Grandma's Advice: A Verse a Day Journal

Over this visit with my grandmother, I have taken great joy in being able to talk faith with her. It's so important to have someone in our lives, especially a mentor, who you can talk about all things spiritual with without judgment or feeling scared at what you are saying, and I am so blessed to have that in my grandmother.

Best of all, she gives great advice and guidance! One of my favorite pieces she gave me during her week-long visit with us was something she learned about at a women's conference years ago: the Verse a Day Journal!

Here's how it works:

Each day, go through any book of the Bible one verse at a time. Then, in a journal, write 1. The verse as it appears in your Bible, 2. The verse in your own words, paraphrased, 3. What that verse means to you.

You can extract so much meaning from this exercise, and it's something that's very doable every day! Right now, I am working through the book of Psalms. Here is a sample of one of my entries as I began this week with Psalm 1:

Psalm 1:3
"They are like trees that grow beside a stream, that bear fruit at the right time, and whose leaves do not dry up. They succeed in everything they do."

My words:
Those who love and lean on the Lord and the Word will be constantly  nourished, flourishing and fruitful, producing great things, never drained or abandoned. They teem with life!

Journal entry:
I am comforted that I am guaranteed to grow up towards the heavens if God is with me. That I will receive all the nourishment I could ever want,

constantly being gifted with life,

beautified from the inside out,

majestic and towering,

strong and sturdy,

meant to take the storms and winds that nature throws on me.

But I must trust in God's seasons of harvest and seasons of fruit bearing, for that is the only way I will succeed.

Life. Growth. Fortitude. Success. Fruit.

These blessings and more will course through my veins and roots if I simply believe and rely on my Father.

I was created to be a definition of life, a source of shade to those who come beneath my branches, a thing of beauty when I let my God's light shine through my leaves.

But what I must do is trust and believe.


My challenge to you: Give it a try! Pick any book of the Bible (although Psalms or Proverbs are good starters, and usually make the most sense when you go through it verse by verse), and post your best entry from each week as a comment.

Happy journaling!