Good morning…
For over thirty years, I have written in a journal most every day. A journal has been with me through our four years of infertility, grieving our four miscarriages. A journal has been with me through four full-term pregnancies and four natural childbirths. A journal has walked with me down the valley of depression and up the mountain path toward abundant living, more than once.
It dawns on me now that the discipline of daily journaling, which for me is simply praying on the page, has shaped me more than any other daily choice. When I journal, I tangibly feel the pen and paper while God’s Spirit guides their interaction. With my eyes I see the page transformed from blank slate to filled state, again and again and again. I love to read out loud previous self-reflections caught by my journal; as my ears are filled with my own evolving truth, the hidden treasure of tears are often tapped and released.
When I journal, all of me is captivated, my parts in unison set on high alert, listening for God’s movement. This is why I understand on a deep, cellular level the 1955 quote by Anne Morrow Lindbergh: “And since I think best with a pencil in hand, I started naturally to write.”
Our creative self-expression, our language of love spoken back and forth with our living LORD, is unique to each one of us. Yet, it is wise to realize, our one-of-a-kind gift to the world will develop daily through our conversational relationship with our God. Our expressive art will be a form of prayer, and interacting with our living LORD, personally, passionately, progressively, will shape us more than any other everyday choice.
How would you fill in these blanks? “Since I think best ________________, I started naturally to __________.” The way we each fill in these blanks helps us to identify our best form of personal prayer.
Can it be that God will actually move into our neighborhood? Why, the cosmos itself isn’t large enough to give you breathing room… Even so, I’m bold to ask: Pay attention to these my prayers, both intercessory and personal, O God, my God. Listen to my prayers, energetic and devout, that I’m setting before you right now (1 Kings 8:27-30, MSG).
…Sue…
