Grandparenting with a Purpose: Effective Ways to Pray for your Grandchildren
My goal in 2018 is to grow in my relationship with Jesus Christ. If yours is the same you may be interested in this guest blog by one of the members of our prayer team, Deborah Haddix.
Journaling for the Soul is an easy-to-navigate handbook filled with a wide variety of journaling methods. There are techniques for journaling prayers, Scripture, self-reflection, and more. Some methods fit the traditional definition of journaling, some call out to the person seeking something a little different, and still, others are just plain quirky. But no matter the method, Journaling for the Soul invites us to SLOW DOWN, REPLENISH, and EXHALE.
The BackStory We live in a culture of go, go, go. Our schedules are maxed out. So you may be thinking, “How can I add one more thing? And journaling, no less!”
I realize that some don’t get the warm fuzzies when they hear the word, “journaling.” They may cringe at the thought or even bristle a bit.
In all honesty, I was that person just a few short years ago.
Unlikely as it may seem, I struggled with journaling. An English major and a Language Arts teacher, I touted its benefits to my students and even observed “journaling” time in class. However, I myself rarely, if ever, journaled. I just COULD NOT make myself do it. It was labor — sitting before a blank page, trying to come up with what to write, and then actually having to perform the task! I mean, really… Writing out all those words LONG. HAND!!!!
Over the years loving, caring, sincere friends shared with me just how much they loved journaling and how beneficial it was to them. I believed them and even tried to keep an open mind. But I just couldn’t make it work!
Then… three summers ago, something changed.
Weighed down with a packed scheduled and an aching soul, I heard God speak — urging me to “let go!”
Let go…
- of the way I’d always done things.
- of the way I thought things should be done.
- of what I thought others might think.
It was there at the beginning of that particular summer that I gave myself permission.
Permission…
- to explore.
- to try new things.
- to continue doing them if they replenished my soul.
- to abandon them if they didn’t.
That summer I journaled. Not “journaling” as I had formerly defined it, “a laborious work of filling a blank page with words.”
No, in His glorious and loving way, God opened the doors for me that summer to something so much more —
Journaling as a process. One that helps me to SLOW DOWN, REPLENISH, and EXHALE!
In the pages of Journaling for the Soul, I am excited to share my journey and what I have learned. Written as a handbook, this resource is a collection of Journaling for the Soul methods that span the spectrum of spiritual disciplines. Among them are several that speak directly to my heart, draw me in, and create channels for me to spend time cultivating a practice that I am convinced encourages and enables my spiritual growth and nourishes my soul.
I pray you will find the same. May you be blessed, as I have been, to discover journaling methods that not only encourage and enable your spiritual growth but also provide needed nourishment for your soul.
Journaling for the Soul is available on the following websites. http://www.deborahhaddix.com/2017/09/28/slow-down-replenish-exhale-journal-for-the-soul/
By Deborah Haddix, Prayer team member of Christian Grandparenting Network.
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