I love me a good journal. Let’s be real. I have like 6, unused, various sized, different colored journals sitting in my office right now. I love sitting down with a good cup of tea and writing about an event or memory. But, why journal? Does it benefit anyone other than keeping a story alive? I believe it does. And here are the top 9 reasons why journaling in your Growth Book actually benefits you in more ways than just giving you a reason to drink tea. Ready?
1. It improves your memory and recall - This one is super exciting because according to a crazy amount of studies, physically writing things down helps you recall things longer, and grasp concepts more fully than if you were to have typed them up, or not written the down at all. The act of you summarizing what you read or heard deepens your understanding and retention of the topic. How cool is that!
2. It builds your faith - Writing in the “God’s Faithfulness” section is a constant, ongoing list of God’s activity in your life and such a great tool to look back on when your faith is weak, and you feel alone, or discouraged. It helps you notice the miracles, linger on them, and store them in your heart, which in turn builds your faith that “you’ve seen him move the mountains, and you believe he will do it again”.
3. It records God’s hand in your life - With 365 days in a year, it’s hard to remember all that went on and all that God did. But, by journaling in your Growth Book, you have now recorded a moment in the history of your life. You’ve penned down a miracle, put a date to an answered prayer, wrote about God’s faithfulness, and saw that you accomplished a faith goal. It’s a record and roadmap of the journey God led you on.
4. It establishes discipline - By using your Growth Book you are consciously setting aside time each day to be with the Lord. A habit that isn’t easy, but gets easier and more fruitful over time. It helps you focus your thoughts, be intentional about cutting out the rest of the noise, hear his voice more clearly, and record what he’s saying to you.
5. It holds you accountable to pray - In our busy lives we often forget to pray when we say “I will pray for you”. But how great would it be if you remembered to follow up until the prayer was answered? And how much better would it be to then see a record of all the miracles, blessings, and answered prayers with dates next to them? In the end, it’s incredible to see how many prayers God actually did answer that we weren’t even aware of.
6. It fosters community - So often we fail at our pursuits of growth. That’s why by using your Growth Book we recommend you do it with an accountability partner. One that you check in with weekly, that you feel comfortable sharing your heart with, and that is aligned with God and his word. This sets you up for great success in growing with the Lord, staying positive, encouraged, hopeful, and strong as you go through the various seasons that life brings.
7. It’s a tangible way to see your progress - By using the bible reading chart and various stickers it gives you an easy way to see the progress your making on different areas and goals in your life. Reading the bible from cover to cover can be hard, but when you begin to see the books that have only a few chapters you can accomplish on a lunch break, or you see that you really have 5 chapters left to complete all of Psalms, it’s inspiring and motivational to keep going!
8. It helps you recall resources to share with others - by recording the books you read, it is the perfect way to keep track of the resources you read that impacted your life, so in turn, you could tell other people of them and it can change theirs.
9. It doesn't limit you - Since Growth Book is undated, this is your canvas for however long it takes you to fill it up and allows you to journal, draw, diagram or chart virtually anything your heart desires. You're not limited to a set number of pages per month, and within these pages you have the freedom to not only pour your heart out to the Lord, but you have the freedom to do it any way you want. For some that's drawing, painting, or coloring, for others it's journaling, diagraming or making lists.
Eeek! That's it! The 9 benefits. I hope you all are able to hop on over and grab yourselves a Growth Book. But if not, it's still so important to journal, and I don't just want to promote mine, I am all about GROWTH, and growing with the Lord in whatever way, shape, or form that may be. So, maybe drive yourself to staples and get yourself a notebook. Happy growing!