I've just begun to realize that I am a huge proponent of journaling. I got my first journal when I was 6 years old, wrote in it for 5 days, then discovered it 10 years later with a lot of laughter (one memorable entry - "I've been sick with a 1,002 degree fever!"). Journaling is something that has faded in and out of my life through the years. I'm glad that I had the wisdom to keep a journal on all of my extended travels - again, most memorable, the 2 month long trip I spent sailing up the coast of Baja California - but I never continued it when the travels ended. So much of my life and thoughts from my youth are now committed to memory.

And that's where journaling helps. I've been keeping this discipline for almost 2 years now, and I can go back and read about my early days in Christ, when I was full of wonder. Then travel through times when I was overjoyed or in the depths of despair, and every season in between. It wasn't an easy habit to incorporate in my life. I would look at some of my friends that were diligent throughout college to write down their thoughts and revelations, their struggles and fears; and I would be envious. But once I made the effort, set aside the time, and committed to journaling, I never looked back.

The Psalm that has been an overarching theme for this season of my life has been Psalm 78. It's a Psalm that recounts the deeds of the Lord. Every time I asked the Lord what Psalm I should read, 78 is always the one He chose. And I wondered at it at first! It's long, it's dry, and it's boring when you already know the history of Israel. But then I started to focus on the first 4 verses, the 4th of which states: "We will not hide [your teachings] from [our ancestor's] descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His powers, and the wonders He has done." And that's what journaling does! It makes it possible for you to recount the deeds of the Lord, to look back and see how far the Lord has brought you. So many things the Lord does don't happen in an instant, but in a lifetime. And journaling helps us see that.

I can't wait to give my journals to my daughters and to my granddaughters. I sometimes think of what I could have learned and laughed about if my mom and grandma had kept journals. Its a loss I'll have to take in stride. Family traditions have to start somewhere!