Journaling by Sandra Rafuse

 

When I first read January's prompt for 2026, my heart skipped a beat. "Do you journal?" it asked. I had tried journaling a few times in a notebook with a pen but I couldn't make it flow. I couldn't find a rhythm to it and I wasn't satisfied with the words I was writing. I had to admit I didn't journal.

When the January blogs started coming in, I was learning so much more about journaling than I'd ever known before: what it was, the purposes it served, the many different methods of doing it. Everyone was sharing so much information and it was all so interesting to read. . .there were so many different ideas! When Susan Barclay's blog, "Confessions of a Former Journalist" came out, I have to admit I gave a huge sigh of relief after reading she was no longer journaling. I could relate to the reasons she spoke of for deciding to stop keeping a journal. Her words made me feel that it was alright to not to be journaling at this time. Maybe another time would work and that would be good.

Then Mary Folkerts's blog "Journaling for My Heart" was published and her words opened up my eyes to possibilities I hadn't thought of. Mary said, "The recording of my life has taken the form of calendars, to-do lists, photo galleries on my phone or laptop, and writing articles. These, too, are journals." Photo galleries? They are journals? I thought of the collages I had started putting together a few years ago. And at that moment, I realized for the first time, that the collages told a story. They were memories of a special time or a special place, or a special occasion. The photo of the collage at the top of this page is the story of my brother Greg's love of old cars. He goes to antique car shows as often as he can and sometimes has someone take a picture of himself standing beside some of his favourite cars. I am sure I could have him send me several more pictures, enough to make a second collage of cars for him.

I sent a collage to my niece's daughter when she was six years old. Pictures of the day she went into the hospital to get her tonsils taken out. Pictures of the preparation for the surgery and then pictures of her recovery afterwards. A single page full of memories to look at in the years to come. And one of my favourite collages of all is the one I put together of three of my nieces, a nephew, and our two sons posing with some of fish they had caught in their younger years. Well, ok, maybe their dad had caught them and helped pull them in, but there they stood with their fish, so happy and excited and proud. Today they all have the same collage to bring out and look at and they can remember the happiness they felt! There's lots for them to talk about while looking at those pictures.

Hey! I realize, according to some of the blogs I've read so far this month, that I'm journaling! I thought I wasn't. But I am! I turn my head and I see a pile of notebooks lying in a basket beside my bookcase. I look at the titles and I remember what was written in them; famous quotes, favourite newspaper clippings; paragraphs from books that spoke to me of love and courage and danger and happiness and God and how he is always in our lives taking care of us; scriptures to stand on; lessons from some pastors' sermons, more famous quotes; etc., etc. Journals. They are journals. I thought I'd stopped working on them, but I've been writing them all along.

While I am delighted to know that there are so many different ways that we can journal, I do want to start again with notebook and pen. I'm looking forward to it.

 

Sandra Rafuse lives in the small town of Rockglen, Saskatchewan, with her husband, Bob, a Gordon Setter named Sadie, and a Peregrine falcon named Peet. She is a retired teacher and an amateur writer and is thoroughly enjoying having the opportunity to share what God is teaching her through her life experiences.

 

 

A Journal Begins with One Word by Gloria Guest

One word is all it takes to light the flicker that can grown into a thousand words.

In our small writers group, Friends with Pens, we use this technique to write a fifteen minute narrative that must include the word(s) of choice by that month's leader. This small writer's prompt has garnered some very good beginning 'first drafts' of a story, a devotional, a poem or even the potential germination of a book. The character, scene and dialogue development that has come out of just fifteen minutes of writing has also proven to be intriguing in some very delightful ways. We have all found as we plumbed these depths, that there was more within us than we'd at first imagined. It leads one to wonder; how much more do we each hold within that without a nudge or a prompt, will never find its way onto the page and ultimately into print?

A journal is very similar to those writing prompts. Whatever we're choosing to write about; a letter to God, ourself, someone else or just putting our thoughts down on the page, once we start we don't usually know where it's going to branch off to. It's a word adventure where we step out onto the trail and see where it takes us; dense dark foliage which we struggle through before we come out on the other side; a meandering pathway that is obstacle free until we trip unexpectedly on a tree root; maybe a steep uphill climb when we'd rather have gone down into that happy looking little valley with the babbling brook.

Most of my past journaling has taken me into places I wasn't expecting. I knew I had some anger issues but until I indiscriminately wrote them on paper, I wasn't aware of just how much it was consuming parts of my life. Or I'd find myself start and before I knew it some deep hurt would bubble to the surface. Journaling has also served to 're-introduce' me to myself in some interesting ways. Memories can glide from far back and suddenly find themselves front and centre on the page. Where did that come from? They no longer want to be ignored. Other times, they've stood back afar and hazy but clearing a little as I've stopped and acknowledged them. Slowly a shadow figure of my younger self seemed to step carefully between my words and whisper, "Nice to see you again. I have something to show you."

Perhaps that sounds too mystical to some, but it's what can happen when we are ready to engage our words with our memories. Maybe we don't always feel safe to go on such a journey. Then we can start down a different path; no less important but one that leads somewhere we feel less frightened of. A Gratitude Journal can help help us skip across a few flat rocks in the pond without getting our feet too wet, while still learning about ourselves. A gratitude journal can help us become more comfortable with acknowledging what we have received, in spite of our hardships, and bring a sense of peace amongst the storm.

One word...is all it takes.... A journal, whatever form it takes, is not something that we 'plot' out. We 'step' out. And with each step we take we can be confident we are on a journey to where God has been wanting to take us all along.

Gloria journals and writes from a small prairie village in southern Saskatchewan. She writes memoir, creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry. She has taken editing classes from Simon Fraser University and Creative Writing classes from U of T. Mostly she has written as a past reporter/columnist. Her small writers group, Friends with Pens (three members strong) has been an important source of inspiration and support for her as she's navigated the past couple of years.

On Journaling by Brenda J Wood

Somewhere in the early seventies, I heard that journaling helped a person overcome abuse and I thought, that is for me! I gathered up notebooks and several pens. Then I warned my family never to touch those scribblers. I left them in plain view on the coffee table and trusted they'd never open them. That’s many years and sixty plus notebooks ago.

This is what I have learned.

Just get all your thoughts out of you and onto the page; everything from joys to jealous and juicy gossip. Getting words down on the page somehow makes the life they represent more manageable. Some people like to organize their overwhelming thoughts. I just pour mine out and deal with them face-to-face.

Who else is better qualified?

Those sentences help you understand the real you. There is no pretense when you face your regrets and reality.

Be a Velveteen Rabbit. Find that true happiness means accepting yourself as who you really are. Of course, by necessity, we write the good, the bad, and the ugly. How do we experience joy if we haven’t experienced its opposite?

Write on and expose your hidden attitudes and prejudice and deal them a heavy blow of correction.

The lessons you learn? Invaluable. Let your words lead you—through loneliness, leisure and life in general.

J - just

O - organize

U - understand

R - be real, record

N - necessary

A - attitudes and

L - life lessons

You might never write a best seller or publish your memoir, but your journals are a fine second.

Brenda J Wood has authored more than fifty books. She is a seasoned motivational speaker, who declares the Word of God with wisdom, humour, and common sense.

Journaling for My Heart by Mary Folkerts

 

I pulled a dusty old box from the top shelf in my closet, and immediately, I was transported back to elementary and junior high school. Inside were stacks of letters and tiny pieces of paper filled with the angsty words of teenage girls, passing notes in class. I could spend hours shaking out the dust, opening folded paper and remembering young Mary and her friends. It takes me back to the days that formed me; the bad, the good, the embarrassing and the painful. I am no longer that girl, but it was who I once was.

I’m not sure why I have kept that box of memories, and maybe it’s time to trash it. Or perhaps I’ll leave it for my kids to have a chuckle over someday. The same goes for old notebooks filled with journal entries I started, with good intentions to document my days. My mom faithfully kept a diary, and I thought it was a wonderful idea. Inevitably, there were many stops and starts over the years, but I do find it fascinating to read the entries. For me, it’s like looking through old photo albums, remembering my childhood.

In my adult years, I have been much less faithful about keeping a daily physical journal. The recording of my life has taken the form of calendars, to-do lists, photo galleries on my phone or laptop, and writing articles. These, too, are journals in their own right, returning us to the memories of yesteryear.

Whatever form the documentation of our lives takes, I think it’s important for our legacy and for our own remembering. I have often looked back over something I have written and, with greater clarity, can see how God has worked in my life to grow and change me. There have also been many times when I have needed to reread words to minister afresh to my own heart.

Untangling feelings onto paper, even in haphazard sentences, frees the mind to think more clearly about a situation.

That’s the thing about words—they are perennial. Times may change, cultural norms may shift, but truths don’t change. Journaling our lives, in whatever form that takes, is a life-giving practice. Untangling feelings onto paper, even in haphazard sentences, frees the mind to think more clearly about a situation. And reading back those thoughts years later, disorganized as they may be, can bring a realization of how God works change and growth in us.

And even when not journaling, our writer words are often written to our own hearts, for we, the sick, know well the Cure. We write from our pain as our journals can confirm.


Physician, heal thyself!
taunts at the obvious—
fissures splayed
wide, pinned
like a specimen.
Heads nodding,
prodding,
pointing out the fault
line—
there, see?
But never denied,
each spoon of medicine
dolled out,
two taken in turn.
For the sick
know well the
cure.

Mary Folkerts is mom to four kids and wife to a farmer, living on the southern prairies of Alberta, where the skies are large and the sunsets stunning. She is a member of Proverbs 31 Ministries' COMPEL Writers Training, involved in church ministries and music. Mary’s blog aims to encourage and inspire women and advocate for those with Down Syndrome, as their youngest child introduced them to this extraordinary new world. For more inspiration, check out Joy in the Small Things https://maryfolkerts.com/ or connect on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maryfolkerts/