I started carrying a pocket sized notebook with me to church for sermon notes. If I’m not writing or doodling to help me pay attention then there’s nothing stopping me from getting on my phone and zoning out. This has helped me out so much.
I know I have a terrible handwriting and my drawing skills aren’t that impressive but doing this every Sunday has really helped me stay engaged. Even tonight as I went back and looked at my notes I saw several things I wrote that I’m really glad I saved.
It’s cool that churches hand out bulletins with space on the back for notes but I don’t know anyone who keeps them. No one has given me a tour of their house and said “and here’s my filing cabinet full of every church bulletin in chronological order. I look at them often.”
Maybe everyone should have a church notebook.
I just noticed that during this Christmas Eve service message I decided to ask the important question “What celebrity would not surprise you if you found out they were an alien?” Wow. Yes. Powerful.
Give yourself permission to get off topic or wrestle with what the pastor is saying. You can see (if you can actually read my handwriting) I do this several times. I don’t know if I even agree with some of my notes but it’s nice to see what I was thinking.
