Journals by Sharon Heagy

 

Once upon a time there was a young girl who was whisked away to a land far away and she didn't find the time to get her blog post done ahead of time as she had planned. Now she is scrambling to put something together as her thoughts swirl around like the ocean waves in the picture above. 'Bad little blogger, shame on you!' she thought. But this gray-haired lady, who was only young at heart, realized the grace and mercy of the One for whom she wrote and the extended grace from those she wrote with, would cover this transgression, and she was grateful. 

While thinking about the subject of journaling, I realized my thoughts had been very linear. I supposed a true journal was done daily, with discipline and was a bundle of random thoughts and feelings to be worked through or day to day activities, more like a diary. With this in mind, I thought I was a true failure. I would start and stop and was very tentative to write my inner most struggles for fear that upon my passing my family or friends would read the words meant only for my eyes and be hurt or take them the wrong way. I have burned and tossed pages that fit into this category.

But then I realized journaling comes in many forms and I am not doing so badly, though there is massive room for improvement. I do have a daily journal that I rarely miss writing in and this is my prayer journal. Every day, in addition to other prayers, I pray for 3 specific people and write those prayers down on paper. I have just started my 16th prayer journal, so I guess I am not doing as poorly as I thought. I don't keep them when they are full, but I have kept track of how many I have filled for my own knowledge. 

When on a holiday, I always keep a written record of our day-to-day activities, knowing I will not retain all the details of the journey and will have to go back and take a look. It's kind of amazing how you forget the wonder of things experienced when you are back in the world of daily life. I think of the Israelites in the desert, guided by God every day, heading to the promised land, walking through the Red Sea on dry land, having escaped the tyranny they experienced in Egypt and then decide they want to go back. We are not unlike them in so many ways.

Pulling open file drawers, I found many notebooks and scraps of paper that could be collected and correlated into a journal. These little bits and bobs are my 'organized chaos journals.'  They are closely linked to my 'fits and starts' journals that I write in one day and then not again for months. Then there are my 'restaurant napkin' journals. Thoughts that come when a notebook isn't available. 

Beside my living room chair, I have a 5-year sentence journal that I love. Each day you write a few lines about the happenings of the day and on that same page are sentences for that day for previous years. It's helpful to look back. My husband keeps a similar journal for one year and we have often looked back in them to find out what occurred on various days of a given year. 

When my husband and I have suffered some illness, it has been necessary to keep a journal of meds or drains or other things relating to recovery and often a record of our food and liquid intake. I don't like these journals so much, but they are super helpful to map recovery and to give accurate information to the health care team. 

Upon reflection there are oodles of methods and forms for journals, and I guess I am doing ok with a few of them. Thanks for spending a few minutes to read about my journal journey. I have certainly enjoyed, and hope to continue to enjoy, reading about yours. God bless.