Why journal?

Sitting here after reading some scripture, I was stumped on what I was going to write about tonight. I read some really good things in Matthew and in Psalms but nothing really significantly stuck out to me. I was sitting here and was texting back and forth with a special friend about journaling. I just received a text about journaling that really left me speechless. So I was inspired to write a post about the importance of journaling. It's more so significance rather than importance if I am being completely honest with you. There is power in journaling more so than importance.

Before you get to deep into this post, I just want you to know that I am not writing this as a how to journal type of thing. I am just sharing the way that I do it and the way that it works for me with that hope that it encourages you to begin journaling. You don't have to journal like me at all! You could literally journal about whatever you want. You could write about your day, your thoughts, feelings, what happened, funny conversations, what you ate, etc. Heck, I encourage you to journal in whatever way you want too!

Journaling for me is one of the most relaxing and rewarding things that I do. To sit down, with my favorite pen and a nice journal and be able to write down things I am learning about God and myself on a daily basis is incredibly rewarding. It's also extremely peaceful and fulfilling.

So how do I go about journaling?

For me, I have always wanted to get into journaling at a fairly young age. I think when I was a freshmen in high school I had that desire for the first time. I would get a new journal for Christmas or my birthday and I would be so excited to write in it. Each time I would start a new one, I would envision finishing it and being able to go through it and see pages full of my writing. Well, that vision seemed to be pretty far off in the distance. I think I probably started like 10 different journals and I never finished a single one. I honestly didn't really know what to write. In some I wrote prayer requests, in others I wrote down things about my day, etc. Nothing really seemed to work. As a high school freshman, I also was not very disciplined yet. If I didn't feel like writing in my journal I wouldn't do it. I wasn't very good at developing healthy habits like that yet. It seemed like the same thing would happen over and over again. New journal, write 10 pages, new journal, write 8 pages, new journal, 7 pages. I was so terribly inconsistent. But for me at the age, I experienced growth in different ways, it just wasn't through journaling. Even though I wanted it to be. I think we can take something away from that. We have desires to grow spiritually in certain ways, and sometimes those desires aren't quite working for us, but don't give up, someday, those desires could change your life.

Two summers ago, I began journaling on a consistent basis. I finally had a plan figured out. I would read two chapters from two books in the bible and the write about what I had learned. Every journal entry I have consists of six different things to write about.

1. Thoughts
2. Application
3. VOD (verse of the day)
4. Question
5. Prayer
6. Blog

I leave a space in my journal for every one of these things. I write about my thoughts. What did I think about this scripture that I just read through? What stuck out to me? The thoughts section is usually whatever comes to mind when I am reading through scripture. Sometimes, it doesn't have to do anything with what I read in scripture. If I had a rough day or am going through something, I write about how the situation is making me think.

Application is my favorite section to write about. The application section is where I write about what I can take away from the scripture. It's where I ask myself, what I can learn from this. At first, this section was just for me. But once I started to write a blog, it became more of a how can this apply to other peoples lives in ways that they can be encouraged. The application section really gives me a chance to think about what I had read.

The VOD section is where I write down the verses that stick out to me the most or the verses that I am going to use in a blog post. It's a pretty simple thing to do, but for me, I found that when I write down which verses mean the most to me, I find myself being able to engrave those things even deeper into my heart and mind.

The Question section is simple. I write down any question that I have for God. It can be anything. For me, I usually ask about how I can have an impact on people and be of encouragement. My heart is in a place where I want to see others around me grow and succeed so a lot of my question relate to how I can have the most impact.

The Prayer line is also very personal. I recently started another journal where I write out a prayer for the entire day, but in my main journal, I think of the one think that is at the top of my prayer list and that is what I write down.

Lastly, I have a line for my blog title. This might not be very useful for you. But as I journal, that line usually fills up with possible blog titles for the day. It's simple, but can be tricky sometimes, because I like to choose titles that are appealing.

For me, this is how I journal. This is the process that I go through on a daily basis. Sure, it seems lengthy...but it really isn't that bad. Your thing might never be journaling and that is okay. It's not for everyone. There are not many people out there who enjoy spending time writing. Reading the bible on a consistent basis has changed my life and so has journaling/writing. I challenge you if you are feeling dead in the water and really want to jump start your walk with Christ, try to journal. It's hard at first, trust me. But once you get something figure out, everything will change. The key isn't doing something like journaling or reading your bible once in awhile...the key is to being disciplined and consistent to your approach. Once your relationship with Jesus and growth become an everyday thing, your life will change. Anybody can do something a couple times, that's Luke-warm. God does't want Luke-warm Christians, he wants us to be on fire. To me, a daily disciplined consistent walk with Jesus is what it means to be on fire.

So why journal? Imagine the feeling you get when you look back 10 years from now when you read through some of the journals that you wrote in. Think about what it would be like, reading through the lessons that God taught you and the things you learned in the bible and then telling your kids. Imagine the power in that. Imagine reading your first journal entry compared to journal entry 100. Just think about reading how you used to feel about things compared to now. It's a marathon, not a spring. Writing 1 page won't having you feeling satisfied. Stick to it! It's so worth it.

I want to close and encourage you with some of what my special friend said about journaling. This is what inspired me for this post tonight. "And of course, I remember the big things that happen, but it is so fun to write down the little things about your day that you don't think make any difference, because those are the kind of things you don't remember...but those are exactly the kinds of things I never want to forget. The small, seemingly insignificant details of every day life that make up one big life." 

It's honestly quite the coincidence that this verse was on the bottom of my prayer journal tonight.

"You should use whatever gift you have received from the Lord to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." (1 Peter 4:10) 

God has given you a gifts. I promise you that. I never thought I would be writing as much as I do, and I am going to use that gift to the best of may ability to serve the Lord. Whatever your gift may be, utilize it and serve the Lord.