Illustrated Faith | Mary-Kay Tilden

One of my favorite things about this journaling bible movement is meeting all sorts of wonderful people I might not have met otherwise. When I first starting seeing Mary-Kay post I thought I LOVE her, she is AMAZING and let's be friends!!!! Like I wish she lived in the same town so I could watch her create and just soak it all in. You know those types? I love how informative she is while being such a CREATIVE type, sometimes it's hard to find that combo! Her heart for God is shining bright, and I am so thankful she is willing to share!! 

So HI! I'm Mary-Kay Tilden and thanks to Shanna for the invite to be a guest blogger here!  This is my prayer for me and for all of you: (As always - you can click to "embiggen")

I have always been a major note taker. As a child of the early 80's I was diagnosed "Hyperactive" - You'll never guess... I still am, but with the diagnosis of ADHD as an adult. If you know me, that's no surprise. So, I have developed many coping mechanisms in order to concentrate. Keeping my hands busy or my body busy, somehow locks in my mind and then I'm good to go. In classes, or workshops, I'm the one knitting, or pacing in the back of the room. Or, in the case of church, both! One of the things I've really trained myself to do is note-taking. This works particularly well when it is something I'm very interested in. In this case, of course, I'm interested in learning what the Lord is saying/teaching me. 

 

There is something to be said about writing in your bible. It must be important if you write things down in there. Seriously. We take notes to grab something for later, to punch us again when we need it weeks, months, years down the road. So, I take notes in my bible, and also in my big Moleskein where there is much more room.

And then from there, to really solidify the whole sermon or study in my mind I "Art it Up" either in my Art Journal, or in my bible. The photo below is from inside my bible from a sermon by Pastor Bill at Foothills Bible Church from August 2014.

Let's go back a little bit. I was challenged about my faith in 2010 and I failed miserably. It was a humbling and frustrating time where I had no answers, and no real ground to stand on. I knew in my heart what I believed in, but could not express it, nor back up my beliefs in any way with scripture or knowledge. I decided to start in the book of John. You know, "In the beginning was the Word..." I got out my MacArthur commentary on John and got to work.  Studying this way really makes the Word stick with me. My way of study/journaling, may not be to your liking, but that's ok. We all have our own methods, and this just happens to be mine.

I've been making hand- made journals for awhile now and this seemed like a natural addition to my obsession.

Here are a few of my pages from my Journal in 2011:

Today we now have this wonderful community created by Shanna Noel on Facebook where we can meet and share the Word of the Lord with other like minded ladies and Gents. How fortunate we are!  So, now I'm also creating in my ESV Journaling Bible and having fun with that as well. Thanks Shanna for having me!

Here are some pages from my ESV Journaling Bible below. I can see that this bible will be a lifelong work in progress. I'll tell you what, this is a great way to bring the bible and all the history it holds inside, to life. God's Word is a living, breathing entity. Always staying the same, yet staying relevant to you and me today. Have you ever been in church, or read the bible and thought, "Wait a minute.... That was just for me, right?" Only to realize later, "Yeah, that verse, that message, has been read, or said, time and time again." Uh, huh. God's word? It's ALIVE.

See, I wasn't kidding when I said she was just out of this world creative, right?! Thank you so much for sharing with us Mary-Kay I look forward to seeing more work from you in the future!!! If you are new to the idea of a journaling bible you can check out my FAQ here and please feel free to ask any questions!

go.be.inspired.  

Shanna

Illustrated Faith | Andrea Gray

It's Tuesday and I have a very special guest for you today! Andrea is just a JOYFUL person and it shines through whenever you interact with her or see her most online. She is one of those Christians that doesn't need to say a whole lot because you can just tell by her actions where her heart is. Thank you so much for sharing with us today Andrea!!

Well hello there! My name is Andrea and I am best known in the crafty/online world as retrohipmama. I’m usually posting about pocket scrapbooking, easy and modest outfits, hand lettering, embroidery and now - bible journaling! Shanna invited me to share a bit about my take on this fabulous new art form and to share my story. To say I am happy to be here is quite the understatement! :) I’m confident this is a place where I can be honest. so here is my secret: I am terrified of the bible. I have never really understood it and that has prevented me from getting deep into the word of God. And I’m not necessarily "new" to Christianity, so I don't really have an excuse. God has always been in my life though, even as a little girl. At about age 5, when it was normal to leave windows open and doors unlocked, my mom left the sliding glass door open before we headed to bed and I asked her, 'but what if someone comes in who isn't supposed to?' She said to me, in the most confident voice I ever heard, 'God wouldn't let that happen to us, He always protects us.' And my natural response was complete confidence that she was right, and that He would do what she promised. As a teenager, I found myself in a dramatic and abusive relationship that grew me closer to God as I built strength and faith that I could get out of it. Nightly prayers for direction and protection helped me through a section of my life that is still difficult to forget. But through all of these attempts He made to bring my all the way in, I didn't understand that just being a good person wasn't going to get me the full power of His love. Not that he was going to take love from me, but I wasn't really experiencing that healthy relationship with Him. It wasn't until I was out of the house and my mom began going back to church, my catholic dad began to go with her and I saw them be baptized together that she told me what I really needed to do. She told me to ask my dearest and oldest friend, who was away at a Christian college, because I honestly thought just being a good person was going to get me into Heaven. Well, I asked and I was mistaken. So during the summer of 2000, at a church service with that friend, I stood up and gave my life and heart to Jesus. And every 20th of august, that amazing friend sends me a happy spiritual birthday note. Fast forward to a couple months ago: shereadstruth.com was starting a new bible study on Hosea and I was super interested in learning and studying. But if you recall my confession in the beginning, the words always go in one eye and out the other. I have a difficult time retaining information unless I write it down and as an adult, I am so glad I know this about myself. So, you know how God's timing is pretty much perfect? Well, yeah, here is a perfect example of that. I began noticing photos of scrapbook type art in the margins of bibles showing up in my facebook news feed. Hmmmm.....intriguing. Women were gathering in a facebook group and sharing their art. Bible art. Sharing verses and topics that spoke deeply to them and how they were engaged in the word of God while drawing, doodling and painting. Uuummm, I clicked JOIN GROUP in a heartbeat! Since I love hand lettering and I have a ton of scrapbook supplies, I gathered up some stuff I thought would be perfect for bible journaling. After researching a few different bibles, I settled on this one: ESV Single Column Journaling Bible (Black) Outside of buying the bible, I only bought a $10 set of watercolor paints (which I needed anyway), a bottle of gesso (which is only necessary for painting) and a $4 stamp set. Everything else is stuff I already had.

 

 My bible arrived on a Friday. Naturally I wanted to rush home from work and was so excited to get started. I had seen a few people doodling on the edges of their bibles and knew that I wanted to do something like that. And a simple hello jesus was perfect for me. I sketched it in pencil first, then carefully penned it with an ultra fine sharpie. tip: be sure to squeeze the pages together while you sketch and pen on the edges. it keeps your marks from getting inside the pages.



Choosing a special verse for the opening page wasn't too difficult. Even though I don't have many verses memorized, I knew I wanted this one. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:7 says for we live by faith, not by sight. This has been on my heart for as long as I can remember. I never doubted God's presence or questioned His love for me. So I sketched and penned into the night. tip: use a piece of freezer paper behind your page to avoid marking on the next page.



There is no one way to journal in your bible. Whatever kind of medium you enjoy is perfectly fine! Personally, I do like several different kinds of art and wanted to try a few out to see what worked best on this thin paper. I’m going to share 3 with you today:   watercolor // Messy art is sooooo not comfortable for me but I really wanted to just go with the flow of my watercolors and color outside of the lines (on purpose)! And have faith that it would be okay. Plus, it's about the words and not the perfection. For this style, I placed a small piece of freezer paper behind the page so the water didn't soak through. tip: if you watercolor over the pen marks you've made, you might need to pen over a few parts that get covered by the color if you want the lines to really stand out.



sketching // My next adventure lead me to this verse from Isaiah. Since strong is my one little word for this year, I had this quote saved on my pinterest board and thought this was the perfect place to finally put it down on paper. I decided to keep this one in pencil because I liked the look of the sketches. tip: be sure to erase carefully when sketching in pencil. we all know how fragile bible pages are.



scrapbook style // Earlier I mentioned that I am trying to keep up with She Reads Truth's Hosea bible study. As I read through the study in the she reads truth app, I highlighted certain verses and words I wanted to remember for a future worship art session. Using random scrapbook supplies, I laid out my reflection of what I got from Hosea 2:19-20. Sometimes I need a reminder...and a little humor to help.

 

My hope is that you're not afraid to get your bible a little messy and that you use the art you love to spend quantity time in The Word. This style of worship may be scary or weird, but for me, it's drawing me to the words I’ve longed for but have been fearful of for years. Thank you Shanna, for creating a group that allows us to share these special experiences with each other.

 Happy worship-scrapping!  - Andrea You can find me here: blog facebook instagram youtube


I love seeing your journey and where your adventures took you!! Thank you so much for sharing your secret with us Andrea, I think so many of us can relate!! Leave Andrea a little love for sharing her 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!!!" .....

blog | facebook | instagram 

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