Letter to My Younger Self by Dana-Lyn Phillips

Being a teenager is hard but it’s not going to last forever. In fact, your high school years will be over in the blink of an eye. Soon you will be making big life decisions so for now, just relax and enjoy the ride. Focus on friendships, and relationship building, because one of these friends will be with you for life. (Spoiler Alert: It’s not the cute boy from History class that you will pine over for four years.)

Don’t be self-absorbed and fail to look around you. Notice that your friends, who are doing all of those things you refuse to do, are just crying out for attention because they come from unstable families. Some, through the dark of night, and behind closed doors, are actually going through the unimaginable.

Although your family has challenges of its own, with a handicapped father and a mother who needs to work long hours to provide for her family, you are loved. Your family is emotionally healthy and your friends sense it. They gravitate towards your home. Open the doors and let them in. I know that because you are an only child, sharing is difficult, but you can share your parents because they have enough love to go around.

Before you know it you will be applying to college. You’ll be a step ahead since you have known, for years, exactly what you wanted to be and your high school courses have all been planned accordingly. Your grades won’t be stellar but you’ve got this. Don’t let your co-op advisor deter you, or make you feel like you’re not good enough. He may think you need to be a man to be an Architect, but show him he’s wrong.

I would suggest that when you apply to college - DON’T JUST APPLY TO ONE! Apply to a few so that if (rather when) you don’t get into your first choice you have options. Don’t be discouraged, know that God has a better plan than the one you imagine. Just go with the flow.

Fast forward…

As you turn thirty years old you will look back over the previous ten years and recognize they did not go according to your plans. Yes, you graduate but the economy ruins your dreams of continuing in architecture. You return to school multiple times striving toward new dreams but all of those programs and diplomas will fall short. They will end up being a waste of time and money. They certainly won’t bring you the joy you’re looking for.

You’ll gain stable employment but non-profit wages won’t sustain you long-term. You will eventually stop focusing on your career and begin to focus on the only true dream you have for this lifetime — a husband, who puts the Lord first, and at least two children (because you know what being an only child is like). Don’t give up on this dream but be patient as it won’t happen as early as you would like it to.

You have a habit of never just enjoying where you are. You’re always focused on the next thing you want out of life. As you date, you will be focused on marriage. Once married, you will long for children. Once the kids come, you will watch over them as they sleep, wondering how you’re ever going to make it through and be a good mom. Trust me, it all works out in the end and you end up with a couple of amazing kids.

Eventually, you will reflect on life lived and accept that it didn’t end up the way you imagined it would. You’ll realize, it turned out better. There is One who has bigger and better dreams for you, and He has a way of working things out according to His purposes for your life.

In fact, what would you think if I told you that one day…you will be a writer?

 

Dana-Lyn is a wife, and mother to teenage boys as well as a 14-year-old cava-poo named Hockley. She is passionate about encouraging Christian women in their faith and is stepping into her mid-life "calling" as a writer. Her happy place consists of a comfy chair, a great book, a hot cup of coffee and a chocolate…or three! You can read more of her work at https://plansfargreater.substack.com

A Letter to 16-Year-Old Me by Susan Barclay

 

Dear Sixteen-Year-Old Me,

You thought you would go to Sweden on your own this year. Ha! You’ll be fortunate if you get there before you’re too old to go. But put your mind at ease: 16 is far too young to go hotfooting around the globe on your own. And one day you’ll have a son who’s interested in Sweden, too. Maybe you’ll go together!

You also thought you’d be married by the time you’re 23. Nope. You won’t even seriously date until you’re almost 25. And then you’ll waste time on a commitment-phobe. Afterwards you’ll tell yourself, and you won’t be wrong, that no time is wasted if you learn something. You do learn something: never pass yourself off as someone you’re not to try to fit someone else’s mould. Even if you’re not perfect (see next paragraph), yourself is actually pretty great. God made you, right? He doesn’t make junk.

You know what else? Twenty three is pretty young to get married. It won’t seem so as you watch many of your peers marry sooner than you do. But comparison is the thief of joy, peace, and contentment. If I could give you a timely word of advice, I’d say don’t play that game. When you marry, you’ll choose someone who shares your beliefs and values, who’ll stick with you through all the ups and downs. He won’t be perfect. Big secret, neither are you (despite being pretty great – see above). It’ll be worth the wait to have a God-fearing person with whom to do life.

You’re already working in a library and that’s where you’ll spend your career. You’ll never lose your love of reading, acquiring books, and doing readers’ advisory. It’s parallel to the work you really want to do as a writer but it’s stable and more readily pays the bills. Sadly, you won’t develop good writing habits while you’re young and carry them throughout the busy life headed your way, but it’s never too late to start, or to start over. That applies to many things, not only to writing.

You’ll have two children, a girl and a boy. You’ll love and raise them as best as you know how. They’ll both walk away from God and the foundation you’ll raise them on. Don’t worry, though. Their salvation never depended on you. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job. Their journeys are their own. Those journeys will be a lot more mind-blowing than yours, but He’s got them just like He has you. He is faithful. You’ll learn to depend on Him and you’ll grow in Him. You’ll find He’s right there in the fire with you. He’s working, even when you cannot see. I have seen my faith made sight, so I know that this is true. He never stops working.

You’ll question some of the decisions you'll make, whether different choices would’ve produced different (better) results. Remember that hindsight is 20-20. Let go of regret and wishful thinking. You’re not one to rashly follow a path. You’ll do your homework; sometimes you’ll remember to pray about it. God won’t always make everything perfectly clear and you’ll go in a direction perhaps you shouldn’t have. Life is full of ups and downs. God gave you a free will and knew the decisions you would make. He works ALL things together for your good because you love Him and are called according to His purposes (ref Romans 8:28). He loves you and accepts you.

God loves you unconditionally, just like He loves everyone, but only those who receive Jesus get to spend eternity with Him. You’ve accepted Jesus already, even though at 16 you don’t have a complete understanding of what that means. You’ll understand it better by and by. The process of sanctification (transformation) takes a lifetime and that’s okay. That’s how God designed it. Receive His forgiveness for your mistakes and forgive yourself, too. Trust Him always. Cling to Him in times of trouble. He will see you through, and one day He will walk you Home.

Love,

Your older and wiser self

_____________________

For more about Susan and her writing, please visit www.susan-barclay.blogspot.com

To My Younger Self by Alan Anderson

 

I don’t have an abundance of fond memories of my childhood. Years would crawl by before I realized God was not a Great Tormentor in the sky. My imagination allowed me to create adventures to escape and run away from certain moments in life. Glory to God, I came to be aware of the gift and beauty of life, including my life.


Dear Alan,

Your early years in Scotland revealed your shyness, self-doubt, and a desire to escape those with loud voices. In time you would learn to use your imagination through writing to turn away your fears. You also turned to people who helped shape the man you would become.

Standout Memories

Do you remember when you were seven or eight years old, there was an upset at home, and you wanted to run away? You ran out of the house, not knowing where you would run to, then realized something else. The weather was stormy, and thunderclaps scared you. You thought the thunder was God being angry with you for running away.

When you finally went back home, no one realized you had left. Your family thought you had just gone outside for a while. This caused you to think you did not matter. Mum, however, did notice and consoled you as only she could.

Remember the old man from our neighbourhood who took his own life. His death was too much for you to process. When you asked Mum why he did such a thing, she said amid her own sadness that, “he was lonely.” You will never forget her sorrowful words nor the old man’s death. As you grow in years and mature in life, the old man will be your role model for people who suffer. Mum will be your role model for compassion.

Another impactful memory is your unending love for a teacher named Miss Gordon. Miss Gordon let you know you mattered, and she took the time to encourage you in your schooling. You will write about her when you get older to let people know of her beautiful compassion. 

https://inscribewritersonline.blogspot.com/2015/09/miss-gordon-oh-how-i-loved-you-by-alan.html

A delightful memory planted forever in your soul is of you and one of your brothers wandering in a field near the Grampian Mountains in Scotland. You walked through a field covered with purple heather and fragrant flowers. This gave you such pleasure and a time for you to rest your mind from your inner turmoil. You saw and felt God’s creation and realized His love. This allowed you to breathe in a calmness you had never found before.

Words of encouragement as you grow older

As years go by and you become a man, your love of quiet places will be one of your strengths. You will never lose your practice of embracing nature, God’s creation. As you get older, you will continue to thank God when the trees you walk by seem to embrace you. You will also love solitude and places that allow you to sit in peace and write.

As decades go by, you will develop your writer’s voice. Write well and often, even when health challenges settle on you as you reach your older years. Never compromise your voice for the sake of popularity or wealth as the world sees it. Remember Mum, Miss Gordon, and the old man, for they were the seeds of your writing and compassionate words.

Keep in mind the heart and actions of the Lord Jesus:

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36 NIV)

Alan, for as long as you can show this compassion in how you live and through the words you write.

 

Alan lives in a small village called Deroche, British Columbia, with his wife, Terry, and their poodle, Charlie. He enjoys walking on the dike near his home, with trees all around and where he finds inspiration to write. He has occasionally written articles for FellowScript Magazine and is a regular contributor to the InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship blog. Alan’s website and blog is https://scarredjoy.ca. He has also begun to write on Substack.

A Letter to My Younger Self by Steph Beth Nickel

Dear 20-Something Self,

Some things we can’t learn without experiencing them. So, while there is lots I’d love to encourage you to change, lessons I’d love for you to learn sooner, we likely wouldn’t be here, just a couple of months before our 65^th birthday.

And just where is here?

After 40+ years in the same city, Dave and I are packing and prepping the house to put on the market. Joshua, Son #2, and his wife, Ericka, (yep, we’re a mother-in-law twice over) live two provinces over. Sarah, Kiddo #3, moved in with them last fall. She hopes to buy a place of her own when she has saved up enough for a downpayment. And our plan, Lord willing, is for Dave and I to move west after the house sells.

That will be a huge adventure, considering we’ve never lived out of the province. While we’re excited, the thought of leaving behind family and friends will become more emotionally charged as the date approaches. Several people have said how much they don’t want us to go, some who have known us for years and others we’ve befriended more recently.

Last year, Dave finally retired from his “temporary” job at the Housing Corporation, where he worked for over 40 years. (The Lord never opened the doors to full-time music ministry as we’d anticipated.) Nathanial came home from Scotland to celebrate his dad’s retirement and his 70^th b-day. (Sadly, N’s wife, Laura, couldn’t take the time off work.) Joshua and Ericka also joined us. And Sarah was still living at home at this point.

While all this happened just last year, it seems like it was much longer ago. What doesn’t seem that long ago is the adventure Dave and I shared with Nathanial and Laura in 2024. We travelled to Iceland with them and toured Scotland, where they live. Nathanial also took Dave and I to Ireland for five days toward the end of our time across the Pond.

So, all that to say…

Our life has been a sequence of adventures. And hopefully, there are several more yet to come.

You, my 20-something self, have challenging days ahead. You’ll make mistakes you’d love to erase. Words—lots of words—you’d love not to have said. Accusations you’ll wish you’d never made. Lessons you’d love to have learned much earlier. Opportunities you’ll grab hold of and others that will slip through your fingers. And a battle with anger that only the Lord could deliver you from.

But know this…

Romans 8:28 is true. God truly works all things together for good.

His mercy and grace are unfathomable.

And His blessings… Innumerable.

Trust the Lord. Grow in your love for Him. And grow in your love for those whose paths cross yours.

Embrace the adventure that is your life!

Steph Beth Nickel is the former Editor of FellowScript and the current InScribe Contest Coordinator. Steph is an editor and author and plans to relocate to Saskatchewan from Ontario to be close to family in 2027. (Headshot Photo Credit: Jaime Mellor Photography)

Time Capsule: A Letter to My Future Self by Sandi Somers

February 12, 2026

To my future self in December 2026,

I have a special Christmas card and letter for you to open in December, 2026. It’s sealed like a time capsule and is my gift to you—a review of your year.

I’ll give you the background to the letter, as a trailer-of-sorts.

In my yearly plans in January, the Lord gave me a special verse: “Launch out into the deep.” (Luke 5:4). I was also reminded of Paul’s words: “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10).

I began with brainstorming all the things I’d like to accomplish this year. Then with that list, I asked myself:

· What would I attempt if I were sure the Lord were with me infusing wisdom, love, courage, and strength?

· What obstacles seem to be standing in my way?

· What specific things do I need to ask God to give me?

· What are some steps I need to take to get there? (List several)

· Where/how is the Lord prompting me now to step out in faith and risk?

I also included a quote from Lloyd John Ogilvie, one of my favourite authors, who wrote the book, The Lord of the Impossible: “Ask God to help you dare to risk attempting something He’s revealed He wants you to be and do.”

So as you open my card and read my letter, you'll find many questions about my life in 2026. They include such questions as: “What did you risk, and with what results? (Conversely, what risks did you not take, and with what results?) What surprised you? What was your greatest success of the year?” Unexpected events and situations often come up during the year, and my questions included: “What were they and how did you handle them? How did they influence your writing?” “How and where did you most honour the Lord this year?”

Before I get carried away with the questions, just a reminder to note that it will be important to assess what you learned from this process, and what takeaways you can offer for my plans and writing in 2027.

With love from your younger self,
Sandi

PS—I’ve tucked the Christmas card and letter in all my notes for the InScribe Writers’ Online blog. You’ll find it in the “December” notes.

 

Sandi Somers’ writing passion is to help readers grow their faith in Jesus, including their vision of what God wants them to be and do. Sandi lives in Calgary, Alberta, the delightful city between the Rocky Mountains and the Prairies, where she enjoys God’s beauty through walking and driving in nature, gardening in season, reading, and connecting with extended family and friends.

                                                                

Notes to Self Through the Decades ~ Valerie Ronald

Dear Valerie Evelyn,

You arrived along with the spring flowers in April. Your parents and brothers welcomed you with joy˗˗a wee redheaded girl with big eyes eager to take in the world. Your childhood holds some of my clearest early memories. Most cherished are scenes and stories from your imagination. You skipped through the veil between fantasy and reality like a fairy child, happy living in tales of your own weaving. Your parents hurried you along when you dawdled, immersed in your inner world. They did not realize their little girl’s whimsical fancies were the dawning of a deep inner life. Now you hold my hand in the twilight before I sleep, telling myself stories to calm my mind, as you once did. You will always be a part of me.

With young womanhood came your awakening to the possibility of romantic love. You ran fast after it, thinking all questions would be answered through the heart, but found it to be a tender organ, quick to bruise and slow to heal. If you had realized then that your heart’s longing could only find true fulfillment in one perfect Man, Jesus Christ, much suffering may have been averted. Eventually you embraced a new life in Christ, but not before your heart was trampled and thrown aside. I still live with the scars of that broken heart, now made whole because of the healing love of Jesus.

Becoming a mother gave your creative imagination a chance to blossom again. Tea parties with dolls, playing pirates in the forest, and stories before bedtime; these brought you delight through the eyes of your children. You entered into their world, not just as their mother but as a fellow creative who sparked their imaginations with what if’s and let’s pretend. You have reason to be proud of their adult accomplishments as musicians, artists, and writers.

When you learned to read and write as a child, a way opened for you to express your inner world through the written word. It came as naturally to you as breathing. You dreamed of a career as a journalist, however, marriage and family set that dream aside.

No need to think you failed, though, because from my vantage point I see God’s perfect timing in those dreams now coming to fruition in my golden years. The day is here when all you learned in your walk with Jesus gives you much to share with others through your writing. But first you will go through the refiner’s fire. Refining will reveal depths of God’s character and purposes only suffering brings to light. I guarantee it will be worth it all to know the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.  (Romans 11:33 NIV)

I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who calls you by your name, am the God of Israel. (Isaiah 45:3 NKJV)

It seems just a short time ago you were a little girl swaying on a backyard swing, absorbed in the magical tales of your imagination. Soon you and I will experience what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined, when we enter God’s kingdom to see Jesus face to face.

Take courage, dear heart!

From your older self, who loves you always 

Valerie Ronald writes from an old roll top desk in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, 

with her tortoiseshell cat for a muse. A graduate of Langara College School of Journalism,

she writes devotionals, fiction, and inspirational prose. Her purpose in writing

is to encourage others to grow in their spiritual walk.                                                 

Mail at Death’s Door by Michelle Joy Teigrob

 

To Me on My Final Day,

Well, I guess this is it. You’re about to become the shadow, the mist, the flower, that vanishes from earth forever. Of course, we both know this also means you’re stepping into something more glorious than you could ever imagine. (More on that in another letter).

For this missive, I want to talk about your time on earth.

Oh, how I yearn to know that you are finishing well. How my heart strains with the hope that that, as you heave your final breath, your spirit rests fully at peace.

Finish well, my dear, older self. Whether that final day occurs one day from now, one month, or one year, cross the finish line with your spiritual chin up, shoulders back, arms pumping.

I know middle age shook you harder than you expected. For a time, you allowed discouragement and even some despair to rattle your spirit into nearly giving up in bitterness. As heartache and trouble slammed into your middle years, you wondered why God had ever let you live.

Why did you and your twin survive a very difficult birth, when the doctor believed both of you could likely not make it? Why, at 21 years of age, could you walk away with only minor injuries from the same car crash that took your twin to heaven much too early? So very often your spirit cried out these questions.

I suspect, even on your last day on earth, you don’t hold the complete answer to these wonderings. They are the sorts of anguished musings that I truly believe can only be fully and satisfactorily responded to in heaven.

But, I hope, oh, I pray so hard, that between the time that I pen this letter and the day you step into eternity, you found a way to exist with the tension of not knowing those answers while also living every day as faithfully and fully as God gave you strength.

I pray you discovered and held onto whatever it was you needed to remain faithful – faithful to God, faithful to your family, and faithful to your life’s purpose, including the call you sensed on your heart to write.

I know that in mid-life you drank fresh courage and inspiration from learning about the lives of writers who embarked on their writing ministries in the latter half of their existence. The story of Hildegard of Bingen especially nourished your motivation. Born in 1098, Hildegard started writing for publication in middle age. Despite physical sickness and an acute sense of her own inadequacies, she went on to pen visionary books, two volumes on natural medicine, 77 pieces of music, and more than 400 letter corresponding with popes, emperors, and other leading figures of her day. (The fact that she was the youngest of ten children, like you, sparked a special sense of connection with her, despite the centuries between you).

“Never, never, never give up.” Long before the days of social media posts, our twin Maria had discovered this line famously spoken by Winston Churchill during the black days of World War II. I remember seeing it scribbled in one of her notebooks. Decades later, our son Micah, drawn to the same powerful line, copied it out on a card and taped it to his wall. You always loved to collect snippets of sayings that ignited your spirit – and quotes loved by people you loved gave you extra fire.

I pray that to your final day, you never stopped drawing courage, hope, and strength from stories and sayings.

More than anything, I pray so earnestly that you never ever gave up the practice you started as a young woman of calling out to the Giver of Life, of always seeking to know him more, and of depending on him fully and completely for your every need.

Dear, older self on your last day on earth, as the windows of heaven begin to part, my whole being yearns to know that you are hearing these words: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23, ESV).

Please, for my sake, for the sake of all who ever loved you -- those who have gone before, those still alive, and the generations of the future -- but, most of all, for the sake of Jesus, your Saviour and Lord – finish well.

Michelle Joy Teigrob lives with her family in Peterborough, Ontario. Her book on grief, Joyfully Star-mapping Through Life's Dung Piles, is now available at michellejoybooks.ca.

 

 

Dear Younger Self by Peggianne Wright

December 31, 1976

Dear Diary,
My best friend and I have had a colossal fight and I don't think we'll ever be friends again.

What felt like the end of the world that turbulent night was filled with God's blessings in so many ways. But only as I matured both as a person and a Christian would I recognize and understand it. From that agonizing phase of my young teenage life, I can now say:

 

Dear Younger Self,

You're still learning. The world is a hard place for soft hearts like yours. But, keep it soft no matter what.

Hold on to your values but be flexible. You were taught by loving parents who set you on a path with Jesus at your side. No matter what the world accepts, your principles and moral values must remain your guardrails. Pray for those in your life who are faltering. Extend your hand to those who are lost.

Dark Seasons will always end; you've been through them time and time again. Even though the painful times will sting and you'll feel hopeless and alone, remember that the One you can turn to is always right there with you.

Cling to Jesus and cry when it feels comforting. Tears have a way of washing away the hard times and purging our hearts of the soreness and ache. Losses will occur; more and more the older you get. But, in those losses grow sweet memories that are best cherished and nurtured with our loving God close by.

Not everyone will love you; accept it and extend grace both to yourself and others. You are genuine and compassionate but that isn't always a ticket to happiness. Often, your faulty expectations of others will lead to disappointment. But the One who loves you most is the only One you need worry about.

Close friends will abandon you; remain loyal. A thought expressed wrongly, an oversight, a lapse of judgement, or any kind of faux pas may challenge a loving friendship. Even at the times when you wrack your brain to find answers and cannot understand what happened, remember that God's plan is at work. Don't lose faith in a lost friendship but hold it dear in your heart, even if that's the only place left for it. Do your utmost to love your neighbour, even if they've turned their back on you.

Above all, remember to pray first, pray last, and pray in between. Jesus wants you close to Him and in constant contact. Whether life is rich with happiness or stormy with turbulent times, remember you are abundantly blessed as a member of God's Kingdom and beloved no matter what.

In Him who loved us first,
Your Older Self

Peggianne Wright is a published author and is the founder of the pet parent ministry Paws To Pray, blending her passion for the Lord and all-things-K9 to form this unique, faith-based community. Peggianne is an ardent Bible study student, devoted dog mom, wife of 44 years, and lover of music. Her blogs Spiritual Scribbles and Fur-Kid Fanatics can be found on her website www.PawsToPray.ca 

You can follow her on Facebook

www.Facebook.com/PawsToPray/ and on Instagram www.instagram.com/sister_in_prayer/

A Letter to My Way Younger Self by Bob Jones

The February prompt is to write a letter to your younger self. What advice would you give?


Dear Bob:

Congratulations on landing your first assignment in pastoral ministry. You've been given a sacred opportunity. Your new role as an assistant pastor will demand more of you than anything else in life. This role is way more than a job; it is a calling.

You will put in long hours, sometimes seven days a week. At the beginning you won't know what you're doing but that's OK. You'll feel that way for every new major challenge that God calls you into. Bible College trained you to parse Bible verses but not to deal with the complexity of human interaction. You will run programs not people.

No matter what happens, people are never the problem. The problem isn’t even the problem. How you look at the problem is the problem.

Don't sweat the small stuff. It's all small stuff.

The most important person in your life is your wife, Jocelyn. She will be with you day in day out for decades. In due time you'll leave your first congregation and enter into a new ministry opportunity and Jocelyn will be there with you for that. She is the only person you'll carry forward, aside from your firstborn son.

Pay attention to Jocelyn. She is God's best gift to you. She is smart. She is good.

She wants you to succeed and she will do everything she can to help you achieve that.

Listen to her. She has insight about people that you don't have. Trust her judgment. She is intuitive.

She loves you. Put her first. Make time for her. Quantity and quality time. Do your best to understand her. Live at peace with her.

Have fun with her.

Together, you will walk through the deaths of your parents, and life-threatening illnesses, and travel to dangerous places. Hold hands all the way and hold each other tight.

You will be privileged to journey with stellar leaders through plans and projects to the glory of God. Your labour will endure. You will see a harvest of souls from the seeds you will sow.

You will walk many congregants and community members through death, devastating trauma, and grief. Those experiences will be God’s training to prepare you for your own personal losses.

Your lifetime will pass by seemingly at the speed of light. Just as the scriptures advise us, “our days are but a handbreadth.” Live in the moment. Treasure every day. Start with Bible reading, prayer, journaling, and coffee. Always coffee.

Your collection of the front pages of newspapers from Canada and around the world will end up in the garbage. The books you purchased for your study will be given away to younger leaders and a Bible college library. The Coca-Cola bottle and can collection that will eventually define your office space will end up on other people’s shelves. But the relationships you develop, the leaders you call up and invest in, and the people that you share Jesus with will last eternally.

Settle your priorities early.

You can't put God in the centre of your church or your marriage or your role. But you can put God in the centre of your life and that choice will affect everything else.

All work and no play will make Bob a dull boy.

So, listen to Jocelyn, take time off, relax, and make use of all your holidays every year. The church will survive without you. Put your hand into a bucket of water and then draw it out and the hole that remains defines how indispensable you are.

God is for you. No matter how dire the circumstances, or how much you doubt yourself, God is for you. Walk in that truth. It will sustain you, give you grit, and keep your heart and mind quiet and at rest as you trust Jesus.

God bless you, Bob.

Your friend,
Bob

 

I had a lot of fun writing this. That's what writing should be all about. Thank you for the prompt.

I'm grateful for the life and wife and family and friends and opportunities God has given me.

How about you?

Written to Myself, by Lorrie Orr

 

This month's prompt is to write a letter to yourself. It can be difficult to know where to start. Here are a few suggestions whether you write to your younger or older self, or to yourself in the present.

1. Reflect on where you are in life and how you got there.

2. Express gratitude. Acknowledge both joys and sorrows.

3. Consider lessons learned and how they move you forward.

4. What are your dreams? How can they come to fruition?

5. Be gentle with yourself.

 

Hello there,

This morning, clouds are banked along the horizon, moving in fast from the west. There’s a bit of blue sky visible, but rain is in the forecast. Tonight, the full moon will shine over you, and stars will glimmer whether you can see them or not. How many more beautiful moons will sail over you? Only God knows, for your times are in his hand.

You’ve had an amazing life, and there’s more amazing ahead! You might be in the autumn of life number-wise, but spring’s tendrils of personal growth are not dependent on the physical world. They can grow anytime and anywhere they are given a little light and openness. Nurture them. Bask in the beauty of life.

Throughout life, you’ve waited for other people to validate you and that has held you back. With God’s guidance you can make decisions about your future and move ahead, trusting God to walk with you. Lean into the gentle rhythms of grace he offers.

You’re never too old to begin something new, and although it’s a steep curve, entering the book publishing world is something exciting. You’ve written all your life; letters, poems, stories, blog posts, and now it’s time to get that body of work out where people can read it and be encouraged by how God has worked in your life.

The future is unknown. There will be hard times ahead just as there were hard times in the past. God’s grace will hold and strengthen you no matter what. Be confident and step forward with a smile on your face.

And always remember, you are dearly loved.

Lorrie Orr writes to herself from her kitchen table by a window

overlooking her garden in Victoria, BC.

 

A Joyride in a Journal by Brenda Leyland

"I've always been a journal keeper. I've always

tried to write about how I'm experiencing life,

and my feelings and thoughts."

Sue Monk Kidd

My journals are 'sacred' pieces of myself penned on paper. I think best with a pen in my hand, and journaling has always felt like that 'meant to be' place for writing out what's on my mind and heart.

In the photo above, what you see is the wildflower-sprigged cover of my current journal—Volume 199. I know, it's hard to believe I've 'felled' that many trees and filled that many notebooks. But it's been nearly forty years. And yes, if you're wondering, I still have every volume—all neatly stored in my study closet in seven banker's file boxes. If I had shelf space, I'd set out the most recent volumes and dip into them more often. My later volumes are a lot more fun to reread than the early ones. Simply because I'm a better writer, I'm a lot more playful and creative in decorating my pages (stickers, leaves, calligraphy, sketches, etc.). And I've gleaned a host of ideas from other writers of what I could explore on paper. I'm much more verbose at this stage of life (perhaps I have just become more opinionated, haha, and so my diaries hear about it). I fill about four or five notebooks a year.

How It All Began

It all began many years ago when I discovered Lucy Maud Montgomery's published journals in the 1980s. I felt I'd unearthed a treasure. By then, I was a devoted fan of her novels and poetry, and I gobbled up anything I could find about her life and work. She was my inspiration for finding the beauty in life and writing about it. I took notes. And paid attention to what made her journals interesting for me to read. She shared so many aspects of her life - growing up in her grandmother's home, her involvement in her community on Prince Edward Island, her friendships and amusements, what she read, what she wrote, the joy she took in the seasons, sunsets and flowers, not to mention kitty cats. She shared her woes and mental sufferings... along with her many joys and pleasures.

In my own youth and early adulthood, I had an odd assortment of notebooks for things I wanted to keep or remember. It was all a bit haphazard. Boxes of bits and pieces easily go astray—and sometimes they did disappear. But, since that day I opened a floral clothbound notebook and wrote the date across the first page—January 1, 1987—I have pretty much been dedicated to the art and discipline of writing in my journals. And except for the occasional season throughout the years, for the most part, it's been a daily part of my life.

Discovering What Worked Best

I eventually learned that it was best for my brain and personality to keep everything in a single journal rather than keeping various topical notebooks. Keeping more than one meant I was forever looking for the one I wanted. It didn't help me be organized; it just made me irritated. My journals are a motley collection in size, pattern, and style. I eventually decided against coil-bound notebooks—how would I label the spine with volume numbers and range of dates? My most recent favourite style of notebook is one put out by Nota (I find it at Indigo). It has an open spine exposing the decorative 'Coptic-stitch binding', which I really like, the spine of books usually being hidden by the cover. The pages easily lay open while I'm writing, and when it's full, its spine makes for easy labeling.

What's In Them

My journals hold all manner of information. Bits of diary—which can include tracking the weather or moon patterns, how well I slept, some to-do lists, what we're up to for the day. I often chat to myself about the books I'm reading, jotting down lines I want to remember. As well as trying to peg down why I like a certain book and not another. (Which helps when I need to write a book review). I write about what's going on in my inner life, emotionally or spiritually. I'm often writing out Bible verses that comfort, encourage, and nourish, along with prayers and gratitude reports. My journal is quite often my first-place dump for ideas—or for writing down a perfect opening line that appears out of the blue—which can often end up in a blog post and other writing.

And then, like LMM, there are all those beautiful moments in life that I don't want to forget. Those tiny moments that make a day suddenly feel alive with hope, even when the world is wildly insane. You know those glorious moments, when your heart zings with joy as you stand and watch a rainbow form after a summer shower. Or, when you sit in the garden where the air is sweet with perfume and the birds chatter companionably, and our neighbourly Orange Kitty wanders in for a quick visit and a quiet snooze in the shrubbery. Where you are just glad, glad, glad to be alive on God's green earth. Descriptions of this sort written in my journal will often nose their way into my blog posts.

Though my journals are not works of art, per se, they do resemble my personality and nature. My soul sits there on the pages—I recognize her amongst the words. Sometimes my handwriting is neat, other times not so much. Sometimes my soul is bright with hope and sunshine, other times she can grouse with the best worst of 'em. These journals are scribbled layers of thoughts, feelings, and impressions—the extraordinary moments mixed in with ordinary ones. Looking back, in many ways I wish I could have written a neater story within these pages. But a journal, I believe, is meant to house what bubbles up, unedited, our thoughts and ideas untangling as we "scratch them out on paper" (Sarah Clarkson, p. 86, Reclaiming Quiet).

Three Journal Side Trips

As I already mentioned earlier, a single journal with many volumes has companioned me over the years. But there have been short seasons when I did keep a separate notebook for a specific purpose. My Gratitude Journals in half size notebooks, for one. Sarah Ban Breathnach's book Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy (her January 14th entry) was my inspirational first intro to such a lovely exercise. It helped me to establish the lifelong habit of living a life in gratitude. I think there are three such notebooks on my bookshelf; every once in a while I revisit those old lists from another life time.

And then there was the season when I discovered Julia Cameron's ritual of Morning Pages. It took some years to recognize that this could be something to use when I needed to blow off steam, vent hidden frustrations, anger, and pent-up pain (all part of pouring it out to the Lord in three pages). I have never wanted my ‘insane’ ravings and laments to be a permanent part of my journals. For I never wanted to revisit those traumatized moments, not did I ever want someone to stumble upon them. So, I used up old scribblers and notebooks as temporary depositories where I wrote it all out…down to the last tiny ‘huff and puff’ of the abating squall. I don't reread them—the scribblings are destroyed, either at that point or when a notebook is full. And should there come out of those ramblings a few lines worth keeping, those are transferred into my regular journal. Morning Pages has been such a helpful tool for releasing brewing emotion and pain. In writing it all out in this safe place, I'd feel a lightness in the emptying process. I felt heard. I felt release. I slept better. Most importantly, I felt peace in my heart.

Most recently, since January 1, 2022, I have been keeping a small Five-Year Commonplace Diary. Which was inspired by author Austin Kleon who uses this diary to jot a favourite line he comes across in a day. This year I started Year Five, and by the time I write my last quote on December 31st, I will have curated a collection of 1825 quotations—how is that for one tiny diary. What I have found as I watch the pages fill with quotes over the weeks, months, and now years, I often can identify my frame of mind and what might have been going on in my life or in the world at large. So in reality, it's a journal that has tracked my life in quotations.

I have loved writing in my journals. It has been a wondrous experience. A true delight. It's one of those 'hobbies' I have never grown tired of—it's right up there with reading. I have never felt pressured to write in them. I do it because I want to and look forward to opening each day's fresh blank page. It's been a joyride in a journal. I have no plans to stop. 

Brenda writes from her perch by the study window that overlooks her garden and the birds. You can find her writing on her blog It's A Beautiful Life. She's also on Facebook and Instagram (under Bren Leyland).