Why Jesus Came

George Bush was a devoted Christian who counted on the prayers of his countrymen, and his belief in God, to help him through the struggles of his presidential term in office.
Now we have a new President who also claims to be a Christian and has spent many years associated with a church.
What do you think? Does it matter what our leaders believe?

I am a Christian which means I believe in Christ. I believe that Jesus came to earth and died on the cross to save me and all of mankind.
I am offended by people who write me off just because of that. These are the same people who would get all nasty if I wrote off gay people just because they are gay. (Which I don't, by the way) But it is perfectly fine for them to be prejudiced against Christians - lumping us all into a big group of undesirables.

We, as Christians, are all individuals and even within the Christian community there are many ways of thinking. So please don't dismiss me as if you already know what I think and believe.

I've seen, and been a part of, some great youth group meetings led by awesome people.

My own kids have been touched in good ways by the guidance of youth leaders.

So I am wondering if you- as parents or kids- also have been a part of such an experience?

I keep a journal for many reasons, but I find that writing releases pent up feelings that otherwise would never be "said". I write because I am angry or worried. I write about miracles that I've seen take place in my life - yes, miracles! I write my prayers and requests and occasionally I write something about what my hopes for the future might be.
I pretty much write about whatever comes into my mind. Journaling can be whatever you want it to be. That is the great thing about it. No one sees it (at least in my case) and it's freedom to express anything and everything.

I read my mother's many journals after she had gone into a nursing home with Alzheimers, and in her later entries, it was obvious that she was having trouble thinking clearly and it became impossible for her to write sentences that made sense. But what was even more disturbing than that was the fact that her journals were boring! Her entries had hardly any personal information. A page would read something like this: "Raining today. Pam's 8th birthday. Susan and Bill and Larry came to the party. We had a nice time." That's it? As "Pam" I want to know more! I wanted to read something like this, "Pam looked so cute and she loved that pink bicycle. I can't believe my little girl is so grown up already." But of course the journal wasn't written for me. It was my mother's book of life stories and she wrote them the way she wanted to. In life, and in journals, she never gave a hint of motherly love. Just the facts. That was my mother.

I want my journals to be full of life...words that have feeling and give insight into what I struggle with, and what I hope for and how I believe. I want my future readers (who will most likely be my children) to gain insight into my life. They already know that it rains, and we have parties and good days. And I want my children to know without a doubt how much they have meant to me. For myself, I want to be able to go back and see how many prayers have been answered. Many have already. I learned from reading my mother's journals that although my life may seem very boring, my writing will not be!

So, what's your journaling story?