memory lane.

There's this old box on the top shelf in my closet that I keep all my old journals.
A few days ago a friend asked me a question which lead me into this box, but it wasn't too long before I found myself in the middle of my bedroom floor with journals surrounding me.

I love flipping through the pages of old journals and looking back on where I came from and who I was in comparison to who I am now. In many ways I am a complete reflection of who I was several years ago, and yet in others I am unrecognizable.

The pages of these journals are packed full of emotion and and angst. There are tear stained pages, and dirt stained pages. Pages pleading with God about the longings of my heart, and frustrations of growing up in the house I did.

For a while I tried to change journals with every new chapter in my life, and looking back over them this was helpful as I read my life transition from high school, to college, to several missions trips and an internship, and back home again.

It was disappointing to read that some of the same things I struggled with years ago, I am still struggling with, and yet encouraging to see some other mountains I have overcome.

While reading some of the more tumultuous events I even began to cry, seriously remembering how I felt in that moment, and then I laughed....because I was crying.

It was a good night in.