Is it possible to journal with God instead of just to Him?

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Tracy Dempsey — writer, encourager, and certified Pilates instructor — whose unique gift is helping women hear God’s voice with clarity and confidence through journaling. Yes, journaling! But not in the “dear diary” way you might be picturing.

Tracy teaches a Spirit-led journaling practice that moves women from self-sufficiency and confusion to discernment, peace, and alignment with God’s design. And trust me — what she shares will shift the way you think about your quiet time, your business, and even how you process your dreams (literal ones, yes!).

If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing all the right spiritual things — praying, reading, journaling — but still wondering if you’re actually hearing from the Lord… this episode is for you.

We talk about:

• The difference between journaling to God and journaling with God
• How to recognize God’s voice through patterns and prompts in your own life
• Tracy’s practical journaling system that’s simple, powerful, and doable
• What it looks like to document and discern both spiritual and business direction
• Why your obedience isn’t just for you — it’s meant to bless others too

Tracy’s gentle, Spirit-led wisdom will inspire you to pick up your pen with a whole new level of expectation. So whether you’re a seasoned journaler or your notebook collection is full of “someday I’ll start” journals (hi, it’s me 🙋🏼‍♀️), this episode will speak to you.

Listen in and be ready — God may be nudging you to listen differently today.

CONNECT WITH TRACY:

Blog: tracylynndempsey.com

Newsletter: tracylynndempsey.com/newsletter

Journaling tools + workshop info: tracylynndempsey.com/workshop

JOIN US FOR THE THIRD SPACE RETREAT: jantouchberry.com/thirdspace

QUOTABLES:

• “Just because you’re writing to Him doesn’t mean you’re journaling with Him.”
• “God often speaks in threads. Your job is to notice them.”

CONNECT WITH JAN:

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Tracy Dempsey

Transcript

Hey there friends, welcome to the podcast today. This is going to be a treat, I think. I have had the privilege of getting to know my guest today over the last several months because she is a client of mine. And what she does is so unique that I knew that I just had to bring it to you because I think it's really going to enrich your life and maybe your spiritual practices. I will say that what she teaches is something that I am not strong in, y'all. And you've probably heard me say it on more than one podcast. Tracy Dempsey is a writer, she's an encourager. She also is a certified Pilates instructor, hello. But she has a heart for helping women hear God's voice with clarity and confidence. And she does this by teaching journaling practices. Yes, she is a journaling practice coach. I don't know if that's the exact language she would use, but that's what I'm going to use for her because I know her business and I know what she does. And she does coach women in how to hear from the Lord through their journaling practices and how to deepen them, right? Tracy spent a lot of years developing her journaling by design practice from her own journey of moving from well-intentioned effort and self-sufficiency to a more intimate and grace-filled walk with God. And so now through her blog and her social media, Tracy reaches women who are faithfully doing, quote, all the right things like reading scripture and praying and attending church and journaling. And yet they're still wondering if they are truly hearing from God. So she offers practical insights, journaling resources and workshops. Hello, workshops that help women listen with confidence and live in alignment with God's design. She is truly passionate at helping women shift from questioning to confidence as they learn to recognize God's voice in their everyday lives through journaling. So I'm excited for you to hear the conversation that Tracy and I have. So let's dive in. Truth time. When's the last time you raised your hands for a swift kick in the pants? Well, I'm the no-nonsense type friend who's going to tell you when you have food in your teeth. So let's get right to it. This is your infusion of sacred and secular, calling you higher into who God created you to be, exploring how intimately faith applies to every part of your life and how you can live that faith every single day in the marketplace. I felt the tension of separation of church and state. I've been one of the few women at a table of men for decades and I've stood my ground. Are you ready to do the same? These tools, resources and interviews are meant to do just that. I'm Jan Touchbury and it's time to share her faith at work. Hey, hey friends, welcome back to the podcast. I'm so glad that you're here today. And today I get to introduce you to a friend of mine. You've already heard her intro, but she's going to bring so much goodness to this conversation. Tracy and I met in a business group and you never know what happens or what the Lord's going to do when you join a business group and connect with other women. That is not my default. I'm an introvert.

I don't prefer it. It's very difficult for me. But this, I can honestly say that I've never taken a step of faith and joined a business group and not had fruit come of it. And so this particular business group, Tracy is some of that fruit and our relationship is some of that fruit. So Tracy, welcome to her faith at work. I'm so excited to have the conversation today.

Me too, I'm so glad to be here, Jan. Good, good, good. And you are a fruit for me too, from the group.

You're so sweet. So I would love to just hear a little bit of your story. I think there are going to be a lot of women who can relate to it in some frame or fashion, but the way that the Lord has worked in your life and out of it, it has become a bit of a business for you. And I just think that's amazing. And I think the Lord does that if we ... I think He does that a lot. If we are paying attention to what He's doing, it doesn't always equal a business, but it always equals fruit. And so just tell us a little bit about you and how you got to where you are and what you're doing.

Yes. Well, I've been journaling for over 30 years, but it was about 15 years ago, during a really hard season of my life that everything changed for me because I shifted how I was journaling. It had been writing to God. It had become very routine and I decided to write with God. And I said a prayer. I actually shredded some old journals, not out of like an act of frustration, but from a place of declaring, I really want to hear God speaking to me uniquely. And I felt like as much as I was doing all of the right things, attending church, reading my Bible, going to Bible studies, I still wondered, is he really talking to me? And I felt like he wasn't. So I said, God, I want to hear your voice to me personally and know what like, give me eyes to see what you are saying to me.

Mmm

And so I changed how I journaled and began listening a lot more and going back and rereading what I had written and adding more reflection on it through things I was noticing in my life like songs that were really jumping out at me. And that helped me connect the threads, like connect the dots really of how he was leading me and by doing all of that over time, and I'm talking time like years, I saw his direction and I felt in my heart his word to me personally and in just ways that are unexplainable like how my life verse came to be. Things like that filled my heart with love and it was his word to me. So that direction over the past 15 years has changed my life. I've moved across the country when I never thought I would leave the Midwest. I went through a divorce of my 21 year marriage and I have rediscovered purpose at this time, this completely new time in my life. So I want to help women move from that place of doubting to a place of discernment and feeling confident and peace and purpose with God because he does have a unique design, a unique way that he speaks to each of us. And sometimes we're not noticing that.

Yeah. Yeah. For sure. It's interesting that you used, um, you use the term, you went from journaling to God to journaling with God. And I think so many of us get in this routine even with, and correct me if you, you know, if you feel like I'm off base on this, but I feel like, I mean, journaling is just prayer, right? Prayer is conversation and communication with the Lord. And journaling is a way to do that. And how many of us are spouting off prayers, whether they are verbal, whether they're mental, or whether they're on paper, we're talking to him, but not with him. And that's, that is a huge piece that so many of us are missing, not just like overarching, but throughout the day. It's like we just spout off these little to him, but don't wait for the answer. And I think that's, that's the shift that you made, right? That you were waiting for the answer and you were looking at what he was saying to you as you looked back through the threads that you had on paper.

Yes, it is very much a conversation and sometimes that answer is not going to come. And the minute you're sitting on the couch with your coffee and you say it, it's going to be later in the afternoon through what someone says to you at the coffee shop or the song when you're driving to work, things like that. And so it is taking notes. That's part of my writing process, noting those things and then going back and reflecting on them because it is a two-way conversation. I even taught my kids about this interpersonal relationship with people, but this is also how it works with God as far as like playing catch. Like I throw the ball and then wait for the other person to throw it back. And so it's a conversation back and forth. And if one person sets the ball down and is no longer playing, the conversation stops. And so even though I've journaled and written my thoughts and prayers, I still need to be in a place of expectation of hearing his voice. Things are always coming at us, whizzing by us that God is sending to speak to us and it's our job to notice. And he wired us, like it's not difficult. I think some people wonder, well, how do I notice what's whizzing at me? It's in how he wired us. What do you love? What lights you on fire? What attracts your attention? It's all those things. So when we are ourselves, when we're doing the things that he wired us to do that we enjoy doing, that brings him such pleasure. And that's how he speaks to us. So it opens up the pathway and we can receive with ease and joy and delight.

That's amazing. You probably already know this because I've probably told you I don't consider myself a journaler. It's not something that I prefer to do. All of my daughters avid journalers. If I get them new journals for Christmas, it's like a kid in a candy store. They love it. I love the idea of journaling. I have a bunch of really pretty journals on my shelf back there that are completely empty. Or that have like the first couple of pages that are full because I'm like, okay, this year's going to be the year that I'm going to start journaling and then wah, wah. But it is like aspirationally, I would love to consider myself a journaler. And I feel like for me specifically over the last year, I have been asking the Lord to speak to me in dreams. And he has been very faithful to do that over the course of the last few months. And so those specific things, like I know that they're from the Lord when I wake up and I remember them in really vivid detail. And throughout the day I can close my eyes and still see that vivid detail. And I know that that stuff that I need to be writing down, like for sure he is speaking. I have got to write that stuff down. So talk to us a little bit about your journaling practice and how it's kind of structured. And I know it's going to be different for everybody, but you have specific journal prompts and things like that that you give to people to help them organize these things. Because for those of us who don't really know how to do it or have a plan like me, type I'm just curious what you say and how you structure for people who it doesn't come supernaturally to. Does that make sense?

Yeah, it does. And I think that practical tools and a plan is a really good thing to have. And that's actually how I start my quiet time in the morning is with a devotional plan from the Bible app. So first, just being in the Word, and getting to know God that way. And then of course, He reveals Himself to us. But as far as my actual writing time, I leave space on my page so that I can come back and add reflections to it. So I just write on the left hand side of the page initially, you know, during my devotional reading, if something jumps out at me, or even if there's a thought on my mind is, you know, maybe even a conversation I have with a neighbor that just keeps coming to my mind, you can even do bullet points, it doesn't have to be a long essay type paragraph. And then I leave the right side of my page free for additional reflection, either in the moments, which sometimes has happened to me, that after right after I've written something, I've had another thought. And so I'll add that out to the side. Or later, come back the next day, or I actually have years to date my notes. I also write in a different color on the reflection side of the page. And you talked about dreams. There was a dream that was pivotal to me during that difficult season that I mentioned. And I had never written my dream down before. But I wrote that dream down and then went back and looked at the biblical symbolism of some of those images in my dreams. And it blew me away the message. And that was part of what led me to my life verse as well. So it was very much a connecting of the dots. But there are, you know, I see journaling as lamps on a pathway. And our pages are little lights, one light at a time. And when you look back at the path that it's lit up, right? You know, in the moment, you just have enough for the next page, the next step. But I am going back to some of these messages from years ago, from 1015 years ago, God reveals in advance what he, he speaks to you in advance, not all the details. But, you know, he spoke healing to me. And it's taken 1015 years for some of that healing to fully come to fruition. And there's always more. So I want to leave margin on my page to go back and reflect. Because those are the treasures, the memorial stones that like, just give me such faith and boldness to do what he's telling me to do, because I have a whole track record now of how he's led me. And it's not been easy. It's been really hard. Yeah, it's also been amazing. So I would tell people to be in the word, to not feel pressured, but to just write what's coming to mind, leave space to reflect, and then go back and revisit it. No pressure, it doesn't have to be a certain time. But revisit what you've written and ask, has anything else happened? Do I have any other answer or thoughts to what I've already

written. That's really good. Do you have a specific thing that you would recommend for how far back to go? Or is it like, Oh, I think I wrote about that like last year, some time and you flipped through and you kind of look that way.

Well, the organization piece was something that really frustrated me because that was coming up a lot. I wanted to go back, but I thought when was that? And now that I've moved to the Southwest, I can't keep track of time and seasons anymore because it's sunny and warm. Yeah, I started an index method of tracking. For me, what works is dates, and so I'll write on my index page in the front of my journal, I will keep track. Let's say I do have a significant dream. I'll write the date and the major theme of the dream. Then down the road, if I want to remember that, go back and visit that page, I can reference my index to say, oh, that was October 1st, 2025, and then go through my journal and find that date. That's where a disk-bound journal system is really helpful because it's customizable, whereas some other spiral-type notebooks, you can't insert pages and things like that.

that. Well, that's really good. So talk to me about this business that the Lord has given you because it's pretty, from the outside looking in, kind of knowing the progression, it's pretty cool to see how he has worked in your life to birth this thing. And so just share with us a little bit about that journey.

Well, I knew from the beginning that this was his idea and within two to three years of me beginning journaling this way, I actually did different things, took different steps to try to birth it because I felt like that's what he was asking me to do. And for numerous different reasons that has never really come to fruition over the years. And then recently it was just really impressed upon me again. And as I took that to God, the answer I got, you know, why, why that timing, the answer I got back was that I needed this. I needed to walk it out even more and have more evidence of his work in my life. So you know, actually this morning in my devotional time, I read a verse that I thought this is, this is the whole reason it's Psalm 116 verse 18. It says, I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all his people. My takeaway from that was my gratitude for what he has done makes me take action for others. This was not my idea, you know, this way of journaling, he unfolded it for me and it has saved my life in numerous regards, made my life so much better. And out of this gratitude, I am responsible for taking action and sharing it with others.

Ding, ding. I mean, let's talk about that for a minute because I believe that that is the reason he births anything in us. It's not for us, it's for his glory. And then the purpose that he has us for here on this earth right now is not only to bring him glory, but to share that with others so that they in turn can bear fruit and grow closer to him and give him glory. And it's this cyclical process, right? I love the analogy of taking a pebble and throwing it in the pond and it hits in one spot, but it's all the ripples that are, it's that effect, the ripple effect, right? So you being obedient and saying, yes, Lord, I hear you, you're calling me to birth this journaling business and the ripple effect that it's going to have in everybody else that it touches. That is the essence of why we're called to things and purposes here on this earth. And I just think that's amazing. So tell us how your business works. Like I know that it, I'm, I'm seeding the conversation because I know it has different components to it, but it's, and it's pretty cool. What the Lord has, I just see you like in this creative process with God and you could do this and you should do this and you should do this, you know, so tell us a little bit about that.

Well, I love offering encouragement to women to go from searching to discernment, and more peace. And so I offer encouragement on my blog through the writing that I love to do. But I also want to offer practical resources, you know, helping describe my method of the journaling by design so that women can hear his voice more clearly for themselves. So I have some upcoming companion journals that will go along with the blogs that I have to help people dive deeper in that way. And I also have some links and things to journaling resources. I have an upcoming workshop that will walk women through the entire process and help them think about how God is speaking to them uniquely.

That's really cool. So tell us, is there, so if, if somebody wants to take your workshop, do they have to have a specific type of journal? Is it any type of journal? Cause I know that if people are like me, they're like gonna need all the tools and all the things to make sure that they can do the thing that you're asking them to do, because that's how we work. Yes. And other people are just gonna grab a piece of paper out of the printer. Ha ha ha ha.

Anything will work. I will tell you I have stacks and stacks of spiral notebooks that I have. They're organized by date. So my method still works with those spiral notebooks. It is not the easiest or not the easiest way to go back and reread what you've written. Plus, it's not archival safe. So that's another thing that I found if you do plan to keep your writing for a long time. Some of my pages from years ago, the writing the pen has faded. So I will paper I have found to be important too. So I do recommend a Disc bound notebook on my my website tracylandmc.com I do have links to the products that I have found to be archival safe and good quality. So if people like that. I do believe God likes aesthetics. Yes, I believe that. So Yeah, and if you have a disc bound journal. If you guys aren't familiar with what they look like. These are the discs and It's customizable so that you can take your pages in and out and

That's awesome.

Where do you get yours from? They, what I have linked is on Amazon. Okay, awesome.

Yeah, love me a good Amazon deal. So besides your journal, if I'm wanting to get into journaling, I'm prophetically saying if I want to get into journaling, you can ask me later how I'm doing. So Disbound Journal. And what else would you suggest somebody have in order to really feel good about making this a practice?

I would say an idea of a time of day that you want to do this, really busy lives, you know, so I would say to think about what works best in your schedule to be committed to this practice and to be realistic, you know, if you're not a morning person, don't say you're going to do it at 5 30am. Right? Yeah, no, not gonna happen. So have a plan. But as far as other tools, the, you know, the archival paper, which again, I've is on my website linked as well. Different things that I like to do is using different color pins. There are all kinds of supplies that you could use, but it doesn't have to be it does not have to be complicated. There's not a lot involved. So any journal, if you have one in your your cabinets.

Yeah. OK. That's good. So tell me, because I think most of the people that listen to this podcast are business owners. So what we've talked about a lot is journaling as a believer. How could it translate for business owners that are believers? Make that connection for me.

Well, one of the nice aspects of the Discbound Journal where you can customize it is, if you would like to have a separate section for your business, who could have dividers and then you could take, as you're journaling, for me, when I journal, I just journal it all. But then there may be a page that has business things that I take that page out of my regular section and I put it in my business section. Oh, that's great. The reason I love that is because, yeah, for me, everything's mixed together as far as my life and what I'm doing for work, but I am often inspired during my quiet time with business ideas. So I want to just right there jot it down, but it allows me to make it part of my prayer, but also keep track of it in an organized way so that I don't lose that idea. I love that. To pray over next time I'm doing my quiet time or also maybe when I'm at my desk and I want to, what was that idea I had this morning, I can go back and find it.

Yeah, that's so great. I think there was one season in my life that I was fairly successful at journaling. And I, it was through a prayer journal that I had. And I think one of the things that helped my personality type feel like it was achievable is that it was divided into sections. And it just, it made so much sense with, with just the way I kind of moved through my life and that I could quickly go back and, and pick out pieces that topically were applicable to what I was going through at the time, which is really cool. So I had not thought about adding dividers to a disc bound journal to be able to do that same kind of thing. That's really, that's cool. I like that idea. And I also like the idea of pretty things. So I'm excited to go on your link and look at the pretty journals. The, the, the one thing that I want to make sure that people hear from, that you offer is you have journaling prompts that you have put together that can help people walk through their journaling time with the Lord and you have journaling workshops. So talk to us about the prompts and then how those work and where people can get those and then the workshop.

There are prompts included in some of the blog posts that I already have on my blog, and I also have the companion journals that are in process, so they will be offered soon. Those will help dive into how you are uniquely wired so that you can further discern what God is speaking to you. And I also have numerous other ideas of journal prompts that you can just have on hand to help with different emotions that you're feeling, different times that you're going through in life. So if you sign up for my newsletter, tracylindemsay.com slash newsletter, I can keep you updated of all of those resources that are coming out. But the journaling workshop will really walk through the high-level overview of the practice that I use as far as journaling, revisiting my journals for reflection, and then long-term archiving them so you can easily go back and reread. So it goes into more depth about that journaling by design process and can help people discern how God would have them use journaling in their season of life. Seasons change, and there was a time I had a whole section about my children when they were younger and prayers. And now at this stage of my life with grown children, I've been able to switch out my sections and still keep track and see progress.

That's awesome. Very cool. So what I heard you say, correct me if I'm wrong, but what I heard you say is the two things that people need to do are, number one, sign up for your newsletter so that they can be apprised of when you're launching all of these new things that are coming. So that's tracylindemsi.com slash newsletter, right? Yes. And then sign up for the workshops that are coming and you have a wait list for those. Is that correct?

Correct, tracelandmc.com slash workshop.

Perfect. So one thing that I have been working on is this third space retreat that's happening in January, and it's been a passion of mine. I feel so called to gathering women. That was my word of the year in 2025, is gather, and this is one of the ways that the Lord has been walking that out in me over the last, what is it, by the time this drops, 11 months. But I know that that's something that I'm supposed to continue. And so the third space retreat, which is coming up in January 26, is another way to gather. And one of the things that I am super excited about is that if you decide that the Lord is calling you to go to the third space retreat, if you're going to join us there in January, Tracy is going to be there and she is going to be hosting journal workshops. And I'm just over the moon about people being able to not only be in a space that's outside their norm, but also to enrich themselves spiritually. And so I don't know what else to say other than I'm excited that Tracy has said, yeah, I would love to share the journaling workshop with these women. And it's, I just think it's going to be cool. What do you think?

I would love to share. I love in person. I love, yes, so it would be fabulous because my favorite thing is sitting down with a friend talking about these things over coffee.

Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And most of your workshops are going to be virtual, right? Although I'm sure you'll have some local in your area that are in person, but doing these things virtually is what you're going to be doing most of the time, but at retreats and things like this, which, hello, if you host a retreat and you want Tracy to come to do this kind of thing, I'm sure she'd be up for it. Um, but you know, doing journaling workshops in the, in the spaces where women are open to growth and they have taken themselves out of the everyday norm and they're in a place of hearing from the Lord. I cannot imagine a better atmosphere to be able to really dig into what it looks like to start and enrich a journaling practice. Yes. So super excited about that.

Yes, the perfect space to really soak in and connect and give yourself the opportunity to invite God to speak to you more that way.

Oh my gosh, let's go. Thank you so much for enlightening. And I'm just going to speak for myself again, because it's my podcast and I get to do that, taking a little bit of the weight off of the thought of journaling, because I know that it is mentally and emotionally and spiritually important for us to be able to process these things. And I think you do that in such a beautiful way. And so thank you so much for sharing how the Lord has used journaling in your own life and how He has prompted you to enrich the lives of others through it. So thanks again for being here.

Thank you, Jan. I enjoyed it.

Thank you. Thanks for joining me for another episode of Her Faith at Work. If the Lord put someone on your heart that you think needs to hear this message today, will you just smash that share button? And if you haven't already followed the show, I would love for you to do that. Super extra points. If you hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review, that helps the algorithm pick us up and drop us right in the air pods of people that need to hear what the Lord is saying to them today. I hope you'll come back for the next episode of Her Faith at Work. The podcast comes out every Wednesday. And if you look down in the show notes, I've even got a couple of free downloads for you that I think you will really enjoy. With that, have a great week. See you next time.