About a year ago I found my mom's high school journal. I spent what felt like hours sitting on the kitchen counter, reading every page. It had everything you'd hope for in an 18-year-old's journal. Drafts of love letters, lyrics from songs she loved, stories from her growing up that never seemed important enough to tell her kids but, in the moment, felt important enough to write down.

But those weren't my favorite pages.

My favorite pages weren't about boys, or high school drama, or whatever song had just come on the radio. My favorite pages were about scripture. Verses she loved, scribbled in the margins. Thoughts she had while reading. Questions she had, and the answers that came from the words themselves.

Every time I turned a page and saw a verse in her handwriting, my heart skipped. I read each one slowly, trying to understand her notes because while the rest of the journal was entertaining, these pages felt like a real glimpse into my mom. Into what she believed, and why.

I loved reading it. But more than that, I was inspired. I'd read my scriptures. I'd marked the pages. But journaling about them? I could barely get myself to read consistently, let alone add a notebook to the mix. Until my mom's journal. Something shifted. I wanted that. I wanted a journal my own daughter could find one day and know exactly where her mom's faith came from.

So I tried it. Nothing fancy,  just a notebook and a pen sitting next to my scriptures.

I wrote down questions. I scribbled at answers. I copied down my favorite lines because yes, you can underline a verse in your scriptures, but there's something different about writing it out by hand. Almost like you're writing it on your heart, too.

When something connected with me, I wrote down why. I read about manna from heaven, and I made a list of the daily mercies I'd seen in my own life. I read about David and Goliath, I listed the giants I'd faced and how God helped me through them. I read about Jesus sitting with outcasts, I wrote down names of people I could invite to lunch.

When a verse didn't make sense, I stopped, grabbed my journal, looked up the words I didn't understand, and rewrote it in my own.

And little by little, page by page, that notebook became a collection of my own sacred words, sitting right alongside scripture's. Maybe my daughter will find it in a box in storage one day. Maybe she won't. But I started to realize this was never really about her finding it, it was for me. A paper trail of my own testimony. Physical proof of what scripture had taught me.

So now, it's your turn.

You don't need the right words. You don't need to know what to write. You just need somewhere to put it. The verse that felt like God wrote just for you, the question you can't shake, the list only you would think to make. This journal isn't a study guide, and it's not homework. It's a place to leave evidence. Proof of where you are right now, and a record for wherever God takes you next.

Fill it with your favorite verses. Your questions that are impossible to answer. Your rewritten verses and random lists and the things only you would notice. One day, it won't just be a journal, it'll be a paper trail of your testimony. And maybe, someday, someone you love will find it and get to see, page by page, exactly where your faith came from.

Maybe it's the dishes in the sink. Or the carpool line. Or the need to finally lay down for the day. Somewhere along the way, sitting down to actually study scripture starts to feel impossible.

So don't sit down to study scripture. Just flip the timer.

Five minutes. That's it. Don't expect more than that… Some days it'll turn into more, some days it won't, and both are fine. This isn't about finding an hour you don't have. It's about not letting the busy win.

Because listen, God was never waiting for your free afternoon. He doesn't limit how fast He can speak to you through His word, so why would you?

Here's what can happen in five minutes:

One verse can undo a whole bad day. One question can turn into the thing you needed to hear. One line, read slow, can be exactly the word you didn't know you were looking for.

So flip the timer. Open the page. See what happens before the sand runs out. 5 minutes. That’s all. 

A Bookmark 

When I was in Young Women, if you followed the program, they'd give you a colorful ribbon for your scriptures as you went. I was like 15, and I thought they were kind of stupid. I lost them or honestly maybe I threw them away.

A couple of years ago, I wanted them back.I dug through old scripture sets, boxes I hadn't opened in years, just hoping to find one. And when I finally found some, I loved them more than I ever thought I would. 15 year old me never would have believed it. 

Because every day, as I read, I got to move that little ribbon down the page. And even on the days I only read one page, I still got to move it. I was doing something. I was making progress. And I was proud of myself for it.

We're not giving you a ribbon. But we're giving you something to do the same job, a little heart tucked in the corner of the page.

Move it every time you read. Even one page. Let it be proof, page by page, that you did it. That you're making progress. That you have something to be proud of.

Me and my sister still argue about it… who gets moms scriptures when she passes away.

I guess it’s not really about the scriptures. You can buy a set of scriptures anywhere. It’s the markings that make them worth fighting over. The verses underlined in red colored pencil and her little notes scribbled in the margins.

That is what we really want. Not the book. The marks she left on it. 

So start marking yours.

It doesn’t need to be perfect. Do not let that get in the way. A crooked line, a smudge, a word crossed out hwen you were accidentally trying to underline it. None of that matters. What matters is that you did it. 

Maybe you color coordinate. One color for promises and another for names of Christ. Maybe you go full free for all. You grab whatever color is closest and you cover the page. That’s what I do. Or maybe you pick your favorite color and just let it be yours. Like my mom, with the red pencil.

There is no wrong way to do it. Underline. Circle things. Write the date next to a verse that got you through the day. Add stars. And exclamation points.

Because one day, someone might open your scriptures. And the printed words will be the same as the one they have. The won’t notice that.

They’re going to want to see what you underlined.