keep a record

Give yourself 5 minutes. Give it a week. Give it a try? Either way, allow some time to introduce yourself to it.

Consider using the notes app on your phone or if you’re a pen & paper gal like myself, grab a pretty notebook & start with number 1.

Find what works for you. Keep it simple. A list will do.

• Write what you like

• Write to remember

• Write to experience gratitude

• Write to document

• WRITE FOR YOU

• WRITE TO WORK IT OUT

• Write to grow

• Write to name it

• Write to own it

• Write for THE PLEASURE OF HAVING WRITTEN IT

• WRITE TO EXPLORE

• WRITE TO LEARN

• WRITE THE STEPS YOU’RE TAKING

• WRITE WHAT YOU’RE THINKING

• WRITE WHAT YOU’RE FEELING

the big. the small. the silly. & the alike.

Consider me an avid note taker of sorts. I’m not the journaling type, but it’s been a daily practice of mine for nearly 8 years to write down what I learn. Over time, my attention to notice & reasons to record have transformed. Each month or season of life reveals a new theme. A new way to follow after Him. A new way of practicing what I learn. He’s still bringing me through the process. & In-between, I find there is grace & love. It’s mine for the taking & the giving.

I invite you to read the back story below — how the practice of writing down what I learn began.

the back story

Nearly 7 years ago, I felt numb. Little things like a cherry limeade no longer made me happy. I felt lonely & yet I still wanted to hide in my small, single bedroom apartment. I felt lost & I felt confused.

I prayed, yet there were no words. I remember opening a spiral notebook my mother had given me as a gift back in my young & glorious middle school days. I never wrote in it. But had kept it. I wanted to use it for something good. Something special. Something worth writing. 

It was pretty in its maroon, vintage way & inside the front cover were the lyrics to the classic Lee Ann Womack song, "I hope you dance". I certainly wasn't choosing to dance, but you can bet your bottom dollar I was giving faith a fighting chance. 

While I sat in bed most nights eating mint chocolate chip ice cream & watching movies like Princess Diaries to make myself laugh & P.S. I Love You to make myself cry, I immersed myself into songs from Bethel & Hillsong. I surrounded myself with people who helped me look up & Jesus who lifted my head.

God brought me into a healing journey. He began a movement on my heart to start writing down the things I learn. The Big. The Small. The silly. & alike.

It was a practical, do-able, life-shifting step I could take to move “forward”. & so, the journal I had saved was put to use. I began to collect quotes, lyrics, questions, thoughts, bits, & moments. As a whole, it was something good. Something special. Certainly something worth writing. 

I believe it was out of His kindness, God brought me through the process of writing down what I learn to see that in-between the bullet points He undoubtedly is wonderfully woven into my life. (Yours too.) He's there. He cares. & He will, in His perfect timing & knowledge, show up.

A sweet & deep layer of faith was renewed in the midst of doubt. Hope was strengthened in a way only He could have grown.

In time, when given the choice to sit it out — I danced.