I run for dear life to God, I’ll never live to regret it. Do what you do so well: get me out of this mess and up on my feet. Put your ear to the ground and listen, give me space for salvation. Be a guest room where I can retreat; you said your door was always open! You’re my salvation—my vast, granite fortress. (Psalm 71:1-3 The Message)
Once a month a few brave souls open to a random page from their journal to share. Here’s my offering for Random Journal Link-Up #57!
For this occasion, I chose a journal from my ADVENTure journals. I set aside a special journal to write in over the holiday season. Today’s choice is my version of a Holiday RE-Treat Journal from 2011.
I flipped to a prayer/plea that I wrote in the midst of finishing my English degree as an adult, self-publishing my book of devotions and welcoming my sister and her kids to St. Louis. Whew! What a year!
Here’s the entry dated 12.17.2011:
Father- I am here in your presence feeling a bit weak and weary with all the worries and wounds of life. Thank you for the gift of REST.
Direct my heart to your purposes and plans today. I confess that I am overwheled and wish that I had bigger blocks of time, rather than pockets of time. I wish I was sleeping better. I wish . . . I could accept my limitations, expel my frustrations, reduce my expectations and instead trust your revelations.
The entry goes on to record a confession of fear of not getting everything ready for Christmas. And then an affirmation to trust God with the impossible.
Looking back at this entry, I notice that I still need help with my limitations, frustrations and expectations.
I am so thankful for a journal where I can readily pour out my confessions and reassess where my help comes from.
I call this my “Holiday RE-Treat Journal” because it is a container where I can keep my sacred sanity. A place to retreat when life gets overwhelming. And it’s a treat that I can visit again and again, to see progress and to recall God’s faithfulness.
I hope you all carve out time, whether big chunks or small pockets, to treat yourself to some holiday respite in your journal this season.
You may find it interesting that the word, “treat” can mean “to deal with in writing” or “to represent artistically.” I find that this journal is a place where I can artistically create little “getaway” scenes with magazine images, which I later use to prompt my musings with my pen. I leave you with some images from my 2015 Holiday RE-Treat Journal. Enjoy!
Below are future “retreat” pages, and a cookie recipe I want to try.
souldare 
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