If you have been around long, you know my backstory when it comes to journaling, and it’s not a pretty one.
A former Language Arts teacher who observed a regular time of journaling in the classroom because it was “good” for my students but rarely, if ever, spent any of that time journaling myself.
Totally immobilized by a blank page.
Overwhelmed at the thought of getting all the things swirling around in my head down on a blank sheet of paper – in complete sentence form no less.
Dreader of anything that required lengthy amounts of anything handwritten.
“I’ve tried this a thousand times, and it just doesn’t work for me!”
But then, you also know how God in His graciousness changed my story.
Weighed down by the crazy-busy that so often describes us and with a soul that cried out with ache, I heard God urging me to let go!
In the stillness of that early, beginning-of-a-fresh-new-summer morning, He spoke to my heart.
Let go, Debbie, of …
being locked in to the way you’ve ALWAYS done things.
your thoughts and expectations of the way things SHOULD be done.
what you fear others MIGHT think.
This summer simply enjoy spending time with me. Explore. Try new things. Think about how you have been wired by Me. Discover the ways you best connect with Me.
Play. If it helps you spend time with Me, keep doing it. Otherwise, it’s okay to let it go.
That is the summer I fell in love with journaling.
Not the journaling of my backstory – overwhelm, dread, labor – the way I THOUGHT it should be done.
No, I fell in love with the journaling that brings me to His feet and nourishes my soul – free of rules and complete sentences and filling a page – full of grace and mercy and conversation and the way God wired me.
Journaling for the Soul was born here out of this very struggle. There are more than 60 journaling methods included in this handbook, and the selection is wide and varied. Whether you choose the very simple A-Z Gratitude Journaling or the more involved Biographical Sketch Journaling, each method in the book is a tool for exploring new and different ways of discovering and recording what is in your mind and on your heart. More importantly the process of journaling helps to more fully engage you, deepening your quiet time and connecting you with your Heavenly Father.
With the purchase of Journaling for the Soul, you will receive:
- Over 60 journaling methods in step-by-step format
- Examples
- Practice pages
- Free access to a small group leader’s guide
- 10 FREE videos – five weeks of two videos each – one lesson, one demonstration of a specific journaling method
- Six professionally designed, downloadable journaling templates – simply print and use
Journaling for the Soul is available wherever Christian books are sold and at Amazon.
5 comments
welcomeheart
I love journaling. Somehow I think I will remember God’s points for me better if I write them down as He gives them to me. I don’t always go back to them but it doesn’t matter.
graysunshyne
I am HUGE advocate of all kinds of journaling. Research shows how healing journaling is too! I use it in my Christian counseling practice all. the. time. Thank you for sharing how it has changed your life…a great testimony of the power of putting thoughts to pen:)
Gayl
I started journaling years ago when I first started homeschooling my children. Now that they are all grown I don’t write in a journal every day, but at least several times a month. Now I do mostly art journaling and copying verses in another journal and I use a variety of ways, but it took time and experimenting and I’m still learning. Your book sounds like a great idea esp. for people who may be intimidated by journaling. I love how journaling helps me relax, helps me process things and also illustrate Scripture. It’s great to see how you went from not liking it to loving journaling! Blessings to you! I’m your neighbor at #HeartEncouragement.
Deborah
Wish I had learned years ago what you share here – variety. I do so much better with anything when there is variety! Thank you for sharing, Gayl! Blessings as you continue to journal!!
Deborah
I agree. There definitely is something to be said for physically writing things down… even if we never go back to them! Thank you for stopping by today!