How to Document God’s Faithfulness
I recently talked with a high school college & career prep class about my experience going to college, pursuing and earning a bachelor’s degree in print journalism, working as a newspaper reporter, and becoming a stay-at-home mom who still loved to write and blog. While I talked with these students, I was reminded how documenting life uses some of my organizational and journalistic gifts – which is therapeutic for my Type A personality. Plus, as traditional journalism has morphed into social media, I’ve found ways to adapt my documentation for the time!
So, I wanted to share some ways I document life for myself, my husband, and our three kids, who are currently 17, 15, and 9 years old. I would have thought with older kids, I would have more time to print and scrapbook memories, but I’ve stalled on that since about 2022. Even so, I plan to pick it back up one day. Until then, I will continue with other means of documenting this life God has so graciously given us together.
Baby books – My kids have unique stories because we adopted each of them as newborns. Traditionally baby books didn’t always work, so I found baby books I could take and part and used certain pages in binders that I turned into baby books. These binders also include their adoption stories, which I’ve updated with details and meetings with bio families throughout the years.
Blog – I still love blogging to offer life updates. I have consistently written birthday letters to and posts about my kids’ and love having these annual updates all in one place. My website’s theme is seeking God as the author of all my stories, so being able to write and share about God’s faithfulness throughout every season is also therapeutic for my soul.
Binders – Each kid has a couple of 2-inch binders where I store certificates and school papers in basic page projectors. Trust me, I only save some things and throw away tons of paper that comes home especially during their elementary years. But I love holding on to some spelling tests, journals, math worksheets, and tests to see how their handwriting and knowledge changed through the years.
Birthday books – These are books with pages for each birthday. I add a photo from their party and fill out the questionnaires about that celebration. It’s a simple but fun way to capture birthday milestones and what each child is like at that age.
Books – While it’s not the usual way, I also have documented my kids’ adoption stories in a self-published book called Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family. I also documented some everyday life we share with others in a book called Bringing Home More Than Groceries: Stories about Gathering & Nourishing People and what God has taught me about real-life friendship in Created for Communion: Discovering God’s Design for Biblical Friendship.
Line-a-day journal – I started using this journal eight (!!!) years ago and love it. Each night, I write down a couple of sentences about our day. Each page has space for five years, so it’s fun to look back on the previous years. I’m in my second journal. These are my favorite pens for this journal and pretty much anywhere else.
Memorabilia tub – Each kid has a plastic tub with cards, expired Passports, souvenirs, etc., that don’t fit anywhere else. I figure they can take this tub when they move out.
Phone notes – Especially when kids were little, they said the funniest things. I started a note in my phone for these things. I just list funny, wise things they have said over the years and date each entry. I think I’ll eventually print this and put it in their baby books.
Photo books – I’m a big fan of “scrapbooking,” which now looks like designing photo pages in the Project Life app and then printing these pages at Persnickety Prints. These are my favorite scrapbook binders because they are sturdy and can hold all sorts of page sizes. But there are lots of options for photo books!
School memory books – Similar to birthday books, these books have a few pages for each grade in school to capture classes, field trips, sports, friends, and favorite things for each year. There are also envelopes included so you can save pictures, report cards, and other school records with each grade.
TimeHop – Social media understandably gets a bad rap sometimes, but I love capturing memories on there today so I can see them in my TimeHop memories years later. I love a good side-by-side photo comparison!
Trip photos – I love to hang photos from family trips all over our house. Win-win for decorating and documenting. Sometimes I print them on canvas or frame them.
How do you reflect on God’s faithfulness and preserve memories for your family?