035: The Power of Prayer Journaling in Making Life Decisions with Kari Bartkus
Listen On:
Scroll down for transcript
Show Notes
Can journaling really help you make better decisions — and hear from God more clearly? In this episode, spiritual director and journal coach Kari Bartkus shares how prayer journaling creates space to process emotions, clarify your values, and invite God into your decision-making. We talk about journaling methods beyond just pros and cons lists, how to overcome the fear of someone reading your journal, and what to do when you're staring at a blank page. I also share a powerful story of how God used the most random word in my journaling time to redirect my business — and it all started with simply writing my prayers.
Links From This Episode:
✨ Kari’s Website & Free Journaling Workshop: lovedoesthat.org
✨ Kari’s Podcast Episode Featuring Lauren: lovedoesthat.org/177
✨ Rocketbook Notebook: getrocketbook.com
✨ Daily Kairos Journal: dailykairos.com
✨ Val Marie Paper Prayer Journal: valmariepaper.com
Bible Verses Mentioned:
📖 Romans 8:26 – The Spirit intercedes for us
📖 James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, ask God
📖 Matthew 7:7 – Ask, seek, knock
📖 Habakkuk 2:2 – Write the vision and make it plain
Key Points:
🔑 Journaling helps bring clarity by getting thoughts out of your head and onto paper
🔑 Prayer journaling isn’t just about writing a list — it’s about dialogue with God
🔑 You can use lists, imagination-based journaling, or art/doodles to explore decisions
🔑 Journaling reveals patterns, values, and God’s voice in surprising ways
🔑 You don’t have to keep every journal entry — write freely, then decide what to keep
🔑 There’s no “right” way to journal; the best method is the one you’ll actually use
Your Action Step for the Week:
🖊️ Pick up a journal and start writing. If you already journal regularly, try a new method — whether it’s list-making, imagination prayer, or doodling your thoughts. And if you're stuck, simply invite God in and write what’s on your heart.
Where to Connect with Kari:
Website & Podcast: lovedoesthat.org
Free Journal Prompts + Resources: lovedoesthat.org/resources
Instagram: @love_does_that
Best way to connect: Join Kari’s email list through her site
Connect with me on social media:
www.instagram.com/anchoreddecisions
www.facebook.com/anchoreddecisions
Check out my website and decision guide shop:
www.anchoreddecisions.com
www.anchoreddecisions.com/shop
Transcript
Lauren:
Could journaling be the secret weapon in your decision making? When your mind feels messy and your heart is unsure, putting pen to paper can be the very thing that helps you hear from God and opens up a range of possibilities that you would've never thought of just praying in your head or trying to think through things without that physical writing aspect.
So, today's guest is Kari Barkus, a spiritual director and journal coach. We connected back around January. We met on Instagram thanks to a mutual friend Danielle Roberts, who suggested I bring in Kari as a prayer leader for my January prayer challenge, so Kari shared several amazing prayers.
And after connecting there, we realized we had a lot in common, had a little bit of a shared audience, and so we were excited to do a podcast swap. So I was featured on Kari's podcast this week and Kari is now on my podcast today. So I spoke on her podcast on Grieving Decisions you Don't Want to Make.
Her podcast is called Love Does That. Kari and I just go into my story on one of my biggest decisions that my heart and my head have disagreed on for years and how I used journaling and journaling through my decision guides in order to come to a conclusion and to stick with that, and then how I've worked through the grieving process of the thing that I turned down.
So if you know my story, you probably know exactly what topic I am talking about that I still often struggle with, but I know overall it's the best choice for our family. But anyway, today in this episode, Kari and I are talking about why journaling is so powerful for processing hard decisions and how it helps you uncover what really matters most.
Kari walks us through some practical ways to start, even if you feel awkward or stuck and you don't know what to write, and we talk about everything from imaginative prayer exercises where you envision the future to the fears people have about maybe someone reading your journal. And I even share a wild story of how God gave me the most random word during a prayer journaling session, and how that led to an unexpected answer to prayer and a major shift in my business.
So tune in as we dive in.
Intro: Welcome to the Anchored Decisions Show. I'm your host, Lauren Black, the world's biggest overthinker turn decision coach, all by the grace of God. Now I'm on a mission to help you make easier decisions, discover God's will and live with purpose. Tune in weekly to hear real life decision stories, expert insights, and faith-based strategies to help you navigate your decisions with confidence, so ditch your pros and cons list and learn to make better decisions without asking your mom or losing another night sleep. Let's go.
Lauren:
Hey everyone. I am excited for today's guest. So Kari Bartkus is here and she helps people journal. And so Kari had seen far too many people go through hardship alone and became determined to show up and be present when those around her were hurting. So through her work, her business is Love Does That. She serves as a spiritual director to hurting Christian women, but she uses a modern-day letter writing approach perfect for those drawn to quiet spaces and written words. So, Kari, welcome, and just tell us how you got started with this and anything else about you, you know, your family and whatnot.
Kari:
Sure. Well, thank you. I think I've always had a heart for people that have been hurting, right? They're going through hard times or hard seasons, and you know, we've all been there. And I found for me, when I would go to a counselor's office and they would ask me a question, I would just sit there quietly because I wouldn't know how to answer them.
I would need that time to think. And so there'd be this really awkward silence, and I'd be like, well, that's a really good question. I don't know. So my counselor would ask me another question, and again, there'd be that awkward silence. And so just over time, I've learned that for me at least, I really need that time to stop and process and reflect and pray before I can answer some of those harder questions.
And so when I work with women in spiritual direction, we use email instead of video calls or sitting down face-to-face because I feel like both of us benefit from that extra time and space to sit down to read what the other person has written, but then also to have the time and space to think about what they want to say back, or at least even know how to answer the question in the first place. And I found that to be really beneficial for both of us.
So I am a spiritual director, especially to women going through hard seasons like grief, depression, anxiety, big life changes like that. And we use email to communicate back and forth, but also as part of that, we process life a lot through journaling, me and my type of people, right? So journaling is a big tool that we use, not just kind of like emailing back and forth, but also in their private life. They're journaling, I'm journaling.
So I also serve as a journal coach. And so if someone wants to use journaling more as a spiritual practice or just learn more about it, I can sit down with them for, you know, half an hour and say, you know what, tell me about something that you're going through and let's go through this journaling session together and figure out what that might look like for you.
Lauren:
I love that so much, both things that you do. And I find that I definitely work better, get my thoughts out better on paper. I had a business at one point called Bosscation, and it was about these workbooks to work on your business that you would take with you on this little business vacation to write out and work through certain things in your business.
And even with my decision coaching, I have the decision guides that are meant to be worked out in that same way for those people who just need to sit down with their thoughts and let it flow on paper, as well as, yeah, one-on-one coaching for those who want to talk things out. So, and for me, even I feel like every time I get back into the habit of prayer journaling, because sometimes I let it slide and I just pray in my head, but every time I get back into it, that's when God speaks to me the most and I connect with Him deeper. And it just unlocks this whole new level of my spiritual relationship with God.
Kari:
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
Lauren:
How does journaling, and specifically prayer journaling, help us when it comes to making decisions?
Kari:
Yeah, so let me take a moment and just define or describe prayer journaling because people have different ideas of it. And I think maybe the first thing that pops into our mind is maybe that prayer list that you keep in your Bible or in your journal or notebook and you're just keeping track of all those prayer requests that you have. And then you go back and you see how God has answered them and you write that down. And that's a great way to do prayer journaling, if that’s what works for you.
For me, when I think of prayer journaling, I'm usually just writing out my prayers, right? And so yes, I'm just talking to God, but it's almost like a letter or even just whatever type of journaling really I'm doing, it's done in a prayerful attitude. And so I'm inviting God into that process, asking Him just, and just constantly paying attention to, you know, I'm writing this down, but I'm also listening. God, what do you have to say about this? What do I need to know about this? How are you going to guide me in this? And it's that constant kind of give and take, right? I'm writing, but I'm also listening.
And so whatever form the journaling takes, whether it's free writing or we'll talk about a few others here in a few minutes, but whatever form that journaling takes, to me it's prayer journaling, because I'm inviting God into that process and I'm listening for Him. And so just know that prayer journaling can take all kinds of different forms.
But I do find it useful, especially when we are making decisions, because I feel like once we write something down, we see it in black and white, right? And so it's almost like we're naming something and we can no longer hide from it. Which, I don't know if you ever try to hide from certain truths about yourself or things like that, but it's like it's there, it's written down. You can't hide from it anymore.
But it's also very clarifying. You can start to see patterns, you can start to pick up on, "Oh, this is really important to me because I'm writing about it over and over and over again." So if there's like relational conflict that pops up, you see that relationships are really important to you, and various things like that. And so you start to identify your values, your priorities. And so as you come to some of those bigger decisions, you can then make those decisions in light of, "Oh, well I know relationships are important to me. I know this is important to me: honesty," any number of things. And you can then use those.
And so, for those reasons specifically — you can't hide from whatever's stirring inside of you — but also it helps you identify those values and priorities that make those decisions. And then again, always listening for God. "God, what do you have to say about this?" Because there are times when I will find myself writing and something will pop out and I'll be like, well, that wasn't me. Right? Like, God just kind of gives you that inspiration and you write it down and you just, you know, that's okay, that's God talking to me here. I need to pay attention to that.
Lauren:
That actually happened to me this morning during my prayer journal time, that there was something that I had been praying in my head over for a few days, and then today when I sat down and was writing it out, I was like, oh. Yeah, there was like a Bible verse that just came to me that was right along with what I was trying to pray over and I was like, oh, that's God showing me the direction I need to take with this.
Kari:
That's beautiful. I love it.
Lauren:
Yeah. So how can we use journaling in a practical way when we are making these decisions?
Kari:
Again, there's lots of different types of journaling, like, I'm just gonna throw that out there. There's no right or wrong way to do this. But I have found a few different things helpful as we're intentionally trying to make those decisions. And so one is just, you know, making a giant list of all the things, right?
Because sometimes we just have to get it out on paper, especially when it's a big decision with lots of different pieces. It can feel very overwhelming to try to hold all of that in your head and try to keep it all straight. And so even just by getting it all down on paper, maybe in different columns or in different groups, mind mapping or list or whatever, that can be a really clarifying way just to get it all on paper and see, okay, what's the decision that I really need to make here? Because sometimes I think we're asking the wrong question to start with.
And so just getting everything down on paper helps us see what choice we actually need to make. Not the one we think we need, like the question that we're holding, right? And so lists or those mind maps or like the Venn diagrams or whatever situation it calls for, right?
Just getting it all down on paper is really important. Again, knowing those values and priorities and just always keeping them in front of mind, even if you just need to write them on the top of your paper or find some way to highlight them as you're making your decisions, right? This is really important to me.
And so that needs to be one of my biggest considerations, right, when I'm making this decision. Also, I have found once you have maybe two, maybe three choices that you're really like, those are the ones you're debating — you've already thrown some out — but there's two or three that you're really just having a tough time deciding, I have found it really helpful to just try to imagine what it's like to choose each one of them.
It's kind of like a form of Ignatian prayer, right? We're using our imaginations to just try to imagine, God, what would it be like if I chose this path? And it's with everything that you have, right? All of your imagination, asking God to guide you in that imagination. God, what would it be like if I chose this? And then just writing it down. This is what my day would look like. This is how it would impact this. Anything that comes to mind. Right. Just writing it down. And then pausing.
Doing that for the other choice too. Okay. If I chose this path, what would that look like? How would that impact my life? Taking time to write it out or, you know, free writing or list or bullet points or pictures or whatever. Right. Just getting it down on paper. And I think that is huge because then we're like, oh, okay, I didn’t realize if I chose this, that would also impact that.
And so it just helps us visualize what some of these choices look like in real life, you know? So those are two or three of the ways that journaling helps, specifically when I'm trying to make this big decision. I'm trying to list it all out and get it on paper. But I'm also trying to imagine, right, what does this choice really mean for me and my family?
Lauren:
Yeah. Yeah, so I love all three of those steps. I think a lot of times people rely on pros and cons lists alone, which would be kind of like that first step of, let's make a list, let's write it all down. But I think what's missing in pros and cons lists. Is those other things that you mentioned that, you know, sometimes you're comparing apples to oranges and there could be two houses you're looking at if you're looking to buy, and it's like, well, this one has these benefits, but that one has those benefits.
And so if you actually sit down and look at what are your goals and your values as you mentioned, and what's the long-term outlook here? And so people, when we were house hunting, we kept telling our realtor like, oh, this one's not good for raising kids. Or, you know, that. And we didn't have kids at the time.
We weren't anywhere close to having kids at the time. And one of the real estate agents we were working with kept almost giving us pushback on that, like, "well, you don't have kids now". It's like, yeah, but we want this to be a home we're in for a long time, which means we'll probably be having kids. And so we needed to keep that factor in mind and not just compare what was good for us at the moment as a single couple.
But as planning for her family.
Yeah, for sure.
So how can people overcome the fear of recording their deepest thoughts on paper and like, oh, what if my spouse looks at this? Or, what if my kids discover my journal?
Yeah, that's hard. Like I'm not even gonna try to hide that. That's, that's hard. If you are trying to work your way through this big decision and there's lots of things that you're processing, like yeah there's some practical things you need to think about, but even like emotionally, how is that gonna impact you if you choose this or like relationally? If you're trying to think of a decision that's, how is it gonna impact you and your spouse or you and your children? Like you can get into some pretty hard things that you need to face or own up to or consider. And so I just wanna acknowledge that is really hard to, to even name it in the first place, right. To even get it on the paper. So there are two things that I would share in regard to that. One is that, just the act of writing it out in the first place, that is where you will find the most impact. And so just by getting it out, just by writing it down, that is where you will find the most impact. And so if that means that you need to shred it when you're done, that's fine. If that means you need to throw it away or burn it safely or paint over it, you know, that's always a fun way to, you still keep it, but you, you can paint over it and create a piece of artwork or something. That's okay. Right. There are different ways to either dispose of your journal writing, or to cover it up in some ways so that others can't read everything that you're writing.
And I think that's okay. Some people are like, well, I should share everything and ask God about that. Right? Find a way to communicate the important things to the people that you need to, but if there are things that you and God need to talk about in that sacred space without others invading or looking in, I think that's okay. I think there are things that God has to say to us that's just for us. I really believe that. And so if you need to dispose of your journal writing in some way, I totally support that. but if it's something that you wanna keep, you wanna keep it so you can either go back to it later on and just kind of confirm what God was speaking to you or look and see how God has acted or, you know, just kind of sort through things there are different ways to keep your, your writing safe. If you're handwriting it, it can be a little harder. Even though that's probably the most preferred way to do journaling is by hand. You know, they say that's the act of writing by hand is really powerful. But trying to find a safe place to keep that can be hard. So like a locked filing cabinet or a safe or somewhere where, you know, others aren't gonna look, can be, can be a good thing. But also like digitally, you can put something on a Word doc on your computer and put a password on it so other people can't access it. Like, there are different ways to keep your writing safe if that's what you need. And so I would still encourage you to journal, even though you might be afraid of other people, because again, there's different ways to handle that, but it's the act of writing or typing depending on what you choose, that's where you're gonna find that clarity and that focus and the truth that you might need in order to make a good decision.
Yes, I am totally in agreement with all of that. I think it is so important for us to be writing things out for that. Yeah, just the clarity of the mind. And I do love looking back and seeing how God answered certain prayers. And I date my prayers when I'm journaling and so that I can look back and say like, oh wow, look at how God spoke to me there.
Or to remind myself when I start to wander off course that like, Ugh, wait, no, God was calling me away from that. I can't stick with it, like I gotta move in the other direction. One thing, I actually have this notebook, and I've never used it for prayer journaling, but it's an awesome notebook. It's called the Rocket Book.
Hmm,
And it's like these plasticy pages that you use these, , washable pens on. And so you can write it all out and then they even have at the bottom where you can take a picture of it and there's a little QR code and you select different categories that you can set up ahead of time and it'll automatically send it to, if you have Evernote,
Hmm.
the note taking app on the computer that I use.
And so it'll file it for you in Evernote, depending on which kind of like bubble you select and it'll categorize it. And so it makes it where like you can write it all out and then you take a picture of it and then you take a washcloth and you just wipe your page clean
that's
you could like.
a lot. I love that idea.
So for those who are worried about handwriting and having someone like see it, that you don't want to see it because these things are personal and yeah, sometimes you're spilling your heart out. And I think if my husband read my journal, there'd be some things that he's just like, this is boring. And then there'd be some things that he wouldn't understand my thought process because I'm so scattered in the moment. And then there'd be other things that he'd be like, oh wow, look at how God was speaking to her then.
So, you know, a lot of times our fears aren't even going to come true. Like people, my husband would probably pick it up, look at one page and be like, I'm not wasting my time reading this. So, yeah, but I think people shouldn't let the fear of that hold them back from journaling.
Yeah. And I think most of the time as someone picks something up and they realize what it is they're gonna put, I think they're gonna respect you and, and put it back down. I would hope so anyway.
Yeah.
but yeah, I mean, just, just the act of writing it out,
Mm-hmm.
There's so much inside of us that we just, we need to get out. It's like this big tail mess, right? But as soon as we start writing, it's like, okay, it makes more sense once we get out on the page.
Yeah. Now, what would you say and what advice would you give for those who pick up their pencil or pen and they just don't know where to start? Or they feel like nothing's flowing or they're new to it and it's, it's just uncomfortable?
Yeah. I think we all experience that blank page, right? Like, I don't know what to write. I wanna journal, I wanna write stuff down. I have no idea. There are different ways that you can go about that, but I think probably the most important is just get your pen moving. And so even if that means you're sorting, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? To get started.
Or you're copying a Bible verse or a quote, or maybe you just take a look around your room and you start describing what you're seeing. There's something about getting your pen moving that then frees up your mind to where then something will come that you actually wanna write about.
Right? And so even just getting your pen moving, I think is a big part of ooh I don't know what to write about. Just, start. You can also doodle if you're more of a doodler, right? Just start doodling on your paper and I think, honestly, doodling or, or art is a form of journaling too. I mean, something's gonna come out that you're like, oh, okay. But if you're looking for the word specifically, you're getting your pen moving by drawing these little doodles or hand lettering something or whatever that looks like for you. Just get your pen moving. And you know what, if you're still having a hard time even after that, using prompts, I think are actually a really good way just to pose a question to yourself that then you, okay, I'm gonna write about this, and you start writing about that.
And where could people find those prompts?
Oh my goodness. They're everywhere. It feels like. If there's something special that you wanna write about, even if you just do a search of journal prompts about whatever, right? I'm sure that you'll find something. Sometimes they're questions that just come up for you, like, these are questions that I'm asking?
And so maybe make a list of questions for one of your journal entries and then, when you actually sit down and journal, you look at that page and like, okay, I'm gonna write about this one today, because that's one of the questions I have. You start journaling about that. There's lots of journal prompts out there.
There's, there's guided journals too, so if you feel like you need more of a structure, there are ones that will offer you different prompts throughout the entire book. And it, it really depends on what you're looking for. If it's more of a general journaling, then those prompts work great.
And then if you wanna journal about something specifically, either finding those journal prompts that are geared towards that, or like a guided journal that's geared towards that can be really helpful.
Yeah. Yeah. Now, right now in my devotional time, I've actually been working on making my own Christian devotional around decisions. And so I love diving into the word to be able to then teach it. And so today I was working on inviting the spirit in to your prayers so that, it says that the spirit will intercede for us.
And I was like, well, I wonder how do you even invite God into that? Like how do you pray in the spirit? And it starts with just asking him. Building your relationship with God and then asking him in. So I think sometimes, if you're stuck and you don't know where to start and you don't know what to write, just literally start with asking God in and inviting him to direct your thoughts towards what he wants you to pray over that day, towards that decision, towards whatever you're working through and just continue to knock, seek, ask.
And it says he will show up.
Yeah. And especially if you're worried about something or there's something weighing heavy on your heart, right? Like if you're having a hard time with a family member or if you're going through this difficult season financially, that's something that's weighing on you, and so you can just kinda sit there and be like, okay, God, like, write about that and just get it all out and be like, okay, God, what do you have to say about this? And listen for him. And he might bring a Bible verse to mind, he might remind you of truth in his word, he might bring another person to mind that he's like, I want you to go talk to this person. Right.
There's all kinds of possibilities of ways that he will respond and answer you. And so that could be a great way to get started too, of just, this is weighing really heavy on me. God, I'm just gonna share it with you. Right. And, and sometimes we pray out loud and sometimes we pray on paper.
Right. And that's what you're praying about.
Yeah. Now, do you have any examples of a time that journaling has helped you through a specific decision in your life?
Yeah, for sure. I think one of the biggest decisions that I've had to make was when God was calling me to go all in with Love Does That. And this was, 2019, 2020. I kind of felt him inviting me to do that. So at the time I was working as a children's ministries director at a church. It was only 10 hours a week, but it was a job that I loved. I loved working with those kids. My husband was part of my team and so he was with me teaching. He went in the classrooms each week. My daughter was there, right? My son's there. It was something that I really enjoyed. And I had also worked for the church as the office manager. But when my son was born, I stepped away from that role and I held onto the children's ministry 'cause that's what I wanted. Right? It offered me flexibility. I could be home throughout the week with my son and then work on Sunday mornings with the kids. It was great. Right? And yet, I felt God calling me to go all in with Love Does That. Love Does That at the time was something that I did on the side, kind of in my spare time. It was the podcast. I was just starting to get into the spiritual direction part of it because it also has grown over time. But he was inviting me, I want you to take all of your work time and devoted to Love Does That. And I struggled with that. I'm like, but God, what about the financial part of it? Or what about this, like, there were all these, what I call secondary issues of, if I quit this job, this is what it means.
It means we get to find another church because it's really hard to step down from a job at a church and still go to the church there and not have them expect you to keep doing your job or to feel like there's competition there with whoever replaces you or there's all it's, it makes it really hard. And so I knew if I stepped down from this, we have to find another church. Which also means we're gonna, we're probably gonna have to end some friendships because that's just, it's gonna get hard because we're not gonna see each other every week anymore. And just that proximity is such an important part of friendships, so not only for me and my husband, but for my kids. They're gonna have to find some new friends.
And that's really hard.
Then
there's that financial aspect of, okay, well I know I don't make much, but God, it's something. Right? It's something. And so I have to let go of that. And just all of these things were, were weighing on my heart and I'm praying through them and I'm talking to people about 'em, but not journaling part of just getting it on paper and writing all my fears out. And I think it was during that journaling where I realized where God showed me, you know what, if I'm calling you to do this, I will take care of you. But also, I will take care of those kids. Because again, this was 2020, and so by the time I actually resigned from that position, the pandemic had started. We weren't meeting as a church anymore, and I realized I'm not even gonna a chance to tell those kids goodbye. Like, I'm just gonna up and disappear, and are they gonna feel betrayed? Are they gonna feel like I abandoned them because I don't want that. Right? And so hearing him say, you know what?
I'm gonna take care of you in this, but I can take care of those kids too. RIght? My response was to obey him. And so it was finally through all that processing, that journaling, talking with my husband, I realized, you know, okay, if this is what God's calling me to do, I'm gonna do it.
And it was really hard. And so, like you mentioned, being able to go back to some of those times and say, I know that God has called me to do this and I don't understand it all in this moment, but I know. And being able to stand on that was really helpful. During some of those hard times, we're like, okay, well now what church are we gonna go to? Where are we gonna, find some new friends. Like we're still working through some of those things even though it's been four or five years. It's hard to find friends as adults sometimes, and it's hard to help your kids find friends and just trying to work through that process of, okay, we're still there, but God, we know that this is where we led you.
And it's funny now because I almost feel like God has released me from that a little bit. I don't have to be all in in this season. I can do some editing work or I can do some other things on the side. But for that season it was, I want you to be all in. And prayer Journalling helped me get there.
yeah, yeah. It's amazing how you have that hindsight now
Yeah.
okay, God will lead you to it. And sometimes these are stepping stones to something else. So we think that this is a be all, end all calling. But he's seen if we're faithful and a little to give us, you know, much to be faithful with later.
Yeah.
And one thing I encourage everybody to do once they've made their decision, to then journal down and write down the reasons they made that decision.
Yeah.
that's what you clinging to when you start questioning yourself, when others start questioning you and your decisions, when things get hard, when you start
wondering like, did I hear God right or not?
Yeah.
And so when you write those down, then you have that. Which I'll be sharing on your podcast. I don't know which one will air first, but yeah, about one of my big decisions and how I had to write down the reasons, and I have to cling to those when I want to change my mind.
Yeah. Yeah. We have to do that with homeschooling that, 'cause that was another big decision we had to make. I felt God was calling us to do that, and that's something we have to live with every day, right? Like we're, we're homeschooling and not, not everyone understands it and not everyone agrees with it, but that's what we're doing because that's what we believe is right for our family. Just for our family dynamics and our time together and just that relationship and so, yeah. Remember your why. This is why we are doing this, so that when those hard time comes, you know, you can stand firm on that. That's good.
Yeah, actually funny story about the, "remember your why" is I was praying over, in my prayer journal, praying over decision that there was something I wanted to add to my business that I thought could be, something really cool, something really helpful, something big. And while I was praying and writing in my journal, a word popped into my head. The word was celery.
And for most people you'd be like, what? But the word was celery and I was like, oh wait, there was this software back when, like years ago, 2016 or 17 when I was starting that Bosscation brand that, you could take like pre-orders, I think it was. So you could take pre-orders with this software called try celery and you would take the pre-orders and then if you didn't get enough pre-orders to validate your idea, then it wouldn't charge people's cards.
So you could still test out your idea, gather people's email addresses. And so while I'm in the middle of journaling, God just lays that word on me. It's celery. And when I looked up and tried to find , in the middle of my prayer time, I don't advise this, typically, I get on my phone to look up this software to see if it's still out there, to see if I could use it for this thing that I'm building.
And so I go to Google search it. And what keeps coming up is this article by Simon Sinek on the celery test. And the celery test was Find Your Why.
Huh.
And so at that point I start journaling, okay, what is my why behind Anchored decisions? And while journaling all that, I was like, oh, this new thing that I was trying to build is not in line with my why at all.
And so that all came out because of my prayer journaling and yeah, it's amazing what God will do when you're spending time one-on-one focusing connecting with him in that way.
Yeah. I love that.
Yeah. So now do you have a favorite journal or prayer journal that you would recommend for people?
You know what? I don't have a favorite. I really encourage people to find what's gonna work for them, because that's gonna be how you keep journaling, right? Like, we can try as long as we want love. Oh, I really love how she does that. And so I'm going to try to mimic her, but it doesn't work for you because maybe you process things differently or you're in a different stage. So I would just encourage you to find what works for you. So to be honest, for me right now, I, I love handwriting. I love the actual handwriting and journaling, but for me, in this season, journaling looks like me typing on my notes app on my phone when I have a spare minute or when something comes to mind during the day because, you know, I've got kids around me most of the time. or I'm, I'm doing work or I'm doing stuff for church or whatever. And so when something comes to mind that I want to remember, or a question that I have or something I wanna journal about. I just, I pull out my phone and I type it in my notes app, and then I can return to it later and either type on my computer or on my phone and really process that.
And so that's what works for me right now. Now is it perfect? No. Is it what I prefer right now? No. But it's what works for me. I know a lot of people love to get the fancy journals because they look so nice and the paper feels so nice, but if that niceness makes you afraid to write in it because it's gonna get messy and you're gonna make mistakes, then you know what? Just go grab a simple notebook from the store and use that for your journal, right? So you really have to know yourself. Now if you want a guided prayer journal, there are some that I can offer as ideas.
There's a website called Daily Kairos that offers a prayer journal, which is beautiful, and it, and it walks you through different parts of like a memory verse that you're trying to remember, gratitude, how God showed up that day and, and things like that, that if you wanna be intentional about your prayer, that can be a really great way to do it. So Daily Kairos is one. And then I have a friend that uses the prayer journal from Val Marie Paper and she loves it. And then again, it's just, it's a more structured way to pray. So if you need that, that's another great option. Other people like to use three ring binders and put in pictures and things like that, and it's all great.
It's just what works best for you as you're praying.
Yeah, so I think people can experiment.
Yeah.
a prayer journal a friend gave me that does have prompts.
Mm-hmm.
And honestly, I skip over 'em because I would rather just, typically, I, I, I'm praying being spirit led or I've got other things that are top of mind and, but on days that I'm stuck and just like, oh, I don't know what to pray about today, then I've got those there for me if I need them.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
it's, you know, you do what works for you. And if you have a guided one like you do, but you're not feeling that day, just, you know, scratch that out and write your own in or just start writing, you know, I think that's, that's perfectly valid and I think it's okay for us to give our ourselves permission to do that.
Yeah. So I want to leave everybody with one action step for each episode, and so today's, I think is pretty obvious. Pick up a journal and start journaling. And if you already journal, then I challenge you to try a different type of journaling. So explore, maybe try doodling or try making a list if you've never done list journaling or write out your prayers if you've never written your prayers out.
So that is our action step for today. And then Kari, will you let everyone know where they can find you online and how to connect with you.
Yeah. really the best place would be my website lovedoesthat.org. There you can find access to a free journaling workshop that you can watch about ways to encounter God on the pages of your journal because I think that's something that we all want, right? Like we wanna bring God into it. there's also a page that has journal prompts for different things. Like there's journal prompts for seasons of grief, there's journal prompts for anxiety. There's journal prompts for seasons of change. So if that's something that you're experiencing and you want some of those prompts, you can find 'em there on my website too. Podcast is there. You can find all the stuff there. and by signing up for any of those, you end up on my email list, and that's really where I communicate the most with my people. I'm on social, I'm on Facebook and Instagram a little bit, but really my email list is where you can connect with me the most and find out things first.
All right. I love that so much. And those links will all be in the show notes for you guys to find, which you can find wherever you are listening to this podcast. So Kari, will you pray us out for today?
Yeah, you bet.
God, we thank you so much that when we are holding decisions before us, when we have to make those hard choices, that we don't have to make them alone. But God, you are right there with us you tell us in your word, that if we need wisdom, we can ask you. That you are a generous god who gives wisdom when we need it. And so I just pray that,
as
we're making decisions, as we're seeking you in prayer, that you would just make your voice and your will known to us that your words would show up on our pages, or that you would whisper things in our hearts that we know come from you and would spark us on to follow you in complete obedience. That we would know where you're leading us, that we would know the wise decision to make. And be able to follow through on that and remember that, that we can trust you. And remember our whys behind these decisions so that we can just live them out faithfully. Even when we get discouraged, even when we grow despaired, that we can know and know and know and that you are there in that. God, we thank you for being with us and we pray these things in your name,
Amen. Thank you so much, Kari.
Yeah, thank you.
Outro: Thanks so much for joining me in this conversation with Kari. I hope it encouraged you to slow down, grab a journal, and invite God into whatever decision you are facing right now. You can find all of the show notes, transcript, and links to anything we mentioned over at anchoreddecisions.com/35.
And if this episode blessed you, would you do me a favor? Take a quick screenshot, share it on Instagram, or send it to a friend who's navigating a tough decision. It might be exactly what they need today. Be sure to follow the show so you don't miss any episodes, and if you haven't already, leaving a review helps more people find the podcast and make God led decisions with confidence.
I'll see you next time.