Do you want to grow in your discipleship?  Do you want to understand your life better?  Would you like to be able to recognize and remember the significant moments of your life?  Then let me encourage you to begin a journal.  Journaling is much different than keeping a diary.  A journal is a process whereby at two are three times a week you record the different perspectives of your life.

Our lives are like a multifaceted diamond.  One facet is the daily unfolding of our life with its various events and appointments.  We have a past.  It might be happy or painful but the history of our lives helps us to understand ourselves as we record the bits of it we remember.  Sunday morning on the way to church, I called my Mom to tell her I love her.  My youngest son decided to tell her that I wasn’t wearing a suit to church.  (Dress is casual at Woodland Church)  She told him, “Your Dad has a worn a suit to church since he was two years old.”  Along with some other things that I won’t bore you with but my sons thought were very funny!  A happy memory from the past recorded in my journal preserves that moment, helps you understand one of the ways I was raised to think about going to church to worship the Lord.

Another facet is about your pilgrimage, what are you doing to grow as a Christian.  How about the things you are thinking about?  You know those insights you have into life or people, reflections, great books you’re reading.  When I have dreams that I remember, I write those down.  For instance, last week, a couple that we’ve intensely prayed for.  I had a wonderful dream about them.  It encouraged me to continue to pray.  After a few days I thought it appropriate to share my dream with them.  It seemed to encourage them.  I certainly don’t believe every dream is from God, but I think it is foolish to think that God might not encourage or warn us in our dreams.

I journal my prayers for my family and record my observations there about them as well as dreams and plans, our church (your workplace), missionaries and friends.

What makes this work in our lives for growth as disciples?  Faith.  Faith that God sees our prayers knows our hearts and honors our prayers.  He helps us to remember, to look at the painful parts of our past as heals us.  We look at our futures with hope and confidence because he holds our days in his hands.  He honors our prayers and like people of the Bible who wrote down their prayers, we don’t forget them.  It also is good way to stay focused.  More about that tomorrow and more.  I hope you’ll join me and begin to journal!

Peace and Joy!