by Andrea Chong, School of Witness 2020
Andrea shares with us today how the #14dayjournalchallenge has helped her in her journalling, especially in this season of circuit breaker.
I really like journaling after midnight. It’s really quiet, there’s a sense of stillness in the house that we don’t ever experience in the daytime – it’s the most peaceful and beautiful time to journal. Ever since I attended the School Of Witness at the start of this year, I’ve been in the habit of journaling at the end of every day. On most days, I do an examination of conscience and reflect on where Jesus was in my daily activities. It usually came to me like word vomit and I could easily write when I felt distant from Jesus and when I felt that He was the closest to me. However, when the Circuit Breaker period started, I began to realise that my journal entries were starting to become more repetitive and shorter everyday – because I often did the same activity and had fairly similar days. I eventually didn’t even journal on some days because I felt like there wasn’t anything NEW to be thankful for, even though I knew it wasn’t true.
Try out the Journal Challenge:
https://oyp.org.sg/faithresources/#journalguides
When OYP began the journaling challenge, I was pretty excited to start it because I enjoy journaling, but I had “nothing” in my life to journal about. The first day’s question was “What was your most recent God encounter?” This then made me realise it was last night. Suddenly, the meaning of the lyrics from Grace to Grace by Hillsong finally made sense to me. It was such a meaningful moment, but I never would have written it down if not for the journaling challenge. The journaling challenge brings to light issues in my life that may have been sitting in the periphery for some time, and more importantly, helps me to see God in these issues.
I journal because it helps me to organise my thoughts, see God in my everyday life, and track my faith journey. When I look back on previous journal entries, I can see where Jesus was in my life and may even be more grateful for what He did for me that I couldn’t understand at that point in time.
I invite you to let Jesus minister to you through this journaling challenge especially if journaling is something you’ve been struggling with this season – you never know what truths He may reveal to you through these simple exercises :-)
