Chronicles

I'm not sure what led me to do this, but this morning I decided to pull out my box of old journals. Ah yes, now I remember. I wanted to see what my re-entry after Jamaica was like last time I went in 2007. As I searched my journal, I came across many things that made me smile, some that made me laugh and a few that brought tears to my eyes.

This afternoon I decided to label each one with the time the journal spanned and then in what order the journal belonged.

I have been chronicling my life with Jesus since May of 2001. I currently have 13 journals complete and am currently working on #14. That's incredible. To be journaling about what God has been doing in my life for the past 8 years is amazing!

As I inductively studied my journals here are some observations I made:
  • many journals start like this, "YEAH!!!! A new journal. I'm so excited to start this one."
  • many journals had 8 or more pages left at the end that were empty
  • my penmanship (?) has dramatically evolved over the years as has the colors/designs of the writing in the journal (this is an interpretation ... darn it!)
  • there were cut outs from magazines, bulletins, letters, cards and name tags from IV conferences and other events I attended
  • 10/13 have wire binding
  • 2/13 had solid colored covers
  • the last one or two pages in a few of them were filled with either to-do lists, names of people, pro/con lists of things (mostly about staff) as well as lists of the characteristics i want in a husband
  • anger and pain and darkness were recurring themes, as well as choosing life and death
  • an embarrassingly large content was about my desire for a husband (God has GOT to be tired of hearing about this!)
  • song lyrics were often involved in the entries
  • God has used a LOT of influential people in my life
  • God has been faithful to me 100% of the time (interpretation again)
Wow. What a blessed experience to be able to go back through and see where God has moved me to and moved me from. I'm grateful that I started journaling, it's been so instrumental in my development as a follower of Christ and as a person. It helps me to crystalize my thoughts and feelings. Ah, journaling.
Read More 2 comments | Posted by Stephanie | edit post

2 comments

  1. Sheila on Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 5:05:00 PM EDT

    Man, I really need to get back into journaling again - this inspires me :) I've stopped for awhile now and only randomly journal when I'm having a petulant childish outburst on God :-p But I'm always so embarrassed afterward that I throw away the papers and am done with it... But journals are definitely a reminder of His faithfulness :)

      
  2. Anonymous on Friday, March 20, 2009 at 9:33:00 PM EDT

    you should write a book