Journaling

*2006 post*

The ladies over at Choosing Home have a theme this week of journaling.

Journaling. I've done it for years. I've been journaling since I was in middle school, and I have shelves full of journals. The bound pretty ones, the lined spiral-bound notebooks, and the oversized blank sketch books. My favorite journals? Big. Spiral-bound, so you can tuck the opposite page behind when you're writing. Lined or unlined.

How often do I journal? A few times a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

What do I journal about? My journaling has changed from its [now-embarrassing] beginnings of a log of events and the details of fights with parents, siblings, and friends... to what it is now.

What it is now is a combination of many things, but overall, it is a window into my relationship with my God. It is full of earnest prayers to Him, and thoughts about Him. It is a record of my spiritual growth, and a reminder to me of where I have been and where He has brought me.

Should you peruse my journal, on one day you would find a confessionary prayer. Two days later you would find a prayer of thanksgiving for an answer to prayer. The next entry would be a list of people and requests- people I have told I would pray for, and their particular request listed beside their names. The following entry would consist of some verses I had copied that God was speaking to me, and a prayer following in light what He was revealing to me at that time through His Word. Next, an entry revealing my impatience and crabbiness of late with my children, and prayers in that regard. And then a page of notes I took at church on Sunday. And so it goes. You would find quotes from books I have read that have impacted me, things my children have said or done that have delighted me (or not), word studies (a couple of weeks ago I did an impromptu study on the word "prudent" after reading this verse in Proverbs: "a prudent wife is from the Lord" and there are pages of references, verses and notes in my journal on that single word.)

The benefits of journaling are great. I love to write, and it is in writing that I can most accurately express myself. I think I am this way because of these years of journaling. It is where I am most transparent.

It is in my journal that you will find documented those cherished events in my life: Mark's proposal, our wedding, the births of our children, our adoption of Isaias. For our anniversary this year, I pulled out an old journal and read to Mark my journal entry from the night before we got married. I have also read portions to him from when we first began dating.

One of my favorite parts of journaling is that I can re-read my journal entries. There have been times that I have been discouraged and have flipped through past entries to find a verse or a particular lesson God was teaching me in another season of life. It is encouraging to have a record of prayers He has answered, and of the encouragement He has faithfully given through His Word.

What about you, dear readers? Any journalers out there? I'd love to hear about it.

1 comment:

  1. Sep. 6, 2006 - Oooh, I love journaling!
    Posted by keldaris
    I also have piles of journals. I remember my first journal, but I don't read it because it makes me so sad. It was written between my 6th-8th grade years. Some of it is just so silly. I write about how I love watching reruns of the Monkees and then, in 1987, how my focus changed to Bon Jovi. I talk about boys, of course, but the part that makes me sad is the part where I talk about how much I don't like myself. My mom died when I was 9. I was still filled with so much bitterness 2 years later that it flowed into this journal. However, God is good and gracious. My journals no longer chronicle how horribly the world treats me, but how faithfully the Lord has held me. Now I look back in my journals to see how He has worked in my life. It is a great faithbulilder. I usually laugh at how, in several entries, in several journals I ask the Lord to help me in the management of my time and money. I think it is a theme of my life.

    I enjoyed reading your post on your journals. It is good to know I'm not the only one!

    ***

    Sep. 6, 2006 - I wish...
    Posted by MicheleinNZ
    that I was able to journal more. I've always been very sporadic but I've been making a real effort the last few months, particularly since our last baby was born. There are so many things going through my head, so many things that God is teaching me, that I want to get down on paper so I can remember the journey that I've been on, as a believer, as a wife, as a mother. But I struggle to find a time when I'm not exhausted. By 7:30, when the kids are in bed, I'm pooped. And I nap while they nap in the afternoons. Hopefully by the time the first trimester is over I'll be a bit more energised for a few months.

    ***

    Sep. 6, 2006 - Hmmm...
    Posted by dawilli
    I used to journal a lot... but let it fall by the wayside... I've often thought about how I should journal more because, I too love to write, I always have. And it's a skill, like drawing, that does get rusty without regular doing/practicing... I've been longing to sketch more again too... I guess, for me, it's about time management and prioritizing, fitting in what I need to do, and squeezing in a few more things that I want to do... all the while spending as much time with my children as is possible!
    Still working on it all,
    ali

    ***

    Sep. 6, 2006 - Untitled Comment
    Posted by Rebeca
    Stacy,
    Thank you so much for your prayers for us during this time, and for the Scripture verses you wrote out today. God truly is our only refuge and strength. I can't imagine going through something like this without Him. And His people.
    Thanks,
    Rebeca

    ReplyDelete

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