The time has come for me to put words on the last two pages of my 31st journal. It has taken me slightly more than three months to fill its 240 pages.
The first thing I wrote on Page 1, back on Dec. 27, was copied from the last page of Journal No. 30:
“Thank you, Lord, for bringing me this far. Lead on, Lord, and I will follow.”
It would be typical of me to rail on, on these final pages, about how I have not kept up with my intended goals. But reaching the last page of a journal is a goal reached and an intention followed through to completion. It’s a sign that I can and will do what I set out to do, if slowly, but surely.
And if my words and books and music have not set the world on fire or brought me fame and fortune to comfort me in my so-called old age, well, clearly the Lord has different plans for me than to be resting on any laurels at this stage — or resting at all.
Therefore I reach for the book full of blank pages that is about to become my 32nd journal. I’m still not sure what flipped my switch in April 2015 that started me journaling in earnest to the extent that I filled that book and 30 more in eleven years.
I’m glad I have kept up. I’m grateful for all the people I have met along the years. I’m grateful for a God who will not let me drown under everything that life has thrown at me.
And with five lines of handwritten lines left to fill, I resolve to pay more attention to my God and my self as we muddle onward, perhaps evolving from a muddle and beginning to take more disciplined and intentional strides forward.
