Most of you know by now that I love to journal. I have so many full journals and even a few empty ones. I love everything about journals. I love to shop for them. I love to write in them. I love to fill them. I love to look back in them.

All that love for journaling, yet some how I have managed to stop doing it so much. I know there have been times when I’ve started to write about something in it, and then God prompts me to post it in a blog. Which makes me stop and continue on my computer. So I know some of it is because of this blog, but I don’t think that’s the only reason.

I’m tired. For many reasons.

I’ve been so tired lately that any down time I have is spent with my brain off. I can’t journal or write when my brain is off.

Something else I noticed when I journaled yesterday morning is that writing in my journal is one of the things that helps me stay connected to Jesus. Every journal entry I have is addressed to Jesus, because I use it as a way to talk to Him. So when I don’t write in it… I talk to Him less. I miss Him.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I still pray and worship and talk to Him, but it’s not enough for me. I need my journal time. And I don’t think I realized it until yesterday. It felt so good to talk to Him in there again. It had only been a few weeks since my last entry, but that’s like an eternity for someone who used to journal almost every day.

You see, I can tell Him EVERYTHING in my journal. Sometimes my entries are so long my hand will cramp up and I have to take a break. I know I can tell Him everything just by talking to Him, but my mind knows what it wants to say better when I’m trying to write it out. I don’t know why, that’s just how it is for me. I can clearly express myself. I don’t jumble my words and rarely lose my train of thought.

For me, journaling is like sitting on the porch of a cabin, high up in the mountains. I’m sitting in an oversized chair, wearing a comfy sweater. The only thing “obstructing” my view of the mountains is the steam rising from my fresh cup of coffee. And Jesus is sitting in the chair beside me. The words on the page are from the words of our conversation. Unfortunately, it’s more one-sided than anything, but every now and then He grabs my attention and speaks to me.

In those moments… life is perfect.