Today marks the start of a week spent visiting family, celebrating my birthday, joining a retreat in Austin, and taking time to sit quietly and connect with God. Since I spent much of the day traveling by car, I started listening to two audiobooks: The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery and Richard Rohr’s The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage. Both books were inspiring, and I’m excited to keep listening.

I was interested to learn that Ian Morgan Cron, one of the authors of The Road Back to You, considers Richard Rohr a leading teacher of the enneagram. Fr. Rohr has had a big influence on modern theology. I appreciate how he took one of Walter Bruggemann’s ideas about the Psalms and applied similar thinking to the prophets, moving from discord to unity and then to new creation. Even though Fr. Rohr used it differently, his work shows how our states of mind can shift and flow.

Cron’s book reminded me why I enjoy studying enneagrams. Out of all the ways to explore personality traits, I think the enneagram is a great tool. The author points out that the main goal is to discover who we truly are, flaws and all. Once we know our number, we can celebrate our strengths and notice where we need to grow, becoming the people God meant us to be. I like this model because it centers on God, while other models tend to be more scientific.

The message I’m taking from today is, “Come unto me, and I will give you rest.” Rest isn’t just about stopping or being still. It’s something we choose, and over the next few days, I hope to use this time to find renewal. I want to refresh myself at the spring of living water.

Tonight, I’m settling in to sleep in San Antonio. I already visited my favorite restaurant, Pico de Gaillos, and plan to have breakfast there tomorrow. I’ll meet my cousin in the afternoon before heading to Houston. I’m thankful for a day filled with God’s Word.