breathe

What is breathe?

. . . . a tool to help you stop the madness in your day and breathe.

I know that it is noisy sometimes once you stop; your thoughts rush at you and scream for attention or ridicule your attempts at whatever. Sometimes it has been so long since you stopped, you don’t know where to begin. Sometimes you can’t remember the last time you were able to put a thought together much a line of complete sentences. But, I came to the realization that stop I must, and I started journaling these thoughts in my head however disorganized or crazy and also listening to his still, small voice.

 

When you purchase a Breathe journal, you are purchasing a spiral bound 7×10 unlined blank book of pages with a cover picture that hopefully takes you to a restful place. Or you are purchasing an 8 1/2 x 11 3 ring notebook to house your pages printed from your computer with a cover picture as well. I have used both options and want to offer both for you to choose what works best for you.

 

 

How do I use breathe?

1. Choose a medium to journal. If you perused my journal bookcase, you would see many different kinds of journals. I have used them all. You need to find one that works best for you. If you still like the pen and paper option, get a bound one from us or at a bookstore. If you prefer to type your journal, just grab a binder to house your pages. I like this option now as it gives me the chance to include other things worth remembering – pictures made by the kids or emails that I want to keep. I think it is important to print them out and keep them visible.
2. Get out your journal or log on to your computer and begin. You can write in the morning or the evening depending on your personality. I tend to write in the morning. And I don’t write every day; that is up to you. Sometimes I capture a moment on the weekend to reflect on the entire week.
3. Write the date.
4. Write the events going on in your world. You could even bullet them.
5. Write your feelings/obervations about those events, much like you are having a conversation with Father.
6. Write the verses in the Bible you are studying and what you are gaining from them. Refer to the Study tool for more information. You can record in your journal what you are discovering through the Study tool.
7. I also write things that my kids are discovering that I don’t want to forget, progress we are making, steps forward we as a family should celebrate.
8. Last, I throw in emails, pictures, sermon notes, etc. in the pockets.

This is a place to record the conversation. What is on your mind and heart? What is causing you stress? What questions or issues keeping coming through your situations? What is the conflict you find yourself in the midst of on a recurring basis? What was the moment today that you experienced the peace? What was the conversation you would like to remember? What is important?

Though you will never have time for this tool, I promise you it is worth it. Getting the crazy out of my head and onto paper has been a lifeline for me. I can then look at it, see it when it pops up again and notice the miracles in the midst of it.

 

Why breathe?

Ron’s Story
Would you like to know that you are on the right path? Life is flying by, kids are getting older, years are adding to your marriage, and where are you? What has gone on in the last 10 years, 5 years or even last month? Where do you want to be in the next month, next year or next 5 years? It was these questions that prompted my journaling. Journaling brings clarity to my purpose and calms the confusion in my head. Because of the volume of activity in my life, I needed something to help me see what is important and what is noise. Journaling starts the conversation with Father God and takes me to a deeper level of hearing and knowing.

I also believe that anything worth doing is worth doing well. Documenting life measures my purpose and reveals my intention. I want to be a person of purpose receiving direction from Father God, and journaling helps monitor this behavior. But, most importantly, my journal is a place of refuge from the daily pace. Relationships at times will remain elusive unless we intentionally seek to ask the questions and begin the dialogue. Journaling is a conversation between Father God and myself. Every time I come to journaling, I remember who I am in Father’s eyes. The honesty, transparency or vulnerability of it all keeps me breathing at a slow and steady pace.

Karla’s Story
I can’t imagine my life without a journal. It is here that I am known. It is here that I can release the “crazy.” It is here that Father and I sit together. It is here that I rest in his promises, see his faithfulness and anticipate his answers. It all started for me when I walked into Mimuh’s room that day and saw the walls covered with bookshelves and little red books. If the red shag carpet wasn’t enough to get my attention, then these books she called journals certainly did. It was easy to see that my dear friend, Louise Wood (Mimuh to me) liked the color red, but there was much more to the mystery of red that I was about to find out. Mimuh was a spectacular lady. You only had to be with her for a few moments and you knew she had a loving God whom she was crazy about and a wonderful husband whom she was equally crazy about. We became friends when I was in high school going to her home to paint their fence or something for a youth group fundraiser. Mimuh could have cared less about her fence. She just wanted us to come inside and talk. Her warm hug and authentic conversation kept me coming around again and again. It was on one such afternoon after school that she invited me to her world of journals! I had often wondered where such a sense of Father God and herself came from. I had never met anyone so calm, peaceful and full of life. I knew as I stared around her room that day that it had something to do with these little red books.

She couldn’t help but pull them from the shelves and begin to read. I believe that when she wrote, she met Father God and they talked about all that was going on. Journaling was only one of the many things that Mimuh taught me about life. But she was adamant that I always journal and though I can’t quite put my finger on it, I know that this activity created a result of friendship that I am not willing to pass me by.

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12