Savor God’s Encounters

By Janet Lewis

I was excited to proofread Chris’s new book, The Power of Journaling. It led me to contemplate my own journey of journaling, and all that I had learned over the years.

I started journaling in 2006 after a house and church move. A couple handed me a book with the word Journal on it. It was a leaving gift, and with that journal, I began the great adventure!

This was around the time that I also started taking notice of my dreams and writing them down.

The last twenty years have been a time of realising that dreams can be a significant way God speaks. He wants me to be attentive. So I began the habit of recording my dreams and thoughts on paper. I valued this medium of God speaking to me.

It has been a game-changer.

I have discovered that I have a bad memory. Without the record, I’d have not retained dreams, conversations, or even encounters with God.

As I have been preparing to write this blog, I delved back into my very first journal. I was stunned by all the divine encounters and answers to prayers that I had completely forgotten about. Things that I simply could not have stored in my increasingly full brain file.

These discoveries made my journal feel like a delightful box of chocolates, each page holding something new to savor; ‘Oh taste and see that the Lord is good’.

After I proof read Chris’s book, it encouraged me to reread some more recent journals written around five years ago. I was reminded of a succession of about seven dreams. They were spread over a period of four or five years. I reconized a pattern I would not have if I had not recorded them in my journal.

I intentionally identified each dream, buried amongst thoughts, prayers, and feelings, and highlighted them, assigning each a number. I saw a very clear connecting pattern emerging.

Now, I can see that God was preparing my husband and me, through these dreams, for a new ministry which we have stepped into recently. The dreams that led us to this emerging ministry remain in my journal and in my heart to encourage me on the path we have chosen.

Thank you, Chris, for writing a book dedicated to the power of journaling. It really is a wonderful tool!