Maintaining Dairy

[anu]

Hi All

Can some of you share your ideas on maintianing a Dairy. I actually wanted to maintain the dairy with the list of things such as the way God speaks to me and do miracles in my day to day life. But I am kind of confused how to maintain it. I know many of you might be doing it. Can you all share with your ideas of maintaining such kind of events with God. Or suggest the different ways i can do so.

Thank you in advance
Anu

 

[Alma]

I guess you mean a ‘diary’. My English is not very good but my guess is a ‘dairy’ has something to do with milk .

First of all, congratulations! Having a spiritual diary is a very good thing that will help you keep good track of the loving presence of God in your life.

Hope this suggestions are useful:

1. Buy a simple, regular, cheap, blank notebook. Do not buy one of those fancy diaries that have already set one page per day. Go for the freedom of being able to write each day as much as you like, whether it be a simple line or several pages!
2. Always take the notebook with you when you sit down to pray and write down on it whatever captures your attention. It may be a single verse from the Bible, it may be something the priest said during Mass, it may be something that happened to you that somehow you feel it affected your relationship with God, etc.
   Be sure to write (somewhere on a corner of the page) the date (month, day, year) of every entry.
3. At the end of the month or every other month, or even at the end of the year, re-read the diary in order to find patterns: what has been worrying you, in what ways is God leading you, how have you been responding to His will for you, etc. It will amaze you how you had not noticed those patterns before. For instance, it once happened to me that every now and then, along three months, I had been writing down the same biblical quote. I had not noticed that until I re-read the diary. It made me wonder why that particular text had been so meaningful to me and ask myself what God was trying to tell me through it.

A spritiual diary is in a sense, a record of the loving relationship between God and you, and it will sure help to strengthen it!!

I will pray that you may find in this a new and wonderful way of relating to Him and grow more in love with Him.

Alma

 

[anu]

Ya it was a typo mistake its Diary Thank you soo much. I am going to start this. I was just wondering how to start with. Thank you again

Regards
Anu

 

[BarbaraTherese]

I keep my diary in Word nowadays. Some find it helpful to write to “Dear Diary”…others like to write “Dear Jesus”…others just write first person singular - or of course, one can combine all three. I just sort of trust that whatever is meant to go into my diary will go into my diary. Most days I write a line or two sometimes a page or two, or a paragraph or two. It is a mixture of what has happened in my day, my feelings and thoughts, my hopes and desires, my misses and failures small and great etc. etc. It can be fascinating to read back over one’s journey…in other places, I just skip over it not wanting to read about it.
The thing about a diary is that it is completely personal and private…as long as one is alive that is . I am mindful when I write in my diary that it may be read after I die…and yet I make it honest as if Jesus was looking over my shoulder - which indeed He is!!! My son wants all I have written after I die and he has asked me to promise not to destroy anything.
It can be difficult at first keeping a diary…but like all things, application will create a habit and it just becomes second nature and one writes without too much forethought at all if any. Well, such is my experience anyway.
I do find typing into Word far easier than in the days when my diary was handwritten into exercise books. I touch type and it is far less effortful than pushing a pen I find.

I hope you will find keeping a Diary fulfilling and a happy event and that you will eventually develop your own “style” and feel comfortable and at home in your Diary… God’s Blessings…Barb
PS A thought just now occured to me, I think I will start to print out my Diary to date and put it in a binder - last night in fact I thought I had lost it all and was relieved to refind it - how, I dont know!

 

[puzzleannie]

many do, and call it a journal, which I guess the only difference is the diary is just a short day by day memo account, and the journalling is more free-form writing of what you are thinking and feeling at the time, such as after praying with scripture, and not necessarily every day.

just buy a spiral notebook or any attractive notebook, you can even find nice ones in the dollar store, and a good pen, and start writing.

to be a good spiritual journal, your writing should come after a period of prayer and reflection, preferably with the bible, such as the daily Mass readings.

and as OP says, writing down good things that happen, thanking and praising God for them in your own words, writing what is happening in your spiritual life, including the downers and bad things, and reflecting on how they are helping you grow, all those are good topics for journalling. Just pray before you write.

I actually have 2, the first is for scripture only, and in it I write only the passages from scripture that speak to me during LOTH, Mass, lectio divina, other scripture reading, without any other comment. looking back over this journal shows me when I sensed God speaking to me specifically through his Word at times in my life.

the second is my daily journal. i am a writer and have been journalling since Jr Hi, nowdays it is less about my active life in the world and interactions with other people, and more interior and reflective, I think what and how you right depends on your age and circumstances.

 

[John_Russell_Jr]

Many people record their sins large and small too. You need to code them so noone knows what they are if they see your diary. Over time you can see if your improving or not.