Family Home Evening Journal Sharing

Stephanie Nixon, Florida, USA

Does your journal sit unused in a drawer? We are a journal-writing family, and it seemed a shame not to use them in a productive way. So every Monday evening, one of our goals is to read from a family member’s journal. When each of our five children was born, we started baby journals, recording our thoughts and aspirations for them. When they were old enough to participate, they kept their own journals. With everyone’s contributions over the years, we have a lot of journal entries to choose from. Each week we share excerpts from a different family member’s journal. Sometimes we share recent entries; others are from years past. We are always careful to not share sensitive information. Each family member may choose what to share.

If your family hasn’t kept journals, you might see if other relatives, such as grandparents, will let you read selections from theirs. Hopefully you can encourage your family to begin keeping journals. Our children enjoy hearing about the funny things they said when they were younger and the lessons they have learned along the way. Writing in our journals is a much anticipated activity in our family. We know we’re not just writing for our future posterity. We are recording our thoughts and life experiences to benefit our family now.

Illustration by Beth Marion Whittaker