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Today, I began a new journal! AGAIN!
It is always an exciting new time as I peel back the plastic packaging to reveal the brand new moleskine journal. My journal represents so much in my life, as I am sure many who will read this can attest to. Maybe it's just me, but I have found that my printing is very neat on the first couple pages and that I do my best to include thoughts and ideas about the future. In addition one will find some referencing to the challenging, amazing, and noteworthy accounts in my last one. I have seen many journals come and go. I have had journals where I missed many days or pages with illegible handwriting that litters parts of it and includes possible drool. (Just kidding) There are coffee stains and different colored pen markings for sure, however. Well, today I put a reward of $50 for a lost journal in the front page as well as my address including "USA" at the end. This kind of got me thinking about how journaling is changing in me and about what I want to accomplish in this new journal, and rather, what God wants to accomplish in me.
Anyways, here are a few thoughts about starting a new journal.
1. Write legibly
-Yeah, I have problems with this….alot.
-print in clear letters.
-Make clear the points, sections, and divisions.
-David's journal could be read.
"As the door pants for the wanton so my son laughs to me." psalm 42
If david wrote sloppy we may have something like this to read.
In addition, I am sure that scribes were very precise to preserve what was said.
2. Write counting on NO ONE reading it.
– We may not have gotten psalm 51. Which I am super thankful for.
– If you're not going to be transparent with yourself, then why waste the time?
– Although mine is read every week, I must not give in to myself as an editor. Just write.
3. In addition to everything else, write about what's happening right now.
-Think about answering these questions: Where are you? What are you looking at? What day is it? What is racing through you mind? Who is on your mind, heart?
-If all journaling is to me is a collection of short devotions, it will be a book for a shelf and retitled a homily.
-Even if no one ever finds my writing interesting. I will. It's a record of my journey with God and life. 20 years from now you will be kicking yourself if you don't. DETAILS WILL BRING INSIGHT LATER.
4. Include other things.
-not necessarily a scrapbook, but include ticket stubs or photos, a business card or receipt from a special dinner. Again, you will be so thankful later. I don't save stuff like this anymore, but I know I will keep my journals. This will, again, be rewarding to you later. Be creative.
5. Plan for the archive.
-Get a journal that will last.
-Use good paper.
-Use good ink.
-I use the same kind every time. Moleskine squared journal. They will be easy to transport and keep together.
I want to grow in GOD, dangit! So I am TAKING MORE TIME with my journal process to ensure that I show how much God means to me in being excellent with my journal. Who knows what will happen to them?
Andy
This post is from a few months ago, but I needed it again, maybe you can benefit too.
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psalm 89:17 You are their glorious strength.
It pleases you to make us strong.
It pleases God to make us strong!
Now what is my excuse for being weak?
Andy
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I went to Chicago recently. These are the photos iPhone saw.
Column on the right half way down the page.
Andy
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Alright, I am doing it.
Yup.
I am turning one of my bedroom walls into a whiteboard. (When I say I, I mean Zach and I).
I want to be more deliberate with my time at home. My bedroom is more than just a closet and bed. I want to see more goals met (set then met) more scripture memorized, more thoughts clarified, more focus brought to my life. This is just one way, maybe it will work for you.
There are a million things to do with a whiteboard, I just want to be excellent at a few.
I was trying to figure out how to accomplish this cheaply and thought I would share. I learned of this from a blog here. An excerpt is below.
The Cheapest:
You can get a magnificently large — 4 by 8 feet –and fabulously cheap whiteboard for all of $13 at Home Depot. What you want is the Solid White Tileboard (sometimes called Melamine tile wall panel) used as a tile substitute in bathrooms. Some know it as showerboard because a couple of sheets of this and you have a nice waterproof shower stall. You’ll need a $1 tube of panel adhesive to glue this 1/8 inch surface to the wall or a piece of plywood. Melamine is the same stuff official whiteboards are made from. These huge sheets are slick and work perfectly well with dry-erase markers. You can cover an entire wall for $50. You can also cut it into smaller pieces with a regular circular saw.
NOTE FROM ZACH: “Eventually this board will not wipe off completely, the surface is a little different.” So because of this, and the fact that we are renters, we are going to screw this board in.
Maybe I can post some pictures of my late night brainstorming sessions.
Andy
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Sit at a table with someone you don’t know. This week. Seriously.
Quickly identify the common ground and help them glance into your
eyes. Maybe they’ll see Jesus in you. In me.
Andy
Sent from my iPhone
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Give anyone time and they will tell you everything.
Andy
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Have you ever began a blog only to find yourself unable to blog anything? Maybe it’s with a shrug or quick exhale, but you end up frustrated that you didn’t blog anything. This day leads to the next, and the next, pretty soon your blog is out of date and so are you.
So here are some thoughts on developing this amazing communication platform, gain readership, and have others think you’re swell.
Questions for a blog, O you faint-at-bloggers.
Do I realize that my perspective is unique?
Therefore my blog should be uniquely me. Good thing, I don’t have to be someone else.
Is my blog about something directly connected to me?
No one wants to read about "stuff". They read because they want to learn about you, learn from you, or receive help on a particular topic. Remember this, It’s not the sermon they want, it’s the application. So, your blog shouldn’t be just the sermon, it should be mostly about how you responded to it. It’s not the great thought, but how you are changed by it. This initiates a response from them.
Has my blog made something unclear, clear.
Has my blog offered real help to a real problem?
Will my blog cause readers to consider me, or consider things in a different way?
Can my blog be understood by an international, multi-generational audience?
Have I thoughtlessly used large, uneccesary words? Have I used poor grammar and therefore made my clear point, unclear to everyone except me?
Is my blog christianese free?
(reader take notice!) Christians don’t like Christianese, or at least shouldn’t, and everyone else hates it.
Have I inserted quoted text that will cause the reader to stop reading completely?
Take only the necessary context and keep it concise. Readers want to read you, not someone else’s
paragraph quote.
Is my blog too long?
Long blog = not read
Is my blog too short?
Even if my blog is clear to me, it might be because I wrote it. Explain fully what needs to be said.
Andy
