*~* Do You Journal? *~* Hey,Hey,Paula

Many years ago I was told that keeping a journal was a great idea for many reasons. I was also taught how inspirational it can be to go back and read what you wrote at a tough time in your life and see how you had grown and learned from that experience.

So, I started keeping a journal and now I have several saved here and there. I have written day-to-day journals, with huge lapses in posts, journals for the last three years on my computer, journals with notes from conferences I have gone to and I even have a diet one. (That one doesn't get written in much - lol!)

I have a goal to get all my handwritten ones transfered into my computer and printed into a book/binder form. (Yeah - right - that goal is up there with cleaning closets! lol!)

How about you? Do you keep a journal? Do you find it has helped you or is it just a waste of time and energy? I see where more and more school classes are requiring their students to keep journals. I think this is a great idea, but I wish the teachers would not critique or grade them on content or thoughts. Sometimes we can pen better than we can voice. A journal can become a person's best friend during times of duress.

The following entry is an example of a time when I turned to my journal for a shoulder when I was alone:

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5 Mar 2002

Well, the past five days have been a real roller coaster. On Friday I went in for an echocardiogram and chest x-ray, to check my heart to see how it was doing, as I had recently been experiencing shortness of breath and an overall weak and tired state.

The congestive heart failure has been in a controlled state and I figured it was flaring up again.

So, I had the tests and then had to wait until today to see the doctor for the results.

My visit today, explained that the heart was still enlarged and that I also have cardiomyopathy. This is an inflammatory disorder of the heart muscle. The heart muscle is weakened and cannot pump blood efficiently.

So, the doctor put me on another medicine that I had been on before, and I will see him again in three weeks. I have hopes that all will improve and life will be pretty sustained. I will probably never be 100% again, as I am at 50% right now. But, I will be happy with whatever time the Lord gives me, as I have so many things I need and want to do, including inputting a box full of genealogy information.

In the meantime, I ask for your continued prayers, love and support. On top of the waiting for the tests results, we had frozen water pipes all weekend until noon Monday. Then my dogs both got into stinky messes and it was really a challenge trying to clean them up with bottles from my water storage. I have promised them a professional grooming this weekend, as I don’t have the energy to wash them right myself.

With all this I missed stake conference at church and a special speaker from Salt Lake, Elder Richard G. Scott. But, I have learned that sometimes we just have to slow down and let God go to work in our lives. He loves us so much and He knows our needs, wants and desires. He wants us to return to live with Him again, when it is time.

A quote I recently ran across sums up my feelings on the topic of life’s challenges, "Death is a mere comma, not an exclamation point!" Elder Neal A. Maxwell Ensign, May 1983, 11.

Always remember, God lives, Jesus IS The Christ. Period.

And, by the way, Happy Golden Wedding Anniversary President and Mrs. Reagan."

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

Love, Hugs and Butterfly Kisses,

Paula

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