Sacrament Of The Ordinary Life

Ideas for Journaling


Journaling response to my daily events.
Briefly record your daily events then consider one or more of the following points to journal.


1.  How was I affected by today’s activities or the people I encountered today.
2.  How do I wish I had responded to the day’s activities and people? 
3.  Where did I see or experience God today?
4.  How do I wish God had intervened today?
5.  What insight did I come away with from today. 
6.  What blessings did I encounter today.


Journal in response to Scripture
As you are doing your daily Bible reading, you may come across a passage or verse that really jumps out at you or is challenges you.  This is fertile soil for journaling.  Don’t try and journal a large chunk of Scripture.  Instead choose a verse or small passage.  Read your selection at least three times, preferably one being out loud.  Then choose one or more of the journaling starters.


1.  What stands out to me?
2.  What emotions did I feel?
3.  What about this passage challenges me?
4.  What questions do I wish the passage answered?
5.  What questions do I want to ask God?
6.  What changes do I feel God is asking me to make in light of this passage?

Journaling Conversations

Conversations with others, your self or God can become great opportunities for journaling.  After a conversation with a friend on nuclear power you may want to journal the conversation and your feelings during the conversation.  Are you needing to decide between two jobs? Have a journaling conversation with yourself about the pros and cons of each job. Maybe you are needing to discuss a situation at work with your boss.  Then journal the future conversation with your boss.  It will help you make your points more clear and keep your emotions in check.  Tevya from Fiddler on the Roof, had a running conversation with God.  “ I know we are your chosen people Lord, but why are we chosen so often for so many things?”Just as Tevya conversed with God, so we can converse with God. This is prayer.  Just talking to God about our day, our thoughts and questions as well as our failings. Writing them out can bring clarity to our thoughts, desires, failings and also allows the Holy Spirit to direct our prayers.


After choosing a conversation to journal, quiet yourself asking the Holy Spirit to be a participant in your journaling.  Be open and honest about your thoughts and feelings.  Remember only you are going to read the jounaling.  Journal one our more questions below.


1.  What were the important points of the conversation?
2.  How did I respond during the conversation?
3.  What feelings came to the surface during the conversation?
4.  What do I wish I had said/could say during the conversation?
5.  What do I wish the other person would say or respond?

Journaling Media
Our media rich culture often pulls us away from God, however we can use media to see God’s hand, to see needs of our world where He wants us to be his feet and hands and to seek out God’s truths and wisdom. When you encounter a news article, a movie, lyrics of a songs, even a blog that stands out to you or brings up questions for you... journal it.


1.  Choose your media, rereading, watching or listening to it.
2.  What concepts or questions stand out to me?
3.  Where do I see God’s hand?
4.  Do I feel that God is not present?  Why?
5.  In what way do I feel that God might me asking me to be his feet and hands.?
6.  What Scriptures either support or confront the concepts in the media?



Journaling Dreams
Abram, Jacob, Daniel, Mary, Joseph, Peter and Paul where all ordinary people experienced extraordinary communication with God in dreams and visions.  Through dreams and visions we can receive guidance, warnings, commands and reassurance.  We must look at dreams as our friends.  They come to help not harm us and need to be welcome them into our lives even when at first they seem to be difficult or disturbing at first. 


Before going to bed, pray to be receptive to God’s messages.  Put a pad of paper and a pen by the bedside for quick way to record your dream as soon as you awake.  You might want a flashlight on the night stand to if you awake during the night, want to record and don’t want to disturb your spouse. 


When you awake immediately record as much of your dream as you can remember.  Write down as many details as you can no matter how small they can be.  Don’t try to analysis the dreams until later.  During the day other details may come to mind.  Record these details on whatever scraps of paper available through the day remembering to compile them at a later time.  When you feel you have remembered as much of your dreams as possible then consider journaling using the following questions as journaling points.


1.  Am I an actor or a spectator in my dream or vision?
2.  Who are the characters in my dream?
3.  What emotions did I feel in the midst of the dream?
4.  How did I feel upon waking?
5.  How do I feel about my dream now?
6.  What was familiar about the dream?  Is this a recurring dream  
7.  Is there any obvious meanings that pop out to you?
8.  Coming back to your entry a week, month or year later, how did/did not my dream come to fruition?