Challenge

Journaling For Beginners, Part 2: 30-Day Challenge

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Another approach to journaling is answering a pre-determined set of questions. I’ve come across two this year that I’ve engaged.

The first one I started on Easter Sunday. It was a 30-Day challenge created by Alex Banayan, author of The Third Door.

Now, before you dismiss it thinking you can’t commit to something 30 days in a row, here’s your better option. Think 30 consecutive journal entries. Some missed days along the journey are to be expected and shouldn’t be viewed as failing. I took 40 days. No guilt or shame.

The focus is similar to yesterday’s post-a review of your day. But answering three questions may take a little more time and thought. Here they are:

  • What filled me with enthusiasm today?
  • What drained me of energy today?
  • What did I learn about myself today?

The balance in these questions is healthy. You give yourself an opportunity to engage what fills you, to overcome what drains you, and to grow in understanding yourself.

Banayan encourages this reflection as a final entry following the challenge: Read back over your entries to identify patterns for all three questions. That exercise will take some time. No rush. I didn’t do that in one setting, by the way. Took one question at a time over a couple of days.

What I liked about this challenge was that it led to progress. If you’re wanting more from your journaling than reflection, this challenge is for you.

Photo by Jac Alexandru on Unsplash

Eternity Peeks

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I had forgotten how much I liked playing that Yamaha grand piano. The lower octaves have deep, rich tones that feel human. If it weren’t for the occasion, I could have sat there all afternoon.

The occasion was a memorial service. They had asked for 15-20 minutes of prelude music, mostly hymns. Normal.

What wasn’t normal was no one was in the auditorium at that time. They were all in the lobby. So like on Sunday mornings when the worship team starts a service to 25% of the eventual crowd, I started playing thinking it was a cue. Nope. I pretty much played the entire prelude to an empty audience. Or so I thought.

Truthfully, I was glad it was empty. Back in the day, the situation would have annoyed me. But not on this afternoon. I just relaxed, sort of pretended I was in a studio or living room. Let the songs go wherever they wish. Play a verse here, repeat a chorus however many times I want, move around between octaves, just improvise freely. I think I must have stuck on a medley of “More Love To Thee” and “I Need Thee Every Hour” about five minutes. Wasn’t planned, but certainly flowed. Albeit late, the group gathered, and the service got under way.

Unbeknownst to me, the service was streamed, even the prelude. My friend who put the gathering together texted me that evening to say folks from Georgia appreciated the piano music prior to the service. I had no idea. I’m guessing had I known I might have approached things differently.

How often I’ve missed moments like this because of who’s in the room. Focusing on the wrong person or the wrong motive downgrades everything. So the challenge can be to always play as if the room is empty, at least of humans. Play from the connection that goes beyond the gut to full body, mind, and spirit in order to commune with the Giver of music.

I believe those moments are glimpses of eternity. I wasn’t expecting that glimpse when I sat down at that Yamaha. That’s something beautiful about how God relates. I believe he loves to catch us by surprise, when we aren’t expecting it. Since He placed eternity in our hearts, only He seems to know when and how to give us a peek. When He does, it’s a peek into so much more than an afternoon here on earth.

Cherish the peeks.

Photo by Trac Vu on Unsplash

Our Batons

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This morning I listened to a student pastor speak on the importance of being for the next generation. He used the analogy of passing off a baton in a relay race. His last point was an encouragement to not waste your weakness-meaning your past brokenness, your inabilities, or your inexperience do not disqualify you from being on the track, being part of passing off your baton to the next generation. You can carry a baton and pass it on.

Got me to thinking about the actual baton. What is the baton we are passing off? Is it just a broad view of a way of life? What if each one of us knew in more detail what the baton is that we are carrying? I believe we have our own unique baton that we can pass off to countless others throughout life.

Many things come to mind for me. I have a baton of music that I have passed on in many ways. I have the baton of church leadership that is still running its course. I have a baton of living a contented single life. One could say I have a baton of running that I occasionally pass on.

Those are skills and experiences. We could, and I believe we should, consider our spiritual batons also. These spiritual batons are the core of who we are, how we live. We run with the baton of faith, surrender, peace, hope, love, mercy, humility, kindness, patience-what Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit.

Another thought about our unique baton could include the life challenges that God has used to mature us. These could be anything from experiencing loss of jobs, finances, relationships to seasons of doubt, distance, or disconnect. All of these things make up the baton that we are carrying.

What if we held tight enough to our unique baton making sure we don’t drop it but loose enough to let God keep molding it? What if we passed on these batons as often as we are prompted to while we are living rather than only after we die? What if we lived more for what we relay than what we grip?

You might have to get a wheelbarrow for all those batons. But imagine the impact when your race is over and your batons are still in the race.

Photo by Jonathan Chng on Unsplash

Hope Restorer

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You may have asked or been asked the question, “If you could have one super power, what would it be?” After today, I know a pretty good answer.

Within three hours, God gave me the opportunity to have four conversations-three with people I met for the first time. He apparently wanted to see if I would give them what he gave me (see July 1 post).  To summarize in one word what these conversations circled around, they were all about restoration:

  • Joy Restoration
  • Security Restoration
  • Connection Restoration
  • Faith, Love, and Value Restoration 

In the eyes of someone seeking restoration, you see many things: loss, fear, loneliness, anger, confusion, hurt-to name a few. But when they are given a different vision, a different lens that gives them a peek at an answer or a way out, something else flashes across their eyes. Their restoration has been birthed by a glimpse of hope.

What if we all pursued the super power of restoring hope? If you’re thinking you don’t have any hope to offer, then maybe it’s time for you to be a receiver (see yesterday’s post). Or maybe you’re thinking, I don’t know how to restore hope. Congratulations! You just made yourself available for the Holy Spirit to do his work through you rather than you doing it for him. One thing is for sure-we can’t give something that we don’t have.

So here’s the challenge: store up your own hope. Be ready to give it away to those who show you they need it. Be prepared to answer the super power question: “I already have one. I’m a Hope Restorer.”