More from the Journal

Simple words
Spark thoughts
That strike the mind
With a clamor,
And churn the heart.

Sometimes I kept more than one journal. One was a study journal for my Ph.D. comprehensive exams. Another was a journal about my teaching. Another one was about my life in general and there was one for the “Journaling Your Faith” class I was facilitating at church. Crazy! Things kept spilling into the wrong journals. Sometimes I wrote about family things in the teaching journal and teaching things in the family journal. It was impossible to keep things separate and a poem could pop up anywhere.

Catapulted back to my youth
What sight or scent or sound

Triggered the flight
I do not know.

Was it the taste of springtime in the air
Or the sight of new life growing all around?

Or was it muffled music
Carried on the wind?

I can’t be sure by what it was prompted.

But for a moment
Thought transcended time.

I wanted to see a face, talk to a friend
But I was back before I realized I was gone.

My recommendation would be to keep one journal and use it for everything. It may be a little harder to find things but it is much easier not to have to worry about which journal you are writing.

Angie graduated from Mt. Pleasant High School in the spring of 1986. We had a family gathering on our Patio to celebrate the event. It was fun and we were very proud of Angie. She was off to Iowa Wesleyan that fall.

I took my Ph. D. comprehensive exams that summer. There were in three exams. One was a general exam of education. The second was in reading because that was my area of emphasis and the last one was in school administration because we have to have one in a cognate area. I had three hours to answer the questions in each area so the entire exam was spread over two days. You study for these things by reading everything you possibly can for about two years and hope they ask you questions you know something about.

I was just amazed that I had made it this far. I wasn’t sure I was going to get through high school and now I was knocking on the door for a Ph. D. Many who do make it this far, through their comps, never finished the dissertation. I was bound and determined that wasn’t going to happen to me.

When I went to defend my answers the committee welcomed me into the room and then sent me out for their deliberations. In a few minutes they asked me back into the room. I thought that was a bad sign but they surprised me by saying, “We have no questions. Let’s talk about what you might do for your dissertation.” I was thrilled!

In May of 1986 I wrote: “I think journaling had a profound affect on my growth. Through journaling I’ve made connections I would have never made and discoveries have evolved that may not have happened otherwise. Journaling isn’t for everybody, but it sure is for me. Besides the growth and discovery gained from the journaling they are priceless records of life experiences.”