Journaling as a part of spiritual journey

At some point in the middle school, I started to keep a diary. I would record important activities of the day and sometimes even add my own illustrations of some events. Later at the high school, I liked to record how I feel. I accompanied my entries with some cutouts from the magazines which had some connection to what I was writing about. As an undergraduate student, I often wrote down the Bible verses and also was writing about some events of my life. During my first years of full time working experience, I stopped journaling; I just read the Bible and prayed daily.

However, some time after marrying and moving to Finland, I restarted to journal as a way to spend a better quality time with God. Since then, I have kept it comparatively constant. I am not always writing every day, but rather regularly whenever there is something that appears particularly important. My current way of journaling includes writing down the Bible verses that speak to me, quotes from books and also lyrics of songs which are meaningful to me. I also find it helpful to write down visions and dreams from God, because after some time, the details tend to fade. Regarding the sermons or speeches at Christian events, I feel that it is better to make notes elsewhere first and then make a summary one more time in my journal, which allows for better order and processing. At times, I also practice writing down quotes on the computer to share with others. I have received a task from God to do so for one particular person to assist spiritually for a longer period of time. Once I have the material, I can easily share it also with others upon need, if a situation and topic comes up again.

Visual form is important to me, so I also add cutouts from magazines as illustrations to my (paper form) journal. I lately have found that great sources of good pictures are the bridal magazines. I feel that the pictures accompanying my journal need to be very inspiring and beautiful to illustrate the spiritual riches well and to sparkle the imagination of good things that God has prepared to those who love Him (1.Corinthians 2,9). Bridal magazines often contain flowers, beautiful destinations, and a lot of white, which is a reminder of purity and holiness as a sign of our devotion to Him.

It is useful to journal as a way of spending time with God. I find that writing down assists in concentration, fortifies what God has been speaking to me and helps to remember it. In addition, while journaling it is possible to notice larger themes of what God is speaking to me about in certain periods and notice a direction where He is leading. Some key passages keep appearing again, and I think this is related to the call that God wants to accomplish in my life. Occasionally when I feel down, all that is necessary is to bring up and read one of my journals. I find lots of encouragement there and evidence that God has been speaking to me and leading me. Finally, keeping a journal is the only regular form of handwriting I do these days, so I also see it as a form of art expression, to make sure I do not forget writing by hand totally! It feels good to write and to be in the presence of God in this way. Perhaps it is not for everybody, but I certainly can recommend trying to do that if you seek a deeper connection to God.