Looking back~Looking forward

I had one of those moments today when I found myself quietly inspired, as against Saturday's moment when I thought the floor was sloping left to right (it's another of my odd migraine associated symptoms). Anyway, back to this morning. I was writing in my journal and decided to flick back to last year to see what I was writing about then. Normally I start a fresh journal each year, but this year I stayed with the journal I had used through 2007, mainly because it's thicker than most and I hadn't used up more than half of it.

Turning back the pages I came across a note I made to myself about three things to focus on for 2008: inspiring prayer, inspiring outreach and inspiring discipleship. Sadly a week later we got hit by the disappearance of Robert Gill and his death. All thoughts of being inspirational got lost in the pain of Robert's murder. 

So it was both challenging and comforting to reread those entries and to realise that one of the great values of a journal is that you need never lose track of a thought or a reflection if you maintain a little self-discipline about keeping a journal. And, as a result of reading the comments I made a year ago, I've decided to refocus my efforts to do these three things in 2009. 

I must say that although I'd forgotten about them, clearly God had not. I've been thinking about these issues on and off throughout the year. I hope and pray that this is not just a good idea but a God-idea.

Initially I'd like to work out one thing in each area that we can do to take a step forward as individuals and as a community. Jeff's NT giveaway makes me think it's time again to challenge the church, and myself, to a reading plan. Probably just the New Testament over the course of a year would be a good place to start.

Another thing I'm considering is a good look at Todd Hunter's Three is Enough idea to see if we can stimulate some deeper level relationships. I have other ideas in the pipeline of my mind and I'm mind-mapping them to see where they might lead.

So, once again my journal has proved it's value to me. I do not need convincing about the value of a journal and a process to review it. A blog simply isn't enough. For one thing it's way to public. Even a simple mundane blog like mine gets traffic and it would just be unwise to commit everything to such a media. 

So put a journal on your late entry Christmas list. It doesn't need to be flash, a simple ring bound notebook from Tescos will do the job. Even if you find it hard work to begin with, stick with it. I had to persevere over a long period before it became a regular part of my routine. Even now I have to discipline myself to get my pen out and start to write. 

But I'm pretty confident that if you persevere, you will find it so helpful.