Illustrated Faith | Tela Holcomb

Good morning! When I think of Tela I think of JOYFUL, BRIGHT ray of SUNSHINE, sweetheart, caring, inspiring, creative TALENTED woman of GOD! I am so thankful she is here to share her heart with us today! Please give a warm welcome to Tela.....

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Hey, hey everyone! I'm Tela Holcomb and I'm truly thankful to have found the journaling bible process. About 2 to 3 years ago, I got the urge to read and have a better understanding of the bible but I kept putting it off. I'll start next week. I'll start next month. I need to find a church home first. When I came across Shanna Noel's Illustrated Faith class, I just knew this was for me. I knew this was what I needed to get started. Through this process I've dug into my bible more than ever before! I love taking a verse that speaks to me and creating in my bible what I see in my head.

 

Recently, I journaled two verses that remind me to be thankful for everyday and everything. Because it's all a blessing!

 

The first verse is Psalm 118:24. This verse reminds me to be thankful for every day the Lord allows me to wake up. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

I love this "sunbeam" washi!



The next verse is Ephesians 5:20. This verse is a reminder to always give thanks to God. Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I've been so fortunate in my life and blessed with so many opportunities and so many beautiful people and it's all thanks to God. During my days as a single mom, I thought I just couldn't go another day. It was hard doing it all by myself and I was young (19). But God saw it fit for me to shoulder the responsibilities I had at that time and the moment I embraced them and said "God, as long as you don't give up on me, I won't give up" everything started to fall in place for me. Career, financial, and personal.

If you are looking for inspiration, come join us in the Journaling Bible Community on Facebook. It is such a loving community. I've been able to interact with some amazing people within this group. Thank you Shanna for being brave and open enough to share your creative journaling process with the world and letting us know it's ok. I see the Lord doing many more great things through you! xoxo



Thank you so much Tela, what a wonderful time of year to reflect on gratitude!!!! If you decide to use any of Tela's prompts we would love for you to share with us in the comments below! Talk to you soon!

go.be.inspired.

Shanna

Journaling Bible | Bonita Rose

Happy Monday! Please welcome Bonita to my blog today! I will never forget when I woke up one day to a flood of comments from Bonita, she had just discovered the process of using a journlaing bible to a creative way and you could tell she was EXCITED!!! That fire has only gotten brighter so of course I had to ask her to join us as a guest!!

I stumbled upon the #journalingbible community one day on IG. I was browsing images and suddenly saw someone's page I really loved. I saw their hashtag on IG and clicked on that. Then it seems like I went down the rabbit hole! I read all of Shanna's posts on her blog, and that day, ordered myself two journaling bibles, one single column, the other double column - so I would have one each to one day gift to each of my two daughters. In the meantime, I had fun getting messy with color in one of my older thrift store Bibles, so much fun! 

My relationship with the Lord hasn't always been front and center in my life. I was raised in a home an only child, with parents that didn't believe in God and hardly ever took me to church. The stories in the Bible, the great message of salvation - I only learned many years later as an adult in my 20s, after going through a lot of pain and heartache in my life. A relationship with Jesus was what I was looking for. And as you know, our Lord never disappoints. My Savior has always been there for me after that. Always. 

I've always been creative, and always loved to write. And yes, I love lots of color! I blogged and wrote my heart out before blogging was even mainstream. I started paper-crafting when my first daughter was born, over 21 years ago. And I've kept up with it. I have 12x12 albums for each of my daughters, as well as now, I devote about a 1/2 hour/week to work on my Project Life pages. For me right now, that's doable. Everything else I play with and create -- is purely for fun. And I love that! 

The Lord has done so much in my life. A few years ago, my hubby and I were praying to one day move from the frozen plains of ND to somewhere warm and hopefully, coastal. It was always a dream. It's amazing what the Lord does in your life when you truly seek HIM with your whole heart. God gave us above and beyond what we could have asked or even hoped for, and now, my husband, our dog and I are living the beach life, on the sands of the Atlantic Ocean in FL. We moved here in 2012. Every day, I am more than thankful. God is alive. I see it every day. In so many little things.

Pairing my creativity with my faith and my personal walk with the Lord is  something that feels just so natural to me. I've always been an encourager, and always tried to uplift and encourage and empower others. I love to inspire, so what better than to inspire them with the life-giving Word of God? I am thankful for this community of people that love the Lord and want to shine their creativity for Him. 

In everything, may our God  be praised. 

Jesus, may You be glorified in all I do. 

Today, I'm giving away a Gift Pack of some of my favorite items from my Etsy shop: some painted deli paper strips, some painted tip-in cards, some Artsy Bits, and a pack of my Artsy pages! If you leave a comment here on Shanna's blog with your email address, I'll pick a name to receive ALL these goodies next Friday Sept 19th! 

In the meantime, dig into God's Word and enjoy your creative time with Him. 

Find more from Bonita here: blog | IG | Pinterest | etsy 

Thank you Bonita for sharing your heart with us today!!

go.be.inspired.

Shanna

Journaling Bible | Ashley Horton

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I am excited to have an amazingly talented guest with us!!! Ashely is a SUPERstar scrapbooker on such teams as American Crafts, and Echo Park. She has an adorable etsy shop where you will find some of the CUTEST cuts for your digital die cut machine. Come to find out she is not only enjoying her journaling bible, but is doing it such a CREATIVE and INSPIRING way, I just knew I had to have her with us today! Everyone say "HI Ashley!!!" .....

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I love that God gives all of us our own individual testimonies.  Testimonies may have something in common, but each one is still our own personal experience.  I grew up in church...like my grandparents took me every Sunday from the time I was a baby...grew up in church.  I was saved at the age of twelve.  As I got older, I did the typical rebellious teenager stuff, but remained in church.  Even though I didn't always stay on the right path, I never strayed from attending church.  I even worked in two different church offices for over 14 years, before I became a stay at home mom!  Our current church is only the 5th church I've ever attended, in my span of 40 years.  I believe in finding a church, staying, and being involved.  I remember sharing in our Bible Study class one Sunday, as we were discussing testimonies, that mine was just a typical, boring testimony...no huge revelation, or transformation from a life of drugs or substance abuse.  Our teacher pointed out, that my testimony was just as relevant as any of the drastic testimonials of being saved, because there are other people out there like me, that need to hear the same story.  That even though we grow up in church, we are still separated from God, until we ask Jesus into our hearts.  WOW!  So, that is why I chose to journal Isaiah 6 as one of the first entries in my Journaling Bible, once it arrived.  This is such an amazing description of God's holiness and our separation through sin, until we realize that sin and turn away from it.  And one of the most powerful verses is 6:8 - "And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here I am! Send me.'"  This is the perfect picture of sin separating us from God, repenting, and then doing God's will.  He gives us the tools to go out and share our testimony, when we are willing to say "Here I am!  Send me."

We just started a new sermon series on Building Stronger Families.  My hubby and I are working to instill the Word of God and Christian values in our children.  But honestly, we mess up so many times a day!  I'm not gonna lie..it's not like the Duggar's around here, and we only have 3 kids, not 19!!  There are days of a lot of yelling, or when I feel like putting them out by the road, with a Free Kid sign around their neck.  But, God continues to teach us and help us grow, and I am so glad that our Pastor is sharing this sermon series.  The first week, was based on Matthew 7:24-27, and having our foundation in Jesus.  I can't pray and ask God to make my husband or children perfect.  I need to pray for God to change me and show me how He wants me to be obedient.  And my foundation, can't be my husband or my children.  It has to be Jesus, because only He can fulfill my every need.

Do you have a favorite book of the Bible?  After going through a Beth Moore study of Esther several years ago, it immediately became my favorite book.  Here is poor Esther, who kind of gets thrown into a situation she didn't ask for and ends up having to make a huge decision that not only affects herself, but all of her people.  After going through Esther, I learned that we have to decide to be obedient...always.  It can't be a situation based decision, when God calls us to something.  I don't want to come to a situation, and say, "Sorry God, I weighed the pros and cons of what You asked me to do, and I'm just not feeling it today."  But I also love that Esther took time to fast and pray and had others do the same for her, before she tackled going before the King.  Just because God calls us to do something, doesn't mean we have to go in alone.  I love being able to ask for prayers and help from our church family, and know that other Christians are lifting me up in prayer, when I need i

The last scripture, I want to share from today, is found in 1 Peter 2:11.  It is easy for me to get caught up in the things of the world.  There is always so much going on around us and so much to keep us distracted and busy.  I love listening to Christian songs, that reinforce the message of God's Word.  For some reason, I stink at memorizing scripture, even though I have tried many times.  But give me a song, and I usually know it almost all the way through, by the second listen!  I've always loved Third Day and their song "Alien".  And another favorite is "Where I Belong" by Building 429.  Both of these songs talk about being aliens and strangers here on earth.  I love that these are constant reminders for me, that this home is only temporary, and we can look forward to eternity in heaven.  So sometimes, I have to take a step back from something that I consider soap opera dramatic or too huge for me to handle, and realize that in the grand scheme of things, it's only a teeny tiny fragment of my days here on earth.  Then I can focus on listening to God and how he wants me to handle those situations.  But it's also important for me to remember, that even though this isn't my "home", there is still work to do here and God has a plan for my life and is continuing to work in it daily.

   

Thank you so much for letting me share with you today!  I look forward to the days to come, and the ways God will use my love for Him and crafting to accomplish His will in my life.  Before you go, I have a set of Free Printables for you, and I hope you will enjoy using them, as you journal your way through the Bible!

download here :) 

See, I told you.. she really doesn't let you down does she!? Thank you ASHLEY!! I love how she is so honest and just lays her heart out there. We have had some amazing guests, each one so different but with that same golden heart. If you would like to share your journaling bible & process I would love to hear from you please email me at shannanoelATgmailDOTcom :) Also, we have started a little journaling bible group on facebook and would love to have you, you can be added here :) Hope to see you soon!

go.be.inspired

Shanna

Journaling Bible | Allowing God To Surprise You

Monday Monday! How are you today?!  :) I have several people inquire about my journaling bible, the process behind it and the products I use so I thought it would be fun to make it a weekly post. I recently taught a small class to some kids at our church, and they loved it... actually a LOT more than I thought they would! I couldn't believe how into it they got, and it was so much fun to see how each one was so unique when they were done. I had some people ask me to do a class, but I think this is something that is better explained as I go. I thought I would update you weekly as I journal in my bible.

First I wanted to say that this isn't for every one and I totally respect that. Some people may think that doodling in your bible is not respectful. I wanted to point out that this is specifically a journaling bible, and for ME it helps ME connect to the word, and the sermons I am hearing. So let's talk about this journaling bible! I got this a couple years ago but only recently got back into it. In the interm I was using Paper 53 on my ipad to take my sermon notes, and though I really like process, for now this is inspring me more.

The bible I use is the ESV Single Column Journaling Bible. Of course that black cover was never going to do so I covered mine with some sticky fabric, paper and washi tape as any scrapbooker would!

This is what my bible looks like when I get home from church on Sunday. Usually I use these magical pens.. but a little monkey (coughADDISONcough) got into my purse, left the lid off and it dried out so this week I used a regular old pen. This week what I really took away from the sermon is that as a Christian society we tend to come off as though we "know" what is right, what is sinful, what is WRONG. Let's face it we can come off very judgemental. As a Christian that is the last thing I want to be, I want to love you exactly where you are at as God does to me. We need to listen more, love more and judge a WHOLE lot less. So in my notes you will see "know less, listen more" please don't take that as we need to walk in blindly, or be uneducated. Not at all. But we need to allow space for God to SURPRISE us! 

Once I get home it is time to start pulling it all together! I pulled out some alpha stamps and ink pad and created a title. I loved the phrase "allow God to surprise you" and decided to add the "today" at the and for a call to action! I used Studio Calico color theory inks (blush, yes peas) I love how they are true to color, and allow the text to show through. 

I am slightly addicted to that "today" stamp! It was a part of (Bessie, currently sold out) the latest Studio Calico release Bluegrass Farms

From here I also wanted to add a title across the top with another line that my pastor said on Sunday that really stuck with me. I feel like it is so relevant to what is happening in the Christian community. I decided to use the beautiful orange alpha stickers in the Pip add- on. 

I usually add a tab at the top so that it is facing the front of the bible (you can see the front of the bible in the first photo, this tab says "know"). Sometimes I sew it on, tape it on this time I used my tiny attacher  to keep that bad boy attached. 

 Here is a view from the top. I love documenting what I am learning, hearing, thinking about in this way. I love that Jaden looks through my bible all the time to see the latest notes, I love that Addison says "Mommy your bible isn't boring THAT'S FOR SURE!". I love that I am able to take what happens on Sunday morning and reflect on it throughout the week in a way that is meaningful to me.

Do you have a journaling bible? I would love to see yours! Thinking of getting one? Share! I can't wait to hear all about it! If you have an questions, please ask away!

Have a wonderful week! Look out for amazing surprises! 

xox

Shanna