In Response to the Story

On Friday I was skimming through my journals from 2010.

There are three of them, as it was my first year of marriage!  That's not to say Jo and I didn't talk through everything, and grow closer as a couple as opposed to me growing closer to my journal.  I'm a believer that the writing and processing in private lowered my foot-in-mouth tendencies in person with Jo by at least 46.7%.

I actually had an independent Gallup poll confirm as much.

I wrote more in the last year than the previous three combined.  Content?  Like I mentioned, there was a good amount of processing or thinking out loud; I also spent time summarizing the books I read, and reacting to life in the moment.  That to say, I carried my journal with me (in a bag not a purse, thank you very much) and spent less time writing about the events of life, and more time describing my response to them.

I can't say that I read through my old journals very often.  Generally, I see it as working through life one entry at a time.  Still, something was different on Friday as I started in January of 2010 and breezed all the way through to now.  In a way I normally couldn't, I recalled each of the experiences (and sometimes even the writing) as if it was happening.  I don't have a great memory, so it was weird, a Matrix-like virtual reality or something.

As I read (and here is my point), a thankfulness began to grow in me.  I could see the dreams of January fulfilled in December; I could see the lessons learned and the growth.  I remembered like it was yesterday the quarrels, drama and victories.  As years go, it was a great one.  Still, through the lens of eternity, any year can exhibit the same perspective of growth and progress.

So if you don't already, consider it.  Don't get bogged down in the obligation of it, and don't fall into the habit of just recording the daily/weekly events.  If you're interested in remembering what happened, you'll do better to respond to life anyway; feelings are more easily remembered, I say.  Accept frustrations, and if you don't feel like it - DON'T - you're just wasting your time.

After a year, see where you land.  Hopefully it's a place where you can see God's faithfulness and mercy and direction running through life like a theme in a story.

His story.