Wholehearted Quiet Time Companion Review

I don't know about you, but I struggle to stay consistent with my morning quiet time with the Lord. I will have great stretches of time, and then I'll have weeks that it is a struggle to get more than 2 or 3 days in a week. 

I see a huge difference in my patience levels, in how close I feel to the Lord, in my overall capabilities to be a mother and wife, and so many other things when I'm consistent versus when I'm not. It truly impacts so many areas of my life - it is incredible! In hopes that a sweet journal might encourage me to make quiet time a priority (its totally working by the way), and in hopes that the organization of said journal would help me have more meaningful study and prayer time - I took the plunge and purchased one from Wholehearted. 

Because I wasn't sure how much I would love and use this journal, I opted to buy one from their last launch that happened to be a sale for $50. They were also running an anniversary coupon code that I was able to use as well so it ended up being about $40. They were launching new covers and there was one that I LOVED, but I couldn't pass up a $28ish price discount, because to be honest these are pretty pricey for our budget. 

The shopping experience was pleasant. Beautiful website, easy to use, great product selection. Totally happy with that experience. Shipping was fast and the packaging was beautiful! The box is super sturdy, and you could keep your journal in it if you wanted to. My daughter is using it to keep some special pens and stationary in. She is thrilled, I didn't have to buy a case for her - win win!

Ok! I've been using this for over a month now, and feel confident in sharing my thoughts. I'll give a quick overview of the different layouts it has, and then on to my review. 

There is a section for sermon notes. I love this section. Decent amount of space and there is a table of contents to label and organize these. I don't take a ton of notes during church service (wrangling 5 kids!) but it is easy for me to jot down notes and there is plenty of space for my purpose. 

Prayer lists. There are so many ways you could use this and I really wanted a place to keep myself organized in the effort to deepen my prayer life. Lists like this are really helpful, I find myself praying more and not forgetting to pray for those that I have promised to pray for! This is huge for me. I keep my journal out and handy so that I can jot things down throughout the day if needed. 

Another great layout is the prayers and praises section. I love that having a place to record answered prayers. Before, I would journal these, but it is really cool to see them together in one place instead of scattered in a notebook in different journal entries. 

Whole bible reading plan. I already have a yearly whole bible reading plan (the Five Day Bible Reading plan) that I follow, but this plan is helpful and I'm sure I would use it if I wasn't already in the middle of a plan!

Goal section. This is very helpful to me. I set goals in different areas - physical, spiritual, and relational. There are quite a few boxes and it is very flexible. You can track your progress, or set out action steps, or journal about it. Whatever you want!

The most used section is probably the Quiet Time section - big surprise huh?! lol. The layout is great. In fact I created a layout very similar to this based on a different journal that I used to use that was discontinued for my prayer journal years ago. Anyway, I like the layout of these pages. You could use the lined sections for notes about your daily reading, I personally use this section to journal though. I record the verses that I read, then write my daily journal entry. On the back there is space to write what you're thankful for. I love that this is incorporated - I used to journal a gratitude list separately, but now everything is in one place. There is a box for daily prayer and then a "remember" box. That is where I write down notes or applications from my bible reading of the day. There isn't a ton of space for that so I write small. I also have a journaling bible, so if I have a lot of notes, I just write it in there.

So, What do I think?

It is beautiful and very well made. I love the quality, I love the gold details and the cream paper, and the size is spot on. Do I think it is worth the price tag..... I'm not sure. For our family budget, I don't think I'll be able to justify buying it again at $68 each. If it held a year's worth of entries, maybe I would. But if this is a bi-yearly or even seasonly purchased item, it's a no for me.

I find that some sections I use a lot, and others I barely touch. I also picked up a very similarly constructed notebook from target (for $8.99) that I think I will use when this one is full. It has tabs so I can still use one notebook for all of my different journaling. I can write out my goals, and prayer lists, and take sermon notes, and journal... all the things! And I can be free to write as much or a little as I need to.

 

This journal is slightly smaller than the Quiet Time Companion, and the pages are perforated. But other than that, it is very similar in quality and construction. It features 4 sections (3 tab dividers).

There are different page styles. One section has "TO DO" at the top with lines and bubbles you can use to check off. I would use this section for my prayer notes/goals/praise reports.

There are two sections that are just lined with NOTES at the top. I would use one of these sections for sermon notes, and the other for my daily journal entires.

Finally, there is a dot grid section. I would use this for either my prayer journal or bible notes or both! I think it'd be fun to play with bullet journal layouts for this section. 

Basically, I love the quiet time companion and if it fits in your budget without being too much of a splurge I would say go for it! If the price point would cause you stress, like I think it would for me, then I think you could find a simple and nicely made divided journal at Target, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, etc that could give you much of the same experience and even tailor it a bit more to your specific needs.

In the end, I think the most important thing is finding something that works well for you, whatever that is!

Do you have daily quiet time with the Lord? What does that look like for you? I'd love to hear about it!

Prayers and Blessings,

Carissa