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Welcome to our weekly Friday Check-in for August 22nd, 2025 ✅
If you are new to Soul Care, WELCOME!! We are so glad you are here.
How are you, as you check in today? As you pause to reflect on your week, what is something that you are grateful for? Take a few deep breaths to begin this time of reflection and prayer.
Let's begin with,
Page: An Invitation to Reflection
Read Mark 12:35-44 (NRSVUE) three times::
While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’
“David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.
As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (NRSVUE)
Spend a few minutes journaling in response to this passage:
- What stands out to you most? Is there a particular word or phrase?
- As you read through it a second time… ask God, “to what area of my life does that particular word or phrase connect?”
- And as you read a third time, be asking God, “Is there an invitation for me?” Is there a response of some kind that God is inviting you into?
In addition to today’s reading, let’s continue to reflect on Matthew 13:31-33 and the theme of “smallness.” Jesus often shows how the kingdom of God values what seems hidden or insignificant but is actually great. Consider the widow with her two copper coins. Did she HAVE to give her two coins? NO. Unlike the required temple tax (Exodus 30:13-16), her gift was voluntary... and that’s what makes it so powerful. She offered her whole livelihood, not out of obligation but surrender. Jesus sharply contrasts the widow’s action with the religious leaders around her, who “devour widows’ houses”... seeming to lament a system that left her so vulnerable, pointing us to both the beauty of her faith and the brokenness around her.
Next up is,
Person: An Invitation to Connection
We invite you to connect with someone else and discuss today’s readings and the reflection questions below with a trusted friend, mentor, family member, or feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below:
- What or who am I tempted to dismiss something as too small to matter?
- How have I seen God take something seemingly small and multiply its impact beyond what I imagined, even in the face of broken systems that seem larger than life?
- In what ways might I be seeking the “large and impressive” (recognition, results, influence) rather than the “small and surrendered”?
- What “two coins” (resources, time, attention, energy) do I hesitate to offer because they feel insignificant and what might it mean to give them in trust?
Finally we have,
Plan: An Invitation to Intention
Take this moment of silence to listen for what God might invite you to surrender today.
You might open your palms, facing up, as a physical expression of surrender, praying:
Prayer of Surrender
Lord, I offer You what feels small in my hands but is all I have. Take my life, my resources, my time, and my heart. Use them for Your kingdom, and teach me to trust that nothing surrendered to You is ever insignificant. Amen.
Thanks for checking in today - Blessings!