Let's Journal, for the Sake of Our Souls: Journaling for the Soul

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Confession #1: I can’t draw. Not a box, not a flower, not even a stick figure. Okay, maybe a stick figure, but it’s not good.

Confession #2: While I might write, I rarely journal. People just assume because I write, I also journal. Not true.

These two confessions have something in common, and that is the idea of journaling. If you search Pinterest boards or Facebook pages, you will find an over-abundance of information related to Bible journaling. Publishers have produced these beautiful journals with wide margins for you to draw visual adaptations of Scriptures. Some of these visuals on social media blow me away by their beauty. Even just the little doodle art is pretty phenomenal.

But just the thought of me trying to make something “pretty” stirs up anxiety, and I immediately want to run away and hide (see Confession #1).

That’s the drawing part. As far as journaling goes, in the past, journals were used simply for writing complete sentences and long paragraphs. Even if the writer was composing a letter, writing out a prayer, or even thinking on paper, common practice was to fill an entire sheet of paper with words. The idea of writing for the sake of writing just isn’t attractive to me (see Confession #2).

More recently, journals have become a creative outlet where the writer can use a variety of media, including:

· Drawing or sketching

· Adding a photograph

· Attaching words or images from magazines or the Internet

· Using hand lettering or calligraphy

· Scrapbooking with stickers, rub-on transfers, or other embellishments

· Using different colors of pencils, pens, or markers

· Clustering ideas

· Taking notes in segmented portions

Enter the book, Journaling for the Soul: A Handbook of Journaling Methods, by Deborah Haddix.

As I read just the first few pages, I realized her idea about journaling, shared by many of her colleagues, has a clear, specific, meaningful purpose: to connect with God. Here’s How Deborah says it:

Something is missing—something important and necessary to the very health of our soul. The busyness of life has made its migration into the depths of our being, squeezing God out. Our soul aches as it cries out for time with Him, but because of the noise it is not heard. Journaling for the Soul helps eliminate the hurry, brings quiet for hearing, and creates much needed space. It acts as a means for documenting the main thing, which, of course, is a living and active relationship with God.

In other words, by exploring new and different ways of recording what’s on your heart and in your mind, you open yourself to deepening your quiet time, making the experience more meaningful, and above all, connecting with your Heavenly Father.

Now I’m all for that!

Deborah offers over 60 journaling methods. Some methods are simple, like A–Z Gratitude Journaling (I’m grateful for C: Chocolate!). Others, like a Biographical Sketch, challenges my thinking. Recently Deborah offered a lesson on how to use the Biographical Sketch, highlighting Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, in the Book of Ruth, and through this exercise, my eyes and heart both were enlightened to new ways of thinking about this amazing woman in the Bible!

Deborah teaches us how to prayer journal, Scripture journal, friends and family journal, and how to search our own souls through journaling.

There’s so much more in this book, including some beautiful examples as well as practice pages, but honestly, one of the greatest things I can share with you is the heart behind the author. Deborah Haddix truly desires her readers to live abundantly. She exudes a peace and joy that only can come from the Author of hope, God Himself. That not only makes Deborah attractive, it also makes her book attractive.

One more thing: If you purchase the book, Journaling for the Soul, you receive access to free downloadables!

1. A small group leader’s guide, if you want to invite some ladies over to take the journal dare with you

2. 10 videos from Deborah Haddix herself! You’ll have five weeks of two videos each week where Deborah offers a lesson, and then she demonstrates in a second video a specific journaling method. FREE.

3. Six colorful, beautiful, downloadable journaling templates. I promise you won’t see any stick figures on these sheets! They have been professionally designed just for you to use and print off.

So take the journaling dare with me: Try some of her methods and see how you feel after 30 or so days. I’m excited to embark on this journey!

Let’s journal, for the sake of our souls.

Tammy Tilley

Tammy Tilley has compiled and edited numerous books, has written for dozens of print and digital publications, and even co-founded a lifestyle magazine for the town where she once lived. Currently she lives in Anderson, Indiana where she is an adjunct writing instructor at Anderson University and an editor and writer for Warner Press.

September 10, 2018 | View: 4224 | Categories: Church, Christian Life

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Ann Coker

Thank you, Tammy, for being honest about yourself while promoting the benefits, and yes Joy, of journaling. It's not a lost art, only to be discovered as it leads us closer to God and His Word.

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November 10, 2021