Journaling

November 7, 2007Pastor Nancy No Comments »

I’d like to tell you that it’s a matter of age, but in reality, I’ve always done better at remembering things if I’ve written them down.  I don’t always have to have the paper in front of me, but the very act of writing makes it sink into my brain a little better.  (Still not perfect.)
Journaling is a spiritual discipline where we write things down not only to remember them, but to give us a check point to go back and see how prayers were answered or how we have grown in our faith.  I want to encourage you to write down some things today as part of your devotional time.
Here are some possible suggestions to try:

  1. If you’re reading a scripture or a Christian devotional magazine or book, spend a little time in quiet allowing God’s Spirit to speak into yours and reveal an application of that message for your life today.   Then write it down.

  2. Write your prayer concerns today.  Again the act of writing puts another dimension to our prayer life.

  3. Write down how you see God at work in your life or in the world around you this week – or today – or in the last hour.

  4. Try looking at a familiar scripture like Psalm 23 or John 3:16 one more time and look for something new in those words for you just for today.  Write down your insight.

You will want to have a special notebook or journal book to write in.  It can be a very inexpensive notebook or a fancy (and sometimes pricey) journal.  I like a sketchbook where the pages are blank so I can draw, write in circles, write tiny, write big, or do whatever.
Another possibility is to journal on your computer.  I have a word document that I use sometimes.  And if it contains really personal thoughts or feelings, I password protect the document.
Start with some little effort today to write down some God thoughts.  If you’d like other ideas, let me know.  I have several lists of suggestions.  Or try it out now and then attend a journaling workshop after the first of the year.  I have two of them on the schedule.  One in January, one in April.
In Christ’s love
Pastor Nancy

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 7th, 2007 at 11:20 am and is filed under Occasional Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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