Last spring when the world shut down, I picked up a new habit. No, I didn’t take up konmari. It was something much more useful, a habit at least as important to my overall health as flossing, getting my recommended daily intake of water, and spending time in God’s Word.
I began to journal.
Now you might assume because I’m a writer that I’ve been journaling for years. The truth is I’ve always liked the idea of journaling and in fact own two shelves full of journals; but the discipline required to fill the pages of said journals never materialized.
So what changed?
A lot changed during the Great Pause!
For starters, we arrived home from vacation on the second day of our statewide lockdown⚊the same day we received the keys to our new house. (Thanks goodness our new residence is close by since we had to move everything ourselves!) This move, which had been in the works for six months, was for the purpose of combining two households: ours and my parents. But first we had to finish their home in the walkout level before they could join us, a project that took the rest of the year.
As if that wasn’t enough change, my husband and I found ourselves in a spiritual desert of sorts during the Great Pause. The great thing about a pause is that it gives you time to really think, reflect, and pray. It was this wrestling process above all else that prompted me to pick a journal off the shelf and start putting pen to paper.
From the pages clarity emerged.
From the pages clarity emerged.
Jamie Linn Brummel
God was also in the process of tearing down some strongholds in my life (namely fear, a great one to tackle during a worldwide pandemic!). Journaling helped me discern what needed to go so that I could finally bring Living InWords to life and begin to live life more abundantly.
I became committed to the process of journaling regularly because I could see the benefits:
- Clearer thinking
- Answers to my pressing questions
- Hearing God’s voice more distinctly
- A record of my decisions
- A repository for my ideas
I gave up stressing about my penmanship and sentence structure being perfect. I let go of the idea that I had to journal every day for a set amount of time. Instead, I found myself grabbing my journal throughout the day to record various thoughts or things I wanted to remember. It resides in the same basket with my devotional and Bible, ever ready to document the journey of my inner life.
Do you journal? If so, I’d love to hear your why. If not, what’s holding you back?
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