Journaling: An Act of Worship by Lynn Dove

I began journaling when I was a young Mom with my first child.  I was coming out of a very dark time of post-natal depression and someone suggested that I take up journaling as part of the healing and recovery process.  I had kept a diary briefly as a teenager, so I assumed that to journal was just keeping a daily record of events that happened or was about to happen to me, and then comment on how I was “feeling” on any given day.  I started simply enough just stating how I spent my days.  “Today I had a visit from a friend; It snowed today; I went shopping; I made meatloaf for supper…”  It was very bland writing, very matter-of-fact, and had no introspective value whatsoever.  After a month of trying, I was ready to give up on journaling because it brought me no satisfaction or joy in doing it.  It was a chore, nothing more.

As a writer I am always thinking who my audience is when I write.  Who will read my writing?  I was always purposeful to write content that would appeal to a certain reader.  I realized I had a writing dilemma when I was journaling.  There was no audience.  I was the only reader.  Journaling is supposed to be personal.  It is private.  It is not necessarily meant to be read by anyone else except the writer.  It is supposed to be an exercise in introspection but I wasn’t being introspective.  It was merely a play-by-play of my days and I wanted it to be more than that.  I wanted to pour my heart out to someone.  I wanted to write to an audience, and that’s when I learned that journaling can be a spiritual discipline. 

I had never thought of journaling as a worshipful act before and as soon as I started to think about it in that way, it changed my whole perspective and attitude towards journaling.  I changed the way I wrote, the way I shared, and rather my being so self-centred in my approach, I focused on building my relationship with God through the process of writing in my journal.  In journaling my writing is for HIS eyes and He is my sole, or should I say “soul” audience!

Journaling has become a vibrant and essential part of my “quiet” time with the Lord.  There are some days I find myself just sharing my day and then writing prayers to God, or I saturate the pages with Scripture.  Many times I have found myself looking back on events in my life, by reading past entries in journals and realizing how God intervened, encouraged or directed my steps.  My journal highlights spiritual markers and milestones in my life.  There are also entries that show my discouragements and complaints, and many deep valleys that I have journeyed through.  There are times I have felt like the Psalmist in pouring out my heart to God, begging Him to intervene or intercede on my behalf.  I have never been disappointed in God’s response, and my journal entries show proof that God has listened and acted. 

My journal(s), I have over thirty that I have written in, show my family’s comings and goings, highs and lows as well as the more mundane daily happenings over the past thirty five years.  As I get older, I don’t remember dates and past events as well anymore, so I can look back in my journals and read details from past years.  One such time of “looking back” in a journal was so profound and showed how amazing God's activity was in our lives, I had to share it on my Journey Thoughts blog.  It’s the only time I’ve shared with a larger audience some specifics of what I have written in my journal. 

There are countless books and articles written on how to journal, and I certainly do not pretend to be an expert in journaling.  I have discovered that I may journal differently than someone else and that there is no right or wrong way to journal.  I appreciate those who have researched the benefits of journaling for mental health reasons as well as using it as a spiritual discipline.  For me, journaling has become a very personal, intimate act of worship.   

David Mathis, Executive Editor, desiringGod.org : “Those Christians who flourish in journaling not only pursue prayer, and meditate on Scripture in general, but seek to apply the gospel with specificity to their fears and frustrations, their highs and lows, their joys and sorrows. When you open your journal harrowed, try to follow the path of the psalmists and close with hope…Your journal is a venue for freshly preaching the gospel to yourself, in your particular circumstances, without parroting the canned lines of truth you'll default to without pausing to think it over and write it out. Capture in your own words what you’re truly feeling, and then look for God’s words that meet your need.”  https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/five-ways-to-flourish-in-journaling

Lynn Dove is the award-winning author, of the YA “Wounded Trilogy”- a contemporary Christian fiction series with coming-of-age themes.  A wife, mom, grandmother, and free-lance writer with articles published in several magazines and anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her blog, “Journey Thoughts” is a Canadian Christian Writing Award winner.  Readers may connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and at lynndove.com