless and keep you, may God’s face shine upon you, and may God grant you peace as you continue your SoulWork. Disclaimer: The content shared on the SoulWork Sanctuary podcast is for informational and inspirational purposes only. While I am an ordained minister and trained spiritual director, I am not a licensed therapist or medical professional. This podcast does not provide medical or mental health advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional care. Please seek support from a qualified provider if needed.

e89 Echoing Silence: Dwelling

SOULWORK NOTES e89 Echoing Silence: Dwelling As you move through this week, notice how quickly you leave. Not just in silence — but in prayer, in conversation, in rest. How often do you arrive somewhere only to begin planning your exit? Most of us have never been taught to dwell. We have been taught to produce, to move, to accomplish. Stillness feels like a luxury we haven’t earned. But dwelling in God is not laziness. It is not wasted time. It is the slow, sacred work of letting yourself be known — not by what you bring, but by simply being present. This week, stay a little longer than is comfortable. With God. With yourself. With the silence. Let presence be enough. A PRAYER TO CARRY God who remains, Forgive me for the ways I rush even You. Teach me to stay — past the point of having something to offer, past the point of knowing what I’m waiting for. Let me find You in the staying. In Jesus’ name, amen. Go Deeper: Notes for the Journey If you desire to go deeper this week, I invite you to join my newsletter, Notes for the Journey. Subscribers receive additional resources—guided reflections, Scripture, and practices that are not shared on the podcast or in these notes. It’s a quiet space to continue this work with God, slowly and prayerfully, throughout the week. [Join here] [https://www.patricegerideau.com/join] If you’d like to help sustain this work, you’re welcome to support it here [https://www.patricegerideau.com/sanctuary]. > Until next time, may God bless and keep you, may God’s face shine upon you, and may God grant you peace as you continue your SoulWork. Disclaimer: The content shared on the SoulWork Sanctuary podcast is for informational and inspirational purposes only. While I am an ordained minister and trained spiritual director, I am not a licensed therapist or medical professional. This podcast does not provide medical or mental health advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional care. Please seek support from a qualified provider if needed.

e88 Echoing Silence: Entering

SOULWORK NOTES e88 Echoing Silence: Entering As you move through this week, notice what it costs you to get quiet. Not to judge it. Not to fix it. But to simply be honest about what stands between you and stillness. Entering silence is rarely as simple as it sounds. There is always something pulling us back — a task unfinished, a worry unresolved, the noise we have learned to live inside of. And yet, the invitation remains. Come. Not when everything is settled. Not when you finally have the time. But now — as you are, with what you’re carrying. This is what it means to enter: to choose presence over productivity, to believe that God is already waiting on the other side of the threshold. You don’t have to arrive empty. You just have to arrive. A PRAYER TO CARRY Lord, Thank You for the gift of stillness —even when I have to fight my way to it. Meet me at the threshold. Receive whatever I bring. And teach me, slowly, that entering is its own act of faith. In Jesus’ name, amen. Go Deeper: Notes for the Journey If you desire to go deeper this week, I invite you to join my newsletter, Notes for the Journey. Subscribers receive additional resources—guided reflections, Scripture, and practices that are not shared on the podcast or in these notes. It’s a quiet space to continue this work with God, slowly and prayerfully, throughout the week. [Join here] [https://www.patricegerideau.com/join] If you’d like to help sustain this work, you’re welcome to support it here [https://www.patricegerideau.com/sanctuary]. > Until next time, may God bless and keep you, may God’s face shine upon you, and may God grant you peace as you continue your SoulWork. Disclaimer: The content shared on the SoulWork Sanctuary podcast is for informational and inspirational purposes only. While I am an ordained minister and trained spiritual director, I am not a licensed therapist or medical professional. This podcast does not provide medical or mental health advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional care. Please seek support from a qualified provider if needed.