On Journaling: Ashley's Story (plus a giveaway)

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Hello! I am Ashley and write over at Events By Ashley. Most people who know me are well aware of the fact that I am easily distracted and mildly forgetful! In my opinion, my forgetfulness is a blessing and yet a curse when I am already late and I can not find my cell phone or when I forget to look at my speedometer while belting out my favorite song and out of the corner of my eye, I see the dreaded red and blue lights flashing, growing brighter in my rear view mirror....oops. I decided at the age of 14, that journaling would be what would save my memory and literally, my life!

I was adopted when I was seven years old to a family who loved Jesus. My mother encouraged me to write down my thoughts and feelings in a spiral notebook, but it took me about 7 years before I realized the importance of sharing, rather than stuffing my thoughts and emotions. For me journaling became a place of safety. A place to sit and be still and hear from my Savior. I was not the kind of person that could say a prayer before I went to sleep as my mind would start wondering...."I wonder why the fan is shaking like that? or "Lets see, how many hours till mom comes in singing that annoying 'Give God the Glory, Glory Song?'" Oh brother, now I can not stop singing it....Distractions are huge in our lives, no matter how large or small. Writing forced me to focus on what I was doing or thinking.

My journals are filled with prayers of praise, pain, thanksgiving, anguish, thoughts and encouragement from friends and family, love notes to the boys I was dating, and now husband, frustrations, questions for our Lord, daily descriptions of  activities and trips. Some pages are dated, but I simply had no words so they became unwritten prayers or thoughts. There were times that I went months without opening the pages or writing a single letter, but journaling allowed me to see inside myself, to figure out who I was created to be....the good, the bad and the ugly.

As I look through the pages of each journal, I am in awe of the healing and growth that I have done over the span of 15 years. It brings me complete peace to see how I have been able to overcome some of the trials in my life and triumph joyfully after seeing how God faithfully prepared the way when I doubted He had the plans for my life in His hands perfectly layed out.....hmm mmm....without my help. What a great example we can show our kids, of how God truly does have a plan for our lives like Jeremiah 29:11 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."

Through Journaling, I have found so much peace and joy!

Don't know where to start? Well, I have to admit that I do not care for reading, and I am definitely that person who judges a book by it's cover. For me, I have found that the prettier, more unique; journals that have inspirational quotes or verses in them, are the ones I spend money on and the better I do at writing in it everyday! Sounds pretty superficial, but it is the way my little brain works. If you have a small budget, fill the front and back covers of a spiral notebook with your favorite pictures and put contact paper over them.

My newest journal from Anthropologie!

Don't like to write? Maybe you are the person who does not like to write, or simply, you do not have time. My encourgement to you is to start small. Put your journal in a place that is easy to grab and jot down a few words every other day. Pick something that is a praise and yep, one negative. Maybe it is about the lady who paid for the starbucks drink in line ahead of you in the drive through when you really didn't have the money to spend on it anyway, or your kids or something completely random. If you don't want to get a nasty bump on your knuckle from writing or just do not enjoy pen/pencil to paper contact, another suggestion would be to type it on your computer....this will also help with those of us who can not spell well. In fact, it could be a bonus, free spell check!!
Make a folder and keep all of your entries in there.

In conclusion, sometimes I am too tired to write or really, what it is for me is just laziness, but it is in those moments that I know I need to spend some time on my belly, writing my prayers, singing my praises, drying the tears off the smeared pages, as I spend time in silence with just me, my head, my heart, and most importantly, my Savior. Through my passion, I hope you are encouraged to draw closer to the heart of God through your thoughts and prayers as you write them and that you are inspired by those words for years to come.

I am giving away a new journal from Anthropologie to help get you started

or to encourage you to continue!

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Want to win??

Leave a comment and tell us what you're going to write in it!

For extra entries:

- Hop on over to Ashley's blog and say "hi"

- Like Events by Ashley on Facebook

- Spread the word on your blog, twitter, or facebook

Giveaway will end Wednesday.

Thanks for sharing Ashley!