The July Life Book Journal is here

Half the year is nearly behind us. And if you are like me, you might be wondering where in the world did the year go? And how about those goals — those well-meaning intentions to change your life, to pursue dreams hidden deep within your heart —  to make this the best year ever?

The good news is the year is only half over. Now is the perfect time to restart your year!

And I for one am ready to hit the restart button. You see the first half of 2019 has been among the toughest. Facing the pain in my life is teaching me to get unstuck and break free from toxic cycles that have kept me bound. 

Earlier this year, I re-read Changes That Heal {affiliate link} by Dr. Henry Cloud, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that Dr. Cloud now has a subscription-based site called Boundaries.me. For $9 per month you can have access to a treasure trove of life-changing online courses.

The mini course on Getting Unstuck really struck a chord with me. I looked at the goals I had at the start of the year and I faced a truth that in several of them, I had not even made the first step towards achieving the goal. 

And yet the burden of those goals stayed with me every day and every day I failed to move even one step closer to getting started. The truth I realized was that my intentions — even the ones I wrote down — were merely medicating my denial. 

In his teachings, Dr. Cloud outlines four steps on how to break free and get unstuck. One of them is: carve out time and space in your calendar to work on your goal. And this is where a planner like the Life Book Journal can help. 

Coming out of denial (I didn’t even know I was in denial) has been painful but oh so healing and freeing. For the first time in my life, I don’t feel like a cart being pulled by wild horses. Who knew that you didn’t have to live life that way — that life could be so much different?

I really believe if used well, this journal could be life-transforming.  And I guess the key words here are: used well. I don’t know about you, but I’ve bought several life planners in my life and most often than not, I’ve ended up not using them. One reason is that they were often bulky (you have to carry the whole year with you). And then as hard as I tried, I simply could not fit my daily life into the small boxes and lines provided in most planners. 

I wanted the freedom of having a full blank page to jot down inspiration and ideas, to do a mind-map and to sketch. I also wanted to have my daily appointments and to-do list readily available. 

Last fall, I started sketching the design for my journal inspired by this verse in Revelation.

“On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.” Rev. 22:2

It made me ask — what kind of fruit is my life producing each month? Are they ones God intended for me? Unlike money, time is an irreplaceable, priceless commodity and yet I often live my life like there’s an endless supply of it.

My hope and prayer is that the Life Book Journal will help us to number our days — to help us see how invaluable each month of life is.

The Life Book Journal has gone through several designs, and I have to say the newly re-designed is the best one yet. I’d love to share an e-copy with you for free. To get it, just fill in the form below. 

How about you, friend — how has your year been going? Do you have areas where you need to get unstuck?

#FMF — Linking up this week with the Five Minute Friday community.