Post-It Timeline

This is a story-telling exercise best prepared in advance. Each person will need a piece of medium-sized posterboard and two stacks of small post-it notes (two different colors).

On one color of post-it notes, think of the good/positive people, places and events that have shaped your life. Write only one per post-it note. Jot down just a few words on each post-it note to capture the idea.

Note: At this point, don’t worry about any particular order or sequence; just write things as they come to you. Remember to think throughout the whole of your life, not just the most recent events in your life.

Some questions to help you:

• Who are some of the most influential people in your life?
• What places have you lived in or traveled to?
• What events have significantly and positively shaped you?
• What are your jobs, hobbies and interests?
• What’s your spiritual journey been?
• What are you most proud of in life?
• What has delighted you most in life?
• What have been the people, places or events in your life that have been most positive and/or about which you are most proud/happy when you recall them?

Arrange the notes on your posterboard in chronological order.

Then, use the pad of different colored post-it notes to highlight the painful /hard people, places and events that have shaped you (ie broken relationships, losses, sorrow, getting fired, financial hardship, unmet dreams, etc.). This causes the more pleasant or painful notes to stand out from each other.

Place the different colored post-it notes on the timeline wherever they fall chronologically within the post-it notes already on your posterboard.

Reflect on your timeline using these two questions:

1. What patterns do you see in the people, places and events that have shaped your life?
2. Where and how do you see God throughout your story? In what ways was God using parts of your story to shape you or grow you or prepare you for something?

Once each person has completed the work above on their own, ask each group member to bring their timeline to group. Give each person 20-30 minutes to share and highlight some of their post-it notes, as well as their reflections on the two questions above. After someone shares, pray for them and for whatever God is doing and has been doing in their life story.