Dear Journaling Community,
If February was about tending to the soil and being kind to our current growth, March is about the unbecoming.
Nature doesn’t just grow; it sheds. For a seed to become a flower, it must first let go of being a seed. For a tree to bud in the new season, it must have already dropped the leaves that no longer serve it. We often think personal growth is about adding more habits, more productivity, more strength but often the holiest work we can do is to subtract.
This month, we are asking:
What am I holding onto that is keeping me from blooming?
We are moving away from the “clutter” of expectations and moving toward the lightness of our true selves. Let’s use our journals this month to peel back the layers and make room for the “new thing” God is doing.
Your Permission Slip
Your Weekly Journaling Prompts
Week 1: The Inventory of Heavy Things
Before we can move forward, we have to acknowledge what is weighing us down. We often carry “stones” in our pockets, old grudges, outdated goals or other people’s opinions and wonder why we feel tired. This week we identify the stones.
- Verse of the Week:
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” Isaiah 43:18-19
Your Journaling Prompt:
The Weight Test: If you had to “unbecome” one expectation this week to feel lighter, what would it be?
The Drawing:
Draw a simple backpack on your page. Inside it, write the things you’ve been carrying that weren’t yours to hold (for example “my adult child’s choices,” “the need to look perfect,” “an old mistake”). Outside the backpack, write one word for how you want to feel by April.
Week 2: The Mental Garden (Weeding)
Growth requires space. If our mental garden is full of “weeds” those repetitive and negative thoughts we have leaves no sunlight for seeds of peace. This week is about clearing the ground.
- Verse of the Week:
“Search me, God and know my heart… See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24
Your Journaling Prompt:
The Thought Audit: What is the “loudest” negative thought you’ve had lately? (for example, “I’m behind,” or “It’s too late for me”).
The Truth Replacement:
Write that thought down, then physically draw a line through it. Underneath, write a scriptural truth to replace it. For example: “I am behind” yet “God’s timing for my life is perfect.”
Week 3: Pruning for Fruitfulness
Pruning feels like a loss, but it is actually a gift. It is the process of cutting away the “good” to make room for the “great.” This week we look at our schedules and our energy. Where are we spread too thin?
- Verse of the Week:
“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15:2
Your Journaling Prompt:
The Energy Map: Look at your typical week. What activities leave you feeling “vibrant”? What activities leave you feeling “gray”?
The Brave Cut:
What is one “good” thing you can say ‘no’ to this month so you have the energy for the “best” thing? (for example, saying no to an extra volunteer task to protect your Sunday afternoon rest).
Week 4: Emerging into the New
As we close the month, we look at the empty spaces we’ve created. Space isn’t “nothing” it is an invitation. Now that we have shed the old leaves and pulled the weeds, what is actually starting to grow?
- Verse of the Week:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Your Journaling Prompt:
The Budding List: Write down three tiny signs of “new life” you see in yourself this month. Look for the small shifts: A moment where you didn’t over-explain yourself, a morning where you felt genuine hope, or a new desire to create.
The March Mantra:
Write a one-sentence “Welcome” to your April self. “I welcome the woman who is [blank].”
Your Daily Exhale (Habit Tracker)
This month, we are tracking Space. Instead of a “to-do” list, this is your “to-be” list.
Your goal: Spend 5 minutes daily sitting in the “empty space” you’ve created.
- Examples: Sitting on the porch without a book, driving in the car without the radio, or simply watching the kettle boil without checking your phone.
- How to track: Color a block for every day you allowed yourself to just be without needing to do.
Your Small Challenge: Clear the Path
Find one physical area of “congestion” in your home and clear it completely.
- Maybe it’s the pile of mail on the counter.
- Maybe it’s the digital clutter (delete 50 old photos or unsubscribe from 5 junk stores).
- Maybe it’s clearing off your bedside table so the first thing you see in the morning is peace, not a mess. As you clear it, say quietly: “I am making room for the new.”
A CLOSING PRAYER
Lord, thank You for the seasons of shedding. Help me not to fear the pruning or the quiet spaces. Teach me that I am enough even when I am not producing and that my worth is found in being Your creation. Give me the grace to unbecome everything that hides Your light in me. Amen.
