Where are you at with journaling? Have you followed the same journaling routine for years? Do you have a record of your daily dramas and big moments? What do you turn to when your weary and need real encouragement?
I feel like there are two groups when it comes to journaling: those who do it and those who wished they did. This little habit feels like a big one for both groups. It’s like working out every day or remembering to wash your face. It’s so easy, so impactful–and yet so many of us stop doing it.
Or, we never start.
Elisabeth, my 13-year-old daughter, started journaling a few years ago. I’ve seen how writing every day helps her to process her feelings, to see how God answers her prayers, and to understand the rhythms of life.
Here’s her daily routine to record her life, her hopes & prayers, her daily Bible reading, and where she goes for encouragement.
I’m also a journal writer. Most mornings, I start with a cup of this tea and the journal I’ve kept for years. I often write letters–to myself from God, to myself from Love, to fear, to someone who has hurt or helped me.
Just like Elisabeth talks about in the video, it’s crazy how this little habit adds up. It’s like working out in this way–it’s hard at first, but you feel better when you do it. And, after a month (or six months) you discover that this habit is changing you in deeper or more fundamental ways. Mostly that your pants zip again.
Watch us chat about journals, what helps her when she feels anxious, what she likes about keeping a journal, and how why our Greyhounds believe that journals make a great snack.
Here are Elisabeth’s favorite journals for encouragement, for scripture, and to remember what’s going on in her life. Check them out, or find some of your own. Either way–start writing today. You’ll be so glad you did.
one on Amazon sells for about $14.
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