Journal This

I bought a guided journal a month ago, and I have written in it every day thereafter.

I deserve a standing ovation.

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

. . .

Thanks.

I feel this way because journaling has always been a goal of mine, but I never quite “get there.” Over the years I have had fits and starts. Recently, while cleaning, I found the remnants of a journal I began five years ago. That time, I managed to chronicle about 10 days of my life over a two-month period.

Stunningly brilliant, I know.

The benefits of journaling are obvious. It helps you to establish a writing routine, it hones the writing “instrument,” it records thought and feelings and events for posterity. It certainly would have helped in remembering things when I recently co-authored a story-based devotional book, but, alas, all I had were journaling crumbs.

In the past, life has hit hard and caused me to put aside my diary aspirations. I have juggled a myriad of responsibilities, trying to keep all the balls in the air, and keeping a journal seemed to be the ball that fell every time.

My new journal is different. It asks a simple question every day, and then I write three brief (Hallelujah!) answers. So far, the questions have been thought-provoking, and it is a neat, short exercise I do every morning or in the evening when I am recovering—I mean, winding down—from work. This act has truly refreshed my soul and has gotten the “wheels turning” in my mind for future projects.

A month down, and it’s feeling good. How long will it last? Who knows? Right now, I’m enjoying the ride . . . and appreciating the applause.

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Carlton Hughes wears many hats. By day, he’s a professor of communication at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. On Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, he does object lessons and songs with motions as Children’s Pastor of Lynch Church of God. In his “spare time,” he is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Chicken Soup for the Soul and several devotional books from Worthy Publishing—Let the Earth Rejoice, Just Breathe, So God Made a Dog, and Everyday Grace for Men. Carlton and his wife Kathy have two sons, Noah and Ethan, both of whom recently flew out of the nest, and a daughter-in-law, Kersyn. He is on the planning committee for Kentucky Christian Writers Conference and is a year-round volunteer for Operation Christmas Child. He is represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary Agency. His book Adventures in Fatherhood, a 60-day devotional co-authored with Holland Webb, will release in April 2020 from Worthy/Ellie Claire.