JOURNALING can mean different things to different people. For some, journaling is a written prayer. For others, journaling is keeping a record of prayer requests and answers. Some keep a journal of especially poignant spiritual truths, perhaps insights from sermons, quotes from spiritual books, or a collection of Scripture. Some may write accounts of significant encounters with God.

For some, a journal is a form of a diary, a place to record the events of their day and a few thoughts or insights about it; these entries may be as brief as one or two phrases or a long narrative. Some might keep a “gratitude” or “joy” journal that lists one or more things each day—small or large—for which they are thankful. Still others journal in the sense that they write out their thoughts or respond to a particular prompt; it is not so much a prayer or god-directed explicitly as it is a written exploration of a topic.

And some, like Beth Griffith, write poetry in their journals to focus on God.

Journals can come in various forms—written in a notebook, typed on the computer, in an online forum, shared with friends or private, including artwork or pictures, or solely visual art without words.

–Debora Buerk, Editor