|  Mark Edward  |
Updated 2024

Forty-seven years ago this week, I began Journaling.

The inspiration came from one of my youth pastors.  He said,

Mark, you should really think about journaling.  God will speak to you over months and years.  It will change your life…”

As an awkward, melancholy, musically creative teen, I took the suggestion seriously.   

(First Cover Page – January 3, 1977)

I mark my Journey and Legacy as much by the date January 3, as I do my own birthday.

Did you know journaling reduces anxiety?

How did Journaling profoundly change my life?

How can it profoundly change yours?

>> Continue Here If You Clicked on Read More

More about that in a second.  First — 4 minutes of flash back fun:

Flashback

I was almost 14.

My brothers had yet to be born…I was still an only child (and praying for a brother).

A gallon of gasoline was 62 cents.

James Earl Carter, Democrat, was president.

The median household income was $13,752.

A gallon of milk, $1.68.

Me, Studying the Bible and Journaling
January 1977

And for you sports fans, the World Series Champs in 1977 were The New York Yankees. The cost of an ad during the Super Bowl was only $125,000.

Famous quotes were,

May the Force be with You (Harrison Ford, in ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’)

and

Well, Excuuuuuse Me!! ( Steve Martin).

The Chia pet came out that year, and the EPT pregnancy test was released for sale over the counter (random tidbit fact, haha).

First Entry.

“Dad Seems Uptight Today for Some Reason…”
What Dad Wouldn’t be Uptight
When His Wife is 30 Weeks Pregnant?
After 14 years!

 

Factoids for you Musicians

Number one Billboard songs…

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing – Leo Sayer

New Kid In Town – The Eagles

Rich Girl – Daryl Hall & John Oates (it had a saucy word in it that rhymed with “rich”; my mom HATED that song)

Dancing Queen – ABBA

Hotel California – The Eagles

Sir Duke – Stevie Wonder

I’m Your Boogie Man – KC and the Sunshine Band

You Light Up My Life – Debby Boone

How Deep Is Your Love – Bee Gees

The Brothers Gibb aka The Bee Gees

Factoids for you Car Nuts

The cars I dreamed about were the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (got one 5 years later in 1982), the Ford Thunderbird with a wrap over “targa roof” and opera windows, the Lincoln Mark V, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Corvette, and the Pontiac Grand Prix.

Rectangular sealed beam headlights (instead of round) were the rage. The Motor Trend car of the Year was the “downsized” Chevrolet Caprice Classic.

My grandparents bought one that year. I raised and lowered the power windows over and over.

The locks were power.

It had a tilt wheel and cruise control built into the end of the signal stalk. The Honda Accord, just released, was laughed at by most Americans.

I’ve owned 8 Hondas since, bahaha.

’79 Cutlass Supreme Brougham
April 1982 – I was 18

Factoids for you Techies

We still had a rotary dial phone. It was avocado green, and it hung on the wall in our kitchen.

It had a crazy flexible cord that seemed to extend forever into the living room.

My mom would cock the handset between her neck and her left shoulder and talk while she cooked. It was a “big deal” when my dad got ANOTHER phone in his office upstairs (same line).

It was harvest gold.

I had a 10 minute limit whenever I talked to my girlfriend. Calling long distance was a big deal. It had to be an “emergency” or big event to call outside of your local calling area.

We wrote letters and used stamps.

Typewriters.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, IMing, Snapchat, texting, email, Netflix… The Internet  — were Jetson-like pipe dreams.

I was in the 8th grade with my voice cracking, experiencing the joys and mysteries (mostly mysteries) of puberty.

Dreams of a bright future.  And wet dreams.

I had never seen a computer in person.  Internet in my pocket?   There was no internet.  We rode bikes and came in sweaty when it was dark.

For TV there was CBS, NBC, and ABC.

There was no TV remote at our house, although my grandparents had one. It had only 2 buttons and they “clicked” loudly.

Sometimes it actually raised their garage door while changing the TV channel.  Not kidding.  Funny, but so futuristic at the time.

There was no YouTube.

My dad took silent movies of us on Super 8 film.

Each roll lasted just 5 minutes.

A Few of My Actual Journals

 

Flash Forward.
The 46 Years.

Some 3,085 pages and 20 volumes later, I am still writing.

There were years I went all out and purchased elegant cloth or leather-bound books with richly textured paper.  There were years when I could only afford a spiral book.

There were years when I didn’t write at all, and years where I wrote virtually every day.

And while typing is quicker, there is something about holding the actual books in my hand.

With the knowledge that something I held in 1977, 1997, 2017, and 2037 may also be held by my great-great grandchildren in 2117.

Yeah.  Twenty ONE Seven-Teen.

First Journal  |  Fortieth Year Journal.
1977  |  2017

Self Awareness.

My youth pastor was spot on.

The countless hours invested to document The Journey, have profoundly changed my life

At any given time I look back and see who I was then – who I am now – and how I’ve grown, since I was 13.

I can recall how I survived the darkest of times.

What I learned in 1987 or 1999, continues to help me today.

January 3, 1977, 11:08pm
January 3, 2017, 11:08pm

God Awareness.

Who doesn’t need more Self Awareness?  And God Awareness.

I can instantly relive the amazing and mind-blowing experiences through which God as strengthened me.

Or carried me.

1982.  T-Top for the Cutlass.
Fifth Year of Journaling.

I see the pain of some seasons, but I am visually reminded that I survived, grew, and conquered by His grace.  His strength.

I can read again what “Word” He led me to (as I often journal scripture) and how God was dealing with me to apply His Word in my life.

Ironically, today, He was speaking to me from Matthew 6:30 – just as He did when I was a 13-year-old.

Timeless.

That Paisley Phase

Journaling has Kept Me Grounded

Looking back over 46 years, I see my Heritage.  It keeps me grounded in Truth.

Regardless of present storms.

I can see the Tapestry of my grandparents, my parents, my wife, my children, my spiritual sons and mentees, woven before my eyes.

I can pass that tapestry on to My Legacy: My children, their children, and the generations to come.

The good bad and the ugly.  Yes.

Write the ugly too.  David did.

No scratching out later either!  If your viewpoint or beliefs have changed, go back and note it.  In a different color and date it.

(1992)

Graduations.  Touring.  Dating.  My Wedding Day.

My Honeymoon (NSFW bahaha).  The Birth of my Children.  My Mentoring Journey.  All documented.

Priceless.

A Journal Which Wasn’t for Me.

I Felt Led to Journal for a Year for
One of My Spiritual Sons.
I Passed it on as a Gift to
Help Him Establish His Own Legacy.

#TTT

Future Awareness

January 3rd.  The year 2047.

I’ll be 83.

Will we will still be pumping gasoline? If so, what will it cost?

My “powerful” LG V10 smart phone will be a distant memory, if remembered at all.

I will be holding my great-grandchildren.

I will share My Journey with them and recall the great things the Lord has done.

I will live with “no regrets” (a life changing quote from my Journal, December, 1993, Canton, Ohio).

And for certain, I won’t be typing on this windows HP Laptop.

My journals?

They’ll still be around.

To strengthen my great grand children.  To inspire them with Truth.  To impart to them their Legacy.

Journal On Gentlemen.

Haven’t started?

Begin today. It’s never too late.

Ground Your life.  Enrich Your Heart. Change Your Future.

Open Your Soul to Yourself.  And Your God.

 

Mark Edward