the debrief

One concept explored at the Missional Renaissance Learning Community (MRLC) is that in order to make discoveries about our lives and our world, we need to debrief our experiences....process them in conversation, reflect upon them by way of thought-provoking questions that require us to not only observe or evaluate the experience externally, but to also examine what happens inside of us. Jesus did a lot of deploying followed by debriefing with his disciples.

In my own life, I am somewhat of a debriefing type. I journal, and I'm generally a thinker, a processor. I also learn a great deal from conversations with friends as I hear their perspectives and insights regarding their experiences or shared experiences. As I think back, all of this has helped me greatly on the path toward discovery and growth.

Naming the importance of the debrief has really gotten me to consider how key this is and how we need to intentionally build in debriefing time as we serve together.

We're often so busy moving from one thing to the next that we don't stop to debrief, and we often don't see the value in debriefing because it doesn't "seem productive." We're more often geared toward action than reflection, and we're not often aware of what even drives our actions. We therefore need to get real intentional about debriefing.

The following things will be important to include as we move toward missional living:
- Building in time for debriefing into the experiences we offer. Asking good questions and helping people to process their experiences will be critical for the journey.
- Coaching people to include what the MRLC calls "white space" in their lives. Space and practices that allow for time to listen to God, listen to others, and listen to our lives.

Do you have any thoughts about debriefing that have helped you?