Due to unavoidable life circumstances, we recently had to move to a new place. In the process of moving, I encountered some notebooks and journals I had accumulated through the years, some of them I had already forgotten (out of sight, out of mind). Some brought back nice, feel-good memories (hello scrapbook of pictures put together from scratch from my very first sheep Chloe, look how thin I was!).
But some of them made me cringe. As in literally, the hairs on my arms stood up, and I felt the blood rush to my face. Did I really write these? Who was this person who wrote these words? And why was she so mad sometimes?
(I forgot how much I used to rant and rage on the page, using it as an outlet for things I would never say out loud. And the cursing! Goodness, I didn’t even remember I could think those words, much less write them down. Shaking my head at you, Janice from 15 years ago. You were brutal.)
Words are mighty powerful indeed. Just with a few short sentences, great authors can evoke strong emotions that last.
But it was only a few seconds of heartache, a moment of unbidden nostalgia, and I was brought back to the wonderful (if chaotic) present. Now, writing is still a release, but I am not the angry person I was before. Now, when I write, it is always with the knowledge that I have Jesus in my heart. And out of the abundance of my heart, my heart will speak (Luke 6:45).
I am still an ocean of words. They will still pour out of me in one way or another. But now I use my words to bless instead of curse. And they will not just stay in old notebooks with lousy chicken scratch handwriting. They will be shared so that God will be glorified.
Click here to find out how you can also be surprised by the abundance of glory of in your heart.
