To write is to freeze the current version of yourself in time, to create a time capsule of who you are now, what you know now, what you’ve lived up until this moment, accepting that the you of tomorrow or next week or next year could completely disagree with anything you jot down. How many times have Facebook memories reminded me of how dumb I was ten years ago or five years or even last year? Growth is good. We love growth. But writing is commemorating who you were in a moment before some “future growth” happened. And that’s scary.
Writing is hard when you’re afraid of being wrong.
Writing is hard because I’m afraid of being wrong.
And yet God wrote a story thousands of years ago that is still just as true and good now as it was then. God does not change. God doesn’t have to look back at Genesis and cringe over what He said or who He was back then.
And so I write. I write and I learn to accept the cringe over my humanity and my finitude because I am not God. This small, humble act of writing down what I think and feel and know right now is my acknowledgement that God is still at work in me and that I need not be ashamed of that. So here I am, freezing these moments.
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What we’ve been reading this month…
My favorite: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery—This was a childhood favorite that I wanted to reread. I talk more about my intent to read the Anne series in this Instagram post on my 2024 reading goals. Everyone quotes Anne saying “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers,” but her rarely mentioned quote, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are white frosts,” felt more appropriate this month. The middle of January all seemed to blur into one long snow day here!
Other books I’ve enjoyed this month: Prayer by Richard Foster and Being Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn
The kids’ current favorites (ages 4 and 1.5): Wishy Washy by Tabitha Paige, Poppy & Sam’s Animal Hide-and-Seek by Jenny Tyler, Bee Makes Tea by Lesley Sims, Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, and Curious George’s 5-Minute Stories by H. A. Rey
Other favorite things from January…
I mentioned the big (for Nashville, at least) snow we got here, and we’ve been having fun inside playing this adorable Noodle Knockout game with the kids. It was a Christmas gift for our 4-year-old, but our 1.5-year-old has been getting into it, too! It’s fun practice for fine motor skills and a good introduction to learning to follow board game rules. The toddler has been practicing recognizing colors with it as well. And honestly, what’s not to love about the cute ramen noodle theme?
I will never get tired of this chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Finally, I just have to mention my journal obsession. I’ve always wanted to be better about journaling more often, and last year I finally solidified a regular habit. I’ve been using prayer journals from Val Marie Paper for a few years, but last year was the first year I filled up an entire yearly journal. I moved into this undated 6-month version this year for more space to write! As I’ve been reading Being Elisabeth Elliot, I’ve been so intrigued by how much access we have to her thoughts, feelings, and faith legacy simply because she regularly kept a journal. Here are two things she wrote about the habit of keeping a journal that stuck with me:
“It numbers the trees in the forest, though I can’t see the forest yet.
“Not that others may read this, but that I may have an accurate record of ‘all the way[s] the Lord my God led me,’ so that perhaps I may tell of it for the hope of others—this is a good enough reason for writing, I guess.”
That’s enough reason to keep sending me back to putting pen to paper.
Thanks for reading! See you again here at the end of February?
Loved this Savannah, and I didn’t realize you are in Nashville! That’s one of my favorite cities to visit. I’m adding the noodle game to our family game night wishlist.
I love your humility to freeze those moments and let them be vulnerably shared, with the knowledge that God blesses that act, even if it makes us cringe later! So good!