Steps  

1. Gather the materials you will need:

   • 3 x 3 sticky notes in two or three colors,
   • a bold marker,
   • some blank poster paper or butcher sheet, placed where people can see it.

2. Begin with prayer, asking God to lead and guide your group’s time and memories. Suggested Scriptures to read aloud: Psalm 103:1-5, Isaiah 46:9-10, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Psalm 143:5-6.

3. Invite everyone present to share memories about your group or organization in any order they come to mind. These memories can be of events, seasons, people, circumstances, transitions or happenings. Allow the group to talk a bit about what they remember.

4. Log each memory on its own sticky note, using a few brief words to encapsulate it.

5. Place each memory note randomly on the poster or butcher sheet.

6. Once you have a good amount of memories that span the group or organization’s history, organize them in chronological order, starting in the upper left corner and working down in vertical columns.

7. As you come across painful memories, re-write them on a different color sticky note to highlight them. You can also highlight other categories of memory--such as significant transitions or clear interventions of God--with another color.

8. Once the map is organized, allow everyone in the group some time to simply look at it. Ask them what they notice, what is revealing itself to them.

9. Write down any significant insights you would like for the group to remember.

10. End the time praising and thanking God together for all that He has done, is doing and will do in and through your group or organization.

See how Grafted Life used this life mapping process

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