by Lora Abernathy
Journaling isfor Whether in a diary or notepad, or in cyber-land, keeping a
12 | Salt | Spring 2012
Journal: A record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use. - Merriam Webster Dictionary
Even reading the word “journaling” sounds like an adventure. Indeed, the journals I have kept over the years reveal a life lived, one of taking chances, of character exploration. Many entries have served as prayers. Over my adult life, I have kept a few journals, penning my way through my day's headlines, hoping that doing so would immediately yield an epiphany that would bring about knowledge of myself for which I was desperately searching. Sometimes it did. The summer immediately following my graduation from Marshall University, I traveled to Slovakia with dozens of other students from across the country with Campus Crusade for Christ. We spent seven weeks overseas, and in between our work at the English camps, we would take the train and travel to Poland or the Czech Republic or other parts of the Slovak countryside. I created a journal just for this trip. I still keep it nearby. June 19, 1999: Sitting here at one of the airports in London waiting to board for Budapest... The trip to
London went well... I switched seats with Rhett so that I could sit by the window... June 30, 1999: Well, I'm sitting here on my bed at the student hotel Piast getting ready to go to Auschwitz. July 13, 1999: I went to the posta (post office) and potraviny (grocery store) earlier... The top stories on SKY are: Louise Arbour visits Pristina; 7 people were killed in Atlanta; 22 people were killed in Romania where a dam busted … something about a peace bill between the IRA and Parliament; a new bill may go in to effect which allows “psychopaths”
to be admitted before they commit crimes in Britain. July 22, 1999: OK, so, I just spent my entire day in Prague. Wow, what a beautiful city! July 29, 1999: Here in Slovakia, I have to rely on God to get toilet paper, whereas in America, there is a very high probability that I will not need God for such a task. After the trip, I took my thoughts back to my regular journal. Jan. 8, 2000: Well, Melody is moving to Minnesota in a few days and my job with Rhone Poulenc ends at the end of January.Yes, it's definitely a time to trust God.
Abernathy, second from right, poses with friends in Prague, Czech Republic, in 1999.