What's in a Name?

When thinking about what to name this blog, I wanted to come up with something catchy and creative. Rhyming words might do the trick. Or perhaps alliteration would provide more possibilities. Then, of course, there was also the matter of the name actually making sense and having some sort of reasoning behind it. That further complicated the issue. After much deep thought (3 or 4 minutes, I guess) I decided to call it The Journey Journals. It is somewhat catchy and perhaps even a little creative, but most important of all, it has meaning to it. Let me explain.

I believe that life is a journey. It begins at conception and continues on until our physical bodies give out and we die. On our tombstone it may be only represented by a little dash in between the years of our birth and death, but that little dash can contain a lot of time, trials, tries, and triumphs. Looking up quotes about journeying, I fond one accredited to George Whitefield.

"Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you."

I don't think that means we should rush through life and never stop to smell the flowers, as they say. In regards to the Christian life, however, it can be a warning to us to never stop pressing "on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" as Philippians 3:14 says. In other words, never be content with where you are spiritually. Always be striving to become more Christ-like. Neither coasting nor being lukewarm in your faith are acceptable options if our hearts are truly the Lord's. The journey is hard - nobody denies that. We often struggle and feel alone, yet Psalm 46:1 reminds us that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Hence, while the journey is no walk in the park, we are led "beside still waters" by our Good Shepherd.

While we're on this journey, it can be of great benefit to continually track our current location. Not only does this keep us on the narrow path we are called to follow, but it also gives us a way to learn from past mistakes, rejoice over progress made, and keep a history of God's faithfulness in our lives. Journaling can be a personal means of communing with the Spirit, it can serve as a way of remembering where we've come from, and it can also be a way of sharing our life journey and testimony with other people. That's predominately what this blog has been created to do. As I progress down the pathway of life on this journey of faith, I will post updates on here of happenings along the way. More to come soon...