Mary Joy’s Blessing Journal 2013~~ Unwrapping His Grace copyright 2013
Journaling is a wonderful thing to do.
It is a healing and empowering thing to do and I love it now with our blessing journals…but it took me a bit to really start getting into the habit and focus of writing or creating in it. Our boys are enjoying it too, but need a little help thinking of what to write or create each day.
It can also be hard to keep at it day after day, week after week if you are used to doing it.
And then it can be easy to put aside because you feel intimidated by the days or weeks you may have “missed” and you feel like you are so behind you will never catch up. Or maybe you get started with great enthusiasm and then begin to struggle to know what to write about or how to “get creative” with your entries.
If you haven’t read the article I wrote on January first in which I shared about our family’s blessing journal goals for this year, I am going to encourage you to take a few moments to check it out. Here’s the link to make it easy for you to do…just right click your mouse on the link and select open in a new tab so you don’t lose your place here. Go on, I’ll wait for you…I’m not going anywhere. 
I was so humbled and excited by the awesome response to the idea of creating blessing journals and the idea of creating them and keeping up with them with your families too after the first article. The response on our Unwrapping His Grace Facebook page was overwhelming! There was such an enthusiastic response and so many questions about how to do it and sharing of ideas that I had to share an idea the Lord has put on my heart to share with all of you…
I am SOOOO excited about this!
Because of the enthusiastic response to focusing on Blessing…remember this includes reflecting on and recording how God is blessing you and your family AND how you or your family can be a blessing to OTHERS in your own family, in your neighborhood, church, schools, at work, your town or community, and around the world…
TWO things are going to happen!!!
FIRST…
We are going to designate Fridays as a special day set aside here on Unwrapping His Grace for me to focus on Blessings and Blessing Journals! Every Friday there will be an article in which I share thoughts or pictures from my own Blessing Journal and here’s the really cool part…I am going to share FIVE focus questions or ideas that my family and I will be using during the next week in our journals to help you (if you need it) to continue working on your journals throughout the whole year!
What do I mean by that?
Well…I will share a couple of pictures of pages from my journal entries from that week and then, I will share some thoughts, some Scripture, or encouragement, a devotional, or ideas for us to use to focus on the blessings in our lives or how we can bless someone else during that next week.
That will help all of us to have something to journal about at least five days a week. You pick the days you or your family journals!
I’ll even put a separate set of ideas/questions to reflect or act on for you and one set for your family in case some of you are doing this without children! How does that sound?
It will be like getting a Journaling Devotional and idea starter each week FREE!
And to make things easier…the first week of “Blessing Journal” ideas/reflection questions will help you set up your journal! How does that sound? And if you already have it set up…I will add a set of Questions/Action ideas just for you that Friday too!
Each week’s Questions for reflection/recording in your journal will include four days worth of questions/starters regarding areas of your life God has blessed you or your family and ONE day that will be Action ideas or a challenge to reach out and bless someone else. This Action Idea or Challenge may be to bless someone in your family, your husband or significant other, a neighbor, someone at church, in your workplace, at school, in your town, in your state, in our country or across the world.
So what do you think? Would that help you?
Cool!
Now here’s even bigger news!!!! This Scripture spoke to my heart and this idea was laid on my heart…
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV
For those who are interested…I am going to encourage ladies to start Facebook Blessing Journal Groups!! I mentioned this idea on our Unwrapping His Grace Facebook page after the Focus on Blessing in 2013 article was published and the response was very positive! But instead of just one group the Lord has challenged me to challenge our readers to form small groups of your own!
What would a “Blessing Journal Facebook Group” do?
It would be a place to “talk” about the questions or focus for the Blessing Journal for that day or week. You can encourage each other, ask and share ideas that you are going to try, share pictures of your creative pages, or pictures of your family doing the blessing activity for the week. You can also see it as a place to help you with accountability to not give up journaling in the middle of the year. If you feel stuck, you can ask for ideas. You can share prayer requests too. And best of all it can be a place to connect and even share some of the ways God is blessing you or your family with your sisters in Christ!
Leading a group isn’t hard either! I know we are ALL busy so I will make it very easy. What do you talk about in the group? Well…that’s the great part! You focus on the Scripture, Questions for reflection/recording your blessings in the areas of your life and Blessing Action challenge for that week that I share with you on Fridays!
And, leaders I won’t leave you out there all alone to figure it out by yourselves! The ladies who sign up and lead a “Blessing Journal Facebook Group” will get to be in a closed group on Facebook with me where you can receive encouragement, get your questions answered about leading the group, things like that.
Just think! All of us encouraging each other to focus on the blessing in the midst of good and tough times. Some days it will be harder than others to see how God is at work…I know, my own life has those times as a new widow and mother working at leading and continuing to homeschool our first year with my Will in heaven with His Savior. But I have learned and continued to be amazed at how, when I pay attention, I can still see God’s hand blessing our lives every single day. And you can have a group of women right there ready to encourage you on the days you struggle and you can encourage someone else when they are struggling too…and celebrate your blessings together and give God the glory with your sisters in Christ!
So will you join me? If you are interested in leading a Blessing Group please send me a private message at Unwrapping His Grace on Facebook.
I will give everyone this week to get your group and some creative supplies together…remember you don’t have to have a journal made and ready in order to start with us! That can happen during the first week’s focus if that is where you are. And a group can consist of anywhere from 3 people to 30 it is up to you!!! And we all connect back here on Fridays for the next week’s encouragement and Questions/Action Challenge for the next week!
The first Blessings Journal article will be published on Friday January 18th.
Even if you don’t want to be in a group…I hope you will be blessed by the journaling focus reflection questions and Blessing Action ideas and challenges for you or your own family.
And if making individual journals with your whole family feels like too much, why not just make ONE Family Blessing Journal to all work on together!
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on all of this, and remember…if you are interested in being a “Blessing Journal Facebook Group” Leader please send me a private direct message on our Unwrapping His Grace Facebook page so that I can talk with you more there.
If you want to be in a group and don’t know a leader I will have a place for you to comment saying you are looking for a group so that you can get connected with a leader in case you aren’t comfortable starting your own group.
So here we go! I am so excited about this new adventure!!! Will you join me?
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Unwrapping His Grace,
Mary Joy
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