I find myself back in the place I was years ago–waiting.

I remember the uncomfortable wait and the questions that surrounded it. When will our home sell? When will we move? When will we find a new home? It seemed like everything was up in the air and I was free-falling.

I had no idea where I would be living or what I would be doing. For a chronic list-maker and goal-planner, the unknowns were extremely disturbing.

I remember the stress affected me emotionally, spiritually and most obviously, physically. I gained quite a bit of weight and my face broke out in pimples. I had little energy to face the day and lacked motivation because of my lack of direction.

I was in the desert.

Looking back, I see that it was the calm before the storm. It was time that I should have been spending in preparation instead of anxiety. I could have used that downtime to finish projects that I’ve always wanted to do (like put photos in albums) instead of spending my energy asking questions.

But they say that hindsight is 20/20. How come I find it so hard to learn from experience?

I know that any day now questions will be answered, lists will be full of things to do, and I will be planning out my goals.

I need to look back at my past experiences and see how God has been faithful. I need to remember all the times when I felt like I was in the desert, only to find an oasis sometime later.

I need to learn from past experiences by keeping them in my memory. When I look back at God’s faithfulness in the past I can find peace knowing He will take care of me in the future.

One way to keep a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness is through a prayer journal. Every time we have a prayer, it can be entered into the journal leaving a space open to record the date it was answered.

Looking back, I see that God answered my prayers. We sold our home for more than we expected to get. We bought a home closer to family than we imagined, with all of the comforts we wanted.

Learning from past experiences and remembering God’s faithfulness can be made a little easier by using a prayer journal. Why not start one today?

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands (Deuteronomy 7:9 NIV).