Dear Diary,

I can’t believe what has just happened. He showed up

at the house with no notice. He was home for spring break

and drove down the street to see me. He looked so good

I immediately felt a blush move from my face down to my neck….

The year was 1978 and this entry in my diary is one of the most treasured pieces of writing I possess. It certainly is no literary masterpiece but means the world to me because it describes in detail the manner in which my husband and I rekindled a relationship we had abandoned in high school. Twenty-five years later I realize that this momentous event in our lives has faded — not in importance but certainly in detail. Thank goodness I recorded the reunion. I can reread my entry with pleasure and no regret that the demands of my adult life have not pushed my memories so far back I can never retrieve all about the experience that I want to recall.

There is even a deeper joy connected with this entry and it involves the way God speaks to me today about this long-ago experience. When I mentioned recently to my mother-in-law that I had found the entry, she reminded me that way back then she believed Matt and I were meant to be together for a lifetime. Realizing she had no power to make this happen, she did the only thing she could do — she prayed without ceasing for two years, asking God to help us find our way back to each other.

When Matt hurried out the door that spring break, saying he thought he might say “Hi” to my parents and see when my break was scheduled, she knew: God had been listening. As an adult I treasure not only her faithfulness but also God’s. She repeatedly expressed to God her desire for her son. God listened and in His own timing moved with surprise and decisiveness.

Today God speaks clearly to me when I see how He moved 25 years ago. I am reminded that He is a God who remains the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He united our hearts then and He will do it today — again and again and again. His faithfulness is encouraging me when the events of my life seem at moments to have no answers.

In 2003 most people speak not of writing diary entries but of journaling. So popular is it you can purchase journals of every imaginable style or post your entries on journaling Internet sites if you are so inclined. My husband and I have recently begun journaling as part of our daily devotion time in journals produced by New Hope Resources. While we are free to write whatever we choose, we decided that some of our entries would focus on thoughts we have about each other, particularly when travel parts us for days at a time. Other entries we make respond to prompts in these particular journals that focus on daily Bible readings. Users are encouraged to read a daily Bible selection and respond by answering questions like:

What is God teaching me in these passages?

What facts pertain to my life and how do they apply to my life circumstances?

What is the key verse for me?

What prayers are initiated by this reading?

What prayers are being answered?

It takes discipline to write regularly and this is perhaps the greatest challenge to most of us who are in the thick of working full time and parenting. It is, however, a most wonderful endeavor, so wonderful in fact that even when I am tired I think about the ways I can dig into God’s word and write a response. I do all this because I long to hear God’s voice and I am learning that I must be quiet and still to hear Him most of the time.

The best part of this kind of communication is the fact that there are no rules and no judgment. You can write when and what you want. You can share your entries or keep them completely private. You can choose a fabulous pen or tap away on a computer keyboard.

There are many ways to express youself: Dialogue, make lists, write letters and poems and songs. Whatever you choose to do, God will respond — especially when you regularly title your entries, post them into a table of contents, and look back on what you have written. God’s actions will jump off the pages and speak clearly to your heart.

Joan Bay Klope is a freelance writer. Her e-mail address is

jbklope@hotmail.com