Hello,

This is my umpteenth attempt at creating a journal. We've long been admonished by our church leaders to keep a journal for the sake of our posterity and for family history purposes. I must admit my efforts have been sporadic at best. But with the advent of weblogs or "blogs" that can be accessed anytime via the internet, I think this might be the best option for me. I'm at a computer often throughout the day. I can jot down my thoughts and feelings when they strike me and not have to wait until the end of the day to write them (by hand) in a book.



My thirteen year old, Eric, is working on his Duty to God award. Part of the requirements for the award is to keep a regular journal. How can I encourage him to do so without giving him the example first? Plus, last night I presented a family home evening lesson on family history. I showed the kids some of the pedigree charts and family group sheets from my side of the family. I told them that I wished I knew more about my ancestors. For many of them, all I know is when and where they were born and died. Yet my heart tells me they loved their wives and husbands and kids; they had struggles and triumphs just like us. It would nice to have some insight into their lives. It's like the old saying about tombstones. Our tombstones have two years inscribed on them separated by a little dash. My dad's tombstone says 1922 - 2001. The dates aren't nearly as important as the dash. That dash represents every day of our life. Every joy and every sorrow. All the happiness and all the sadness. Every funny joke we've ever heard. Every sad movie that made us cry. All the hopes we have for our children and all the disappointment we feel with ourselves.



A journal is a way to capture those thoughts and feelings. Something I can return to and remind myself of the good things I've been a part of. A source of strength when times are bad to look back upon and see that I've made it through every other difficult time in my life and I'll make it through the ones to come.



So, I'm excited to get started. Hopefully I'll be able to fill in the blanks about my past enough that you will get a picture of who I am.