Journals...

For as long as I can remember, leaders from my church have counseled us to keep a personal journal. I started my first journal when I was in 4th grade and it quickly became a habit. I started out just writing a few sentences and then graduated to writing pages each day. I was better about writing in my journal daily when I was younger. Now I feel like I'm doing good if I write once a week!

A few weeks ago I did an activity for my 10-11 year old Activity Days girls on journals. We talked about how important it is to keep a journal. I showed them my journals and even read some entries to them. They laughed about me calling a boy I had a crush on "gorgeous", among other things! My entries were proof to them that you can write about anything in your journals...even silly things!!

I bought some journals from the Dollar Tree and let the girls decorate them however they wanted. Most opted to stamp their names along with some flowers on them...they did a fabulous job!

On the inside cover I taped a quote from President Henry B. Eyring's talk from the October 2007 General Conference titled "O Remember, Remember". It says: "Tonight, and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see his hand in my life? I will do that. And then I will find a way to preserve that memory for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him."
I hope the girls have taken to heart what we talked about and have started writing in their journals. As I was preparing this activity, I read through some of my journals and was amazed at the stuff that I didn't remember! I'd read about something and think "Oh yeah....now I remember doing that!" It made me grateful that I kept journals and wrote faithfully!

How about you? Do you keep a journal? If you don't, I encourage you to start one! It's never too late, and it will be something that you and your family will come to treasure!