I have journaled off and on for many years, but for the past eight years or so, I have kept a One-Note tab (sorry Apple users, I’m a Microsoft girl) where I note thoughts and ideas. Thoughts come to me as I read, listen, drive (don’t worry, I use voice-to-text…most of the time). My mind rarely takes pause and if it does, it is likely playing song lyrics within a second or so.
Periodically I scroll back through and read what I noted. Sometimes I make edits, sometimes I marvel at how much more true the thought is than when it was written years ago. Other times I can’t believe those were my thoughts (rants). What started out as a journal for thoughts I wanted to explore and expound upon personally has become a guide-map for my personal truth.
Some thoughts have come to me times before and I have so quickly moved on to something else, they haven’t been noted. Other times I quickly (flippantly) make a note or comment. Notes are sometimes posed as a question, other times as a statement of fact.
The point of explaining this is that none of these posts are reactionary to what I have experienced or read. They have all been rested in, thought through (as much as time has allowed) and carefully curated. As this is the case, posts may be updated, edited and reposted as more truth is revealed in my life. They are all tested and trusted convictions based on experience and sought-after wisdom.
But speaking the Truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head – Christ.
Ephesians 4:15 (CSB)
Why Share?
I think it was my 35th birthday, I called my husband and told him I wanted to start a blog. (Birthdays are a tricky time for me – stay tuned for my “35” thought) I look at birthdays – more so than a new calendar year – as a time of reflection and resolution. It turns out I really liked the idea of starting a blog, but was incapable of making it happen.
At that point, I wanted to tell people my thoughts, hoping it would somehow enlighten them to what I had learned, giving them something from myself to help them in their life. But the internet didn’t need another self-help “your life will be great if you just X” blog. I needed to come to an understanding that my job is not to enlighten, it is to be faithful. I believe at this point, I am being prompted (by the Holy Spirit) to make these “journal entries” public. Maybe they will be read, maybe not, it doesn’t actually matter. Faithfulness to His calling is what matters.
Alternative viewpoints, thought provoking critique and questions are welcomed. I expect comments that are outside of these categories. I believe (because: Scripture) that I am to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) and for it to be seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6); this is my goal.
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.
Colossians 4:6 (CSB)
