Dear Corinne,
Do not be discouraged if you have not been able to write as often as you had intended! Psychologists tell us that doing a new activity daily for 21 days, will help it to become a habit. The key is to find a time of day and a frequency that you can realistically achieve, and to keep to it. Think of it as an adventure and see where God takes you!
Change is part of life and it is not going to disappear! We can resist it or embrace it. While we often do not have control over the events and circumstances in which we find ourselves, we do have the option and ability to make personal changes. We can,
- change our thought patterns
- change our behaviour
- change our perspective
- change ourselves…. but not other people!
However such changes are seldom achieved in the twinkling of an eye, rather they occur more slowly over time. The first step is to become aware that change needs to occur.
Logging our thoughts, feelings and raging at God or others on paper can be really helpful and cathartic. It is also less damaging than if we had vented our feelings on the unsuspecting person, who had prompted such feelings in the first place.
Sometimes we know we need to change in some area, but don’t know how to – we pray about it , maybe discuss it with a trusted friend or mentor, often thinking that nothing is happening. Yet when we encounter a similar person/situation, further down the line, we realise that we have not reacted in the same way as previously. We have changed, and God has indeed been at work in us, moulding and shaping us. Keeping a journal helps us to log the changes and to see how God has used events/people/ circumstances to enable us to change and grow and develop.
Before I became ill and was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, I had been through a very busy, challenging and at times traumatic season. I had become far more worn out and exhausted on every front, than I had realised.
While I would never have put my hand up to receive the condition, it has proved to be a blessing in disguise. It gave me an extended time of silence and solitude in which to just sit in God’s presence, whether I was aware of him or not! It became for me a season of restoration and renewal, resulting in significant change and new opportunities, roles and responsibilities.
There are times, however, when in order to change we need more focussed assistance perhaps through counselling or therapy.
You mentioned style and content, when we spoke on the phone, I will write about those in the next letter!
Keep writing!
with love,
