Journal into the Heart and Mind

Today I want to share with you my faith journey with a journal.

Journey of the Journal

September 2024

I wanted to buy a journal for my daughter to express her emotions through writing and drawing, but the shipping cost made it expensive. Moreover, I only wanted a few pages of the book, while the rest was somewhat irrelevant. So I decided to make a more affordable journal with Bible verses for her and give it away as gifts or sell it to others who find journalling beneficial for children.

October 2024

I planned the journal to be simple – print it at home and staple it. But what started as a small book project got serious. Instead of a plain journal I planned, I put extra effort into the design and content. In the end, I came up with a draft to send to the printer to print in bulk. Later, I did a few rounds of edits because of formatting issues.

As I wrote the journal, I was reminded of a novella I wrote and self-published for teenage girls about 15 years ago. It was my first faith project and the sales didn’t do as well as I had expected for a God project. So this journal felt like redemption or restoration, similar to the blessings in the bottles.

November 2024

The test copy of the journal came. It looked good to go.

December 2024:

I was hoping the journals would come in time for the Christmas sales. The journals came before Christmas but were too late for the Christmas markets.Moreover, the 500 journalshad colours darker than what I wanted. I painfully went back and forth with the printer during the holiday season and in the end, I paid a bit more to print another 300 journals with a promised right shade this time. Still, I felt disappointed because in my human mind, Christmas is the best time to sell the journals, because people do more reflection and journalling at the end and beginning of a year.

Thankfully, I managed to gift the journals to family and friends and bless certain groups of girls.

January 2025:

• I walked past Cubesprout (B1-K45) in Woodleigh Mall one day and had the idea of renting a cube as exposure or marketing for the journals. I decided to try it if a cube that met my conditions was available – in the middle row (because of pricing) and with a good location, the side facing the eatery “Beans Factory” instead of a renovated shop front and near to Koi. At that time, all cubes were taken up except that one cube that met both of my conditions! So I took it as a green light and rented.
• 300 journals arrived at the end of January. I opened the box excitedly, only to find a part of the batch containing more errors than the first time round! So I had to write those books off. I felt they did a more slipshod job or with less sincerity this time.

February / March 2025:

• I had a tough time negotiating for a partial refund. This was part of the spiritual attacks I was encountering. I was stretched in every way and hence I put the marketing and selling of this journal on the back burner.

April 2025:

• Here I am in April, deciding to share more about this journal because I want to urge you to get a copy if you are at Woodleigh Mall! I am likely ending my lease at Cubesprout, so get it while you can. No delivery charges or time. 😉
• I am pondering whether it makes sense for me to do up the Blue Edition for boys. If you got the Pink Edition and think I should after going through it, let me know! Share your feedback too so I can improve it for the Blue Edition (if any).

About the Journal

I truly believe this journal can help your child navigate her emotions a little better and even spark conversations with you about her inner being.

Description

This 21-Day Journal into the Heart and Mind is recommended for children aged 6 to 9 years old, but younger and older children might enjoy writing in it too! In this journal, there are prompts to guide the reflection process through 21 days.

Why 21 days? There’s a popular idea that habits are formed in 21 days, and biblically, Daniel fasted for 21 days (Daniel 10). The journal is divided into three sections or weeks, with each section comprising seven days of reflection prompts, a list of Bible verses,andpractical methods for processing an emotion.

• Week 1: Sad
• Week 2: Angry
• Week 3: Anxious / Fear

Journalling helps children practise reflection, process their thoughts and emotions, and improve their writing. It also enables them to know themselves better! More importantly, practise thankfulness and read what the Bible says about our feelings and thoughts.

The journal is lightweight and easy to carry, even if packed into the luggage for trips. May this life journal become a beautiful future keepsakefor your children to look back on and relive those moments or see how much they have grown!

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:14 (NKJV)

Specifications

• Softcover, saddle-stiched book with a lay-flat design
• Size: 140mm x 210mm
• Pages: 46
• Material: 100gsm art paper

Purchase

• Woodleigh Mall: Cubesprout (#B1-K45), near Koi and the cube faces Beans Factory.
• Shopee (p.s. remember to collect the shop voucher)

P.S. If you are buying to bless any children’s ministry, contact me for a special discount. 🙂

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