I have always been an avid journal writer. In fact, I've written in my journal every single day since February 16, 1996. I have 15 5-subject notebooks that I keep in a box in my closet. I can't go to sleep at night until I've written at least a few lines. For some reason I've always been somewhat obsessed with the preservation of memories. (That also explains my fanatacism about taking pictures as many of you have experienced.) There's a part of me that just doesn't want to forget where I've been and how that has shaped who I am. The most important part of my journaling has been looking back at my life and seeing how God was at work in different ways. When you're in the moment and life is tough, it's sometimes hard to see God's hand in it all. We all have examples of that in our lives where we get too caught up in the individual threads that we don't see the larger tapestry that God is weaving.
Often I wish I could go back and re-do certain parts of my life, but then I hear God saying that it was through my mistakes that He was able to show me a deeper part of Himself, and that He has brought me through it as a stronger follower of Christ. It's only when I look at my life as a whole that I can more clearly see God's plan. Jeremiah 29:11-13 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. It says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you see me with all your heart." Though we don't always know how or why God works in certain ways, we can be sure that as believers, God has a plan for our lives, and through that plan we will bring Him glory.
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