The picture above is of my first journal started on January 1, 1968, at the ripe old age of nine. I laugh at the entry in February where I declared, “I love two boys now named Clete and Parry.” (But I stopped liking them by April.) Or the more serious entry on February 8, 1970, “I was baptized today. I liked it. I got a gold cross (from my mom).”
I know these are considered “diary” entries, but they are still windows into my life journey. So, when journaling as a spiritual practice was introduced to me in college, I embraced it wholeheartedly, and I have not looked back. Journaling has been so good for my soul and established memorial stones in my spiritual journey.
When I was pregnant with my second son, I led my first workshop on journaling. When he was about six years old, I was at the library teaching him how to look up books on the computer, and I heard a woman say, “I would know that voice from anywhere.” As I peeked around the computer, I saw a person I don’t recall ever meeting. She exclaimed for all in the library to hear, “You gave a talk on journaling in 1994. I had never done it before, but I decided to give it a try, and it totally changed my life and my relationship with God! Thank you so much.”
I embarrassingly stammered out something like, “Wow! Really? That is so cool!” I have not seen the woman since that day, but wasn’t that a glowing endorsement for journaling?
“Journaling is a great discipline to establish in your life, particularly when you are young, as it develops within you the beautiful but underrated quality of ‘life-long learning.’ This is an approach to life marked out by a relentless and holy curiosity, a heart eager to discover the grace-filled movements of God throughout every season of your soul.” (download the free handout on journaling from 24-7 Prayer and more ideas here.)
So, I invite you to JOURNALING IN JANUARY (oh how I love alliterations)!
Here are a couple of prompts to get you started on the journey:
1) Tell God where you are at (God’s Positioning System – GPS) spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Be as honest as possible.
2) Ask God a question: “God, how do you see me?” Listen and write it down. (I journaled this the other day, and it was so lovely.)
Let me know how it goes by leaving a comment or contacting me through the Contact page.
Blessings,
Carol Ann
