Write it down. That’s typically what’s said when you want to remember something or when you’re not sure how to put your thoughts into speech. Journaling is often the solution to help people organize their thoughts and get them out of their heads. Throughout this post, I am going to share how I came up with the idea of a keeping a five year faith journal.

Synopsis: So You Want to Start a Five Year Faith Journal

 

In 2015, I started journaling when planners and the wildly popular “question a day” journals were the hottest. These journals were designed to have you answer a different question every day for a year and then again for the next 4 years. At first, I wasn’t sure if this were something I would keep up with or even like, but day after day I would answer the questions and document my life.

Only having to answer one question didn’t feel like it was a huge time commitment and was easy to do. Now that I’m finishing up the last year of the 5 years of that journal, I’m looking forward to doing it again… with some modifications.

Objective: How To Create A Five Year Faith Journal

Over the next five years, I plan to journal in a similar fashion. One question every day. Same questions over 5 years.

However, I found myself reflecting in the monthly recaps of each month. Some of these details get lost in life as we experience new trials and victories, but all of them let us know how far we’ve come. As I looked over the past years, I wondered, “What would happen if you did this with a specific focus every month?” Insert #ThriveInFive.

From this, I decided I would compile a list of questions with a specific focus for each month. I’m a woman of faith and will be adding scriptures that relate to the topics of each month. Part of this will be for me to grow in different areas of my faith, but these same areas are important in life in general. Below you’ll find a list of the topic for each month.

In coming posts, I’ll release the questions for the months and you can start putting together a faith journal of your own to follow on your own journey.

 

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• A notebook, old calendar, Filofax, project life binder or any other paper product you prefer
• Dividers
• Pens
• Prompts
• Optional
  • Washi tape
  • Stickers
  • Markers
  • Scrapbook Paper
  • Photos

Action Items: Get the Right Faith Journal and Supplies for You

As I release the prompts for each month, you can start setting up your journal. Here’s what you can do to get started

1. DECIDE THE BEST JOURNAL FOR YOU

   • If you don’t have much time or prefer not to decorate, you can use a calendar in a horizontal layout. Plum Paper has some great horizontal layouts that work great for this type of project and they are pretty affordable. Not to mention the pretty covers. Just cover up the days of the week. They’ll change from year to year.
   • If you’re like me and want to decorate a bit, but not go over the top, you can get a blank notebook and decorate it a little bit
   • If you’re more on the scrapbook/memory planner train, try using a binder or a combination of dashboards and decorative papers to embellish each month
   • Then there are the people that are going to just print the prompts and simply answer the questions on a separate sheet of paper. This is also totally fine. I’m not mad at this either. I’m just excited you’re joining me on this adventure over the next 5 years! #ThriveInFive

2. SCHEDULE TIME TO WRITE OUT THE PROMPTS

   • You’re probably wondering why I’m doing this in September when 2020 is 3 months away. The first time I did this, I spent an entire winter break decorating and setting up the journal. Let me tell you… writing out 366 questions over a weeklong period was frustrating and caused more cramps than I care to admit. I was almost taken out in this stage of the game. Don’t be like me. Start early!
   • Host a journal party where everyone sets up their journal or starts decorating together. Not only will you have an accountability team, but you’ll also have an excuse to get together with your friends!

3. STICK WITH IT!!!!

   • If you decide to start this journal, please stick with it! There is a lot of work that goes into this project, but the memories you’ll capture are priceless. This can be as elaborate or minimal as you need. This is for you!
   • You may not have time to write out all of the questions or maybe you don’t want to do something every day. Consider writing a summary for each of the months so that you have something to look back on. Any reflections will work!
   • Use the hashtag #ThriveInFive

Point of it all

Having my journal over the past five years has allowed me to really quantify my growth over the past 5 years. Guess what. My 28-year-old self was cool, but a lot of growth happened every year. Experiences that I had forgotten were documented and feelings were captured for me to relive.

On the other side of this, you’ll be able to prove to yourself that you can commit to something and see it through.  While this may seem like it’s just a lot of writing, it’s a way to see growth within yourself and start to appreciate it. It’s a way to be more present in now and to appreciate each day.

You may have noticed that nowhere in the post is a computer document mentioned. That’s by design. Something happens when you write things down. It’s therapeutic. It’s something tangible.

Trust me. It’s my hope that we can grow and learn together through this project.

Let me know what you decide to use and share what your final designs look like over on my instagram (@ryces.pieces). This is going to be fun!

First time here? Check out all of the Five Year Faith Journal prompts!