“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.”—Ellen G. White, Life Sketches, p. 196.
Long before Sabbath School Net, my blogsite, and Facebook, I loved to write. When I was a teenager, Earl Hamner inspired me to write and keep a journal. You may or may not know that Earl Hamner created the 1970s TV series The Waltons, based loosely on his own family’s experiences growing up during the Great Depression and World War II. In the TV series, John Boy, the character is based on Earl Hamner, who kept a journal. This inspired me to keep a journal, hoping to write some exciting stories to share later in life. While I did not write anything noteworthy enough to create my own TV series, I did write what has become a gold mine for my own reflection and self-discovery.
Photo by Jan Kahánek on Unsplash
For instance, when I was 15, I had a crush on a girl who didn’t return my feelings, so I wrote in my journal that I had called her a snob to her face. A couple of weeks later, I recorded in my journal that I preached my first sermon, but also noted the girl I had a crush on did not come to hear me preach, and I wondered why. Reading my journal years later, it was blatantly obvious why. Just a few days earlier, I called her a snob. Who wants to hear someone preach who just called you a snob? I didn’t see the obvious at the time, but years later, reading my journal, I could connect the dots I couldn’t then. Around the same age, I wrote in my journal how I hoped to become a pastor someday. It is rewarding to go back to my journal and read about dreams that were fulfilled years later. Except now I don’t call people I want to share the Gospel with “snobs.”
Sadly, after a couple of years of journaling, I stopped because I didn’t feel that what I wrote was exciting enough to record. Was I ever wrong! As I said earlier, I look back and see it as a gold mine of self-reflection and self-discovery, as well as a way to document events and dates to refer back to whenever I need a timeline. By reading my old journals, I can now see what I needed to grow and how I have grown.
Around 2005, Someone gave me a journal as a birthday gift, and I started journaling again, though I do not write in it nearly as often as I did as a teen. Of course, I now write on my blog and Facebook, so I can still share stories of my life. As we study this week’s Sabbath School Lesson, “Memorials of Grace,” I am reminded how journaling can be a memorial of grace. In recent years, I have journaled about how God closed the door on my Bible Worker ministry only to open an even bigger door for ministry. I have journaled about how God got me out of debt after I lost my job, which is a really unique route out of debt. I have journaled about how God revealed His presence to me when my mother passed away. These past miracles are recorded in my journal to remind me that I never have to fear bad news.
They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. Psalm 112:7 NLT
So today, I thank God for the gift of writing, whether it is in my personal journal or blogging on Sabbath School Net or social media. I hope you also take advantage of the wonderful gift of writing and record your own tragedies and triumphs, so you can look back and read and re-read the wonderful things the Lord has brought you through and done for you. I feel that, like me, you will also learn some things about yourself as you read your old stories.
By the way, at camp meetings and while traveling, I will meet people who tell me they have been following my blog for a long time. Some of them have never commented, so I had no idea they were even following me. So, whether you have commented or not, I want to thank you for reading my blogs. Thank you for being someone with whom I can share my stories. By sharing my stories with you, I have been able to share my life with you. That makes you very special to me. Thank you.
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