Journals Are Fun...

I have been keeping a journal since high school and some thirty years later, with my many moves, I've only lost one! I love my journals because they keep me encouraged. Every once in a while, when the feeling moves me, I go out to the garage, reach in my journal bin and pull one out.

My husband has caught me on several occasions sitting on a footstool, flipping through the pages of one of my journals. "Taking a walk down memory lane, again?" He'd say and leave me to my thoughts.

Yesterday, I was heading out to the garage to drop in the latest journal I'd finished. Before I could get into the garage I cracked it open just to take a quick peek. I spent the next forty-five minutes or so reading over the notes I took as I read through the books of 1 and 2 Kings.

My eyes caught the following I wrote after reading 2 Kings 3:

So often we set out with our plans firmly in place. Then somewhere along the path we get lost. After spinning our wheels for a while trying to figure out where we made the wrong turn, we get the bright idea to say, "hey, let me ask God what I should do!"

We could definitely save ourselves a lot of time and energy if we completed the, "ask God" step first.

We could spend a lot of time thinking about and punishing ourselves over things we should have done but what will that accomplish? I journaled that thought because I was seriously speaking to myself and while there were many missed opportunities to ask God first along the way that would have kept me from making certain mistakes, those mistakes also reminded me that going forward, I need to consult God first.

Even now, I may not always remember to ask God right away but on the instant I notice I am out of alignment, I ask God to correct my direction. What gives me the most peace these days is understanding that it's not about perfection but about progression.