It used to simply be the extra pages in the back of my daily planner….usually just a few words every couple of days….then I was given a nice little notebook just the right size to keep in my purse or by my bed, so that was filled with my blessings from 2014. And this year it’s another notebook given to my by a prayer partner. Now I’ve started filling the nice clean pages with scribbles of my praises…only it hasn’t just been praises, often it’s turned into my frustrations, confusion and crying out to the Lord,”why???”
But what’s neat is being able to look back at even the hard times and see how He is faithful and gracious to weak little me. Just in this past couple of weeks alone, 5 things stand out to me as what I think are God answering my cries for encouragement and wisdom
1. I sat down with my Bible and specifically asked the Lord to give me something (I rarely do that). I decided to open up to Colossians 3 and between chapter 3 and part of 4, I wrote down in my thankful journal 8 things I read that stood out to me and I felt applied to my questions to Him!
2. Still having a hard time a day later, I was really hoping for someone face-to-face to talk to, I even had a particular lady in mind, who I knew I might be able to “bump into” that night…and lo and behold, the Lord allowed for me to “bump into” her and talk and what an encouragement it was!
3. Some of our close friends/mentors arrived back here after being away and we were able to have them over and just talk and be encouraged yet again (apparently I require a lot of encouragement!).
4. Then another day Cameron and I were talking about some papers we were putting together and it turned into a session of me spilling out every single thing that was bothering me…and even admitting that sometimes it feels like God doesn’t care. As Cameron and I talked he reminded me of all the things God already has done for us…we’ve always had food, clothing, He’s even giving us another forever child! As I remembered all those things, I realized how forgetful I was being of our God.
5. I’ve also been reading this book called Confessions of a Transformed Heart. When I first started reading it, my attention was piqued because it’s about a family that worked in West Africa, but as I read more and more, I wasn’t just interested because of our common denominator of missions in Africa, I was amazed at what this woman had learned about the God she served. She put to words so well, how God uses the hard things in life, to rip apart ourselves, so we are empty and can be filled with Him. The funny part is, I don’t even remember getting this e-book, it must have been a free one, because like 95% of my e-books were freebies, but somehow God allowed me to put it on my kindle…then for me to choose to start reading that particular one.
Keeping a thankful journal has been a great way for me to thank God, cry out to Him, and look back at how much He’s done for me!
Do you keep a thankful journal? What are your thoughts on it?
