A Journal on Journaling

I thought it would be fun to do a series of posts (not consecutively) with my favourite lines from the book Stepping Heavenward. Some are just funny, some I like because I can hear myself in them, and some stir up my heart to love Christ more.

This book is a fictional journal of a young woman named Katherine as her life unfolds from age 16 to her later years. It follows her growth into a godly woman marked by her humility and hope.

This quote always gives me a good chuckle, because it reminds me of all the journals that I've started and thrown away and I just love the tone of it! It is 16-year-old Katy writing about making some resolutions:

I determined, in the first place, to begin this journal. To be sure, I have begun half a dozen and got tired of them after a while. Not tired of writing them, but disgusted with what I had to say of myself. But this time I mean to go on, in spite of everything. It will do me good to read it over and see what a creature I am.

I find the candor of Katy's speech throughout this book, especially in her younger years, very entertaining to read, mostly because it is so easy to identify with her! I find this especially funny as I think back to some of the nonsense that I've written in journals...that's why I never kept them or kept up with them when I was younger.

I must say though, that I have greatly come to appreciate the discipline of journaling as I've grown older. It's helped me to organize my thoughts, mediate on what I am learning of God, keep track of what God has been revealing to me of himself, and now I even enjoy going back to see what the Lord has been doing in my life and heart. I don't necessarily journal the events of my day, but rather I use this blog and I journal about what I'm reading during my morning devotions.

Don Whitney, in his book Spiritual Disciplines For the Christian Life, suggests that journaling is not only a good discipline but it is a spiritual one. He suggests that we journal for the purpose of godliness and that although journaling is not a Scriptural command, it is in fact modeled in the bible, the psalms being a perfect example of this. These are some of the benefits of journaling that Don lists in his book:

1)Help in Self-Understanding and Evaluation
2)Help in Meditation
3)Help in Expressing Thoughts and Feelings to the Lord
4)Help in Remembering the Lord's Works
5)Help in Creating and Preserving a Spiritual Heritage
6)Help in Clarifying and Articulating Insights and Impressions
7)Help in Monitoring Goals and Priorities
8)Help in Maintaining the Other Spiritual Disciplines

Now that is purposeful journaling! Are you journaling Christian? Are you making the most of it? Is it helping you to grow in godliness? By God's grace, I hope not to give up on this discipline so easily anymore. No more throwing out my journals!