Morning Session

From the Joyful Journey book:
Many of us do not know how to process our mistakes and failures with God, and that is why we tend to get stuck in our pain. We can review our painful events or memory in a safe way through Immanuel journaling, and it can give us wisdom and compassion for ourselves and others.
~ page 44, Joyful Journey, Wilder, Kang, Loppnow, Loppnow

Session A: We continue revisiting joyful memories recorded on your Golden Moments list. Look for God’s presence in the joys. Invite Him to share thoughts about joys you’re recalling. Again, notice body sensations, attitudes, heart rate, etc.

Try to picture the scene between Mary and Elizabeth, between to two babies of the pregnant women. Both women are miraculously with child. Elizabeth’s son John – still “in utero” – kicks at the presence of the Savior Jesus. That is way beyond thought-rhyming. And its our joy verse of the day!

From the Joyful Journey book:
from Synchronizing our brain with God, Step Five:
In step 5 of thought rhyming, we write down what God might be saying to us about how He will be with us and help us. We may be reminded of God's faithfulness in the past and given hope of His continuing work in, around and through us. Scripture quotes and stories often come to mind during this time. Sometimes we find God asking us to do the difficult and hard work living as His children. While reminding us of who we are, God invites us to live according to our true heart. The promise of His constant presence, His unfailing love and His pure goodness will sustain us. Write your impression of what God is offering you.
~ page 43, Joyful Journey, Wilder, Kang, Loppnow, Loppnow

Session B: Thought Rhyming as Immanuel Journaling:
Take one or two of your joys from today (or your list) and envision God responding with one or two sentence “thoughts” in the following areas: I see, hear you, understand you, am glad to be with you, and can do something about your situation.

Just what you’ve been waiting for – Game time! Before your Gratitude time, check this out:

To help you practice getting your mind into a joyful place, we encourage people to play “the joy GAME.”

GAME represents four practices to help us focus on what we
have to appreciate.

G Gratitude: anything in our present situation
worth appreciating.

A Anticipation. It is helpful to have something
to anticipate with joy.

M Memories: Past experiences that made us
smile and bring us joy.

E Experiences: Activities that we enjoy. Done
with others, our joy will multiply.

~ pages 84-87, The 4 Habits, Warner, Coursey

Session C: Reflecting with Interactive Gratitude:
Spend five minutes reflecting on the day or week. Journal a sentence about what you are grateful for and then write down how Jesus might respond.

And now, a note about traumas of the past that disturb us:

From the Joyful Journey book:
Traumas, in general, contain the memory of pain without a memory of God's presence (Lehman, 2011). These traumas become blockages to our own maturity. Immanuel journaling can be used as a tool to facilitate the process of healing. The recognition of God's presence in each traumatic memory makes it no longer traumatic, but healing and hopeful.
~ page 44, Joyful Journey, Wilder, Kang, Loppnow, Loppnow

When we can see God in a traumatic event of the past, He can bring joy and healing into it. This is one facet of Immanuel Journaling that can free us up to celebrate life again – and maybe, like the Wise Men, rejoice with exceedingly great joy!