Makers Gotta Make!

Happy Hump Day! I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of all of my Documented Faith products, so in the mean time, I ordered a roll of washi from Amazon! I dove into another page of the Created to Create devo from Illustrated Faith this week, and got my washi just in time!!! 

This page talked about not waiting for products, classes, your talents to improve...any excuse you have to keep from documenting what the Lord is doing in your life...and diving right in!  Ha! How perfect is that?!?! So, I squirted, painted and rubbed my paint all over this page, used the new product that I DID have, and had a great time! 

The new swirl and dashed washi added just the pop of contrast that my page needed. Even though it's black and white, I like how you can still see color through it. It's about 50/50 transparency!

So, what's holding you back?! Push it aside, spend time with the Lord, and start documenting what He's telling you!

Take Heart!!! John 16:33

I was riding along in the car yesterday while the kids were at school, and thankfully remembered that I was a grown up and did not have to be listening to Strawberry Shoetcake!  I switched over to KLove and heard Building 429's I'm Not Home Yet. I was singing along, rock'n to my jam when the line "When the earth shakes I want to be found in you" 

This phrase jumped out at me! I've heard this song before, but the Lord used it this time to remind me of his power!!! I was recently reading in John 16 where Jesus was telling his disciples that he was about to leave them. The disciples were confused and a little scared at what Jesus had said was going to happen, so at the end, he wrapped it up with

 ““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.””

John 16:33 NIV

Take Heart!!! HE has overcome the world!!! If there was ever someone to cling to in times of upheaval, despair, or everyday "earth shaking," it would be the ONE who has overcome the world!!! ***insert war cries, cheers of jubilation and high fiving!!!***

Now, to OWN IT!!! What an amazing truth!!! Those trials, uphill battles and daily struggles? Hand. Them. Over!!! Jesus knows they're hard! He went through worse! But he OVERCAME them so he could carry your stuff too!!! 

Wow. Right?!  Let that sink in! So, when your world shakes, run to Jesus. Hand him your stuff. Heck, throw it at Him and cling to him!!! Trust me, he's big enough to carry everything AND wrap you up in his arms!

He Won't Give Up on YOU!

It's good to be back in this Bible!!! I have been working in my Notetaker's Bible for a bit, and was missing my bigger bible! Not to mention, I thought I had LOST it!!! 😩

I was in complete panic mode when I went to work in it, and couldn't find it ANYWHERE!!! Thankfully, I had just left it at church after small group! Whew!

Our church has been doing a series on "FindingYour Way Back to God," through studying the parable of The Prodical Son.

For the longest time I really didn't like this story because I tended to relate to the "good" brother, and didnt think that that stupid brother who broke all the rules deserved a party AT ALL!!! (Anyone with me here?!). BUT, once I got more into life and realized that I, myself, didn't really make the best choices all the time, I saw this story completely differently! I had a NEED and a YEARNING for that grace that the Father (my Heavenly Father) so willingly threw at the "bad" son!!!

My most favorite part of this whole parable is Luke 15:20, "But, while he was still a long way off..."

Good grief, does that just sum me up!!! (Can I get an "Amen?!") I am still a LONG WAY OFF!!!

I have recently been feeling inadequate in pretty much all areas of my life. Nothing I do seems "good enough."  So, when I read God's words in Jeremiah 31:3, it just hugged my sad little heart!

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again..."

Well, Praise the Lord that He will Not give up on me!!! What a powerful truth!!!

I hope that if you have found yourself not where you want to be, or should be with the Lord, that you will take heart!!! He is eagerly waiting for you, even if you are "a long way off!!!

To see the whole process video, click the link below!

https://vimeo.com/136544265

New Bible, New Technique

My mom found these new little bibles recently called Noteworthy Bibles by Zondervan!  They are a little larger than pocket size, and my FAVORITE part is, get this, there is only text on the left side of the page, leaving the whole right side open!!!

I love creating in my other journaling bible, but I sometimes feel limited by the space that's given. I've really had fun working on a whole page!

So, as I was working in my notetakers bible today, I realized that I have done all of my painting WITH MY FINGERS!!! Ha! No brush, no credit card scraping, just my fingers...and I love it!!!

I think one of my favorite things about painting is the fact that I can spread and smear the paint with my hands if I want to, and there is just something so freeing about that!!!

I also haven't done a video of working in my new bible, but I will get right on that!!! 

Bible Journaling- My process

Here's a bit about my journey.  I must preface this by saying that I am almost always the free spirit, go with the flow, "Oh, come on, just try it! It will be FUN!" girl.  I am usually working along side my mom who is hugely gifted in her artistic and creative abilities, but is always needing the rules and the boxes to keep everything in.

With that said, this was Hard for me to start.  It's hard for me to create "on command," and truthfully, I didn't know where to begin.

So, I began with my favorite verse. And paint. :D I feel comfortable with paint, and ever since the Lord brought me this verse about a month or so ago, I feel like it is our family's verse! It's what I want all of our hearts to be about, and this just sums it up! Anyways, more on that later. 

I wrote, I played with the lettering, and then I tried this:

I had seen a few people on the Facebook page do a house, and I thought, Hmmmmm, I can do that! So, I whipped out my Crayola watercolors, and went to town! (* I placed something plastic between the two pages because watercolors will bleed!)

That picture is not complete, but I will be finishing up the details later!

Ok, so I mentioned my Mom earlier.  These are some of her first pages:

Aren't they AMAZING?!  This is right up her alley!  She so clearly and beautifully illustrates the images that the Lord brings to mind through the Holy Spirit, and effortlessly depicts them on her pages!

After listening to the sermon that Shanna played for us at the Illustrated Faith workshop on Colossians 3, I was really drawn to verse 12 that says, " Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
He also spoke about being Transformed into our new life that has the qualities, and The Lord spoke to me about how wonderful it is that he always makes things new!!!
And, here is my page!

I felt a little bit more comfortable working with mixed media, but I am still trying to find my groove in this whole thing! I will keep pressing on, and hopefully make some videos of my process!

Illustrated Faith

Hi, friends! I had to share about the most fantastic workshop that Mom and I went to this weekend!!! We had the joy and privileged of meeting and learning from Shanna Noel about Bible Journaling! I had run across this concept about a month ago, and as I was beginning to love the whole idea, I saw that Mare had invited Shanna to come to Indy!!!!

Whhaaaaaaatttt?! I couldn't even believe it because I feel like the cool stuff never comes here!!!

So anyways, what is this bible journaling I speak of?!  Oh, yes, of course. :D

You can check out all of the details at Illustrated Faith, especially the Questions page, but I will share the gist of it here with you :)

Illustrated Faith is about using the creativity that God has given you (even if you think you don't have any!!!- Yes, even YOU can do it!) to document what he is doing in your life IN His word!  By journaling, illustrating, or coloring next to or around the scripture you are not only allowing those truths to dwell on your heart, but leaving a legacy "to the next generation" of the amazing works that He is doing!!!

Yes, it's fun to use paints, pens, stickers and washi tape (oh, the washi tape!), but as in everything else, it is about GOD!!! It's a way to work through what the Holy Spirit is teaching you and remember the amazing things that God is doing for you and through you!!!

At the conference, Shanna gave her testimony and shared with us about how she began journaling in her bible. Next, she had us listen to a 15 minute sermon and take notes.  We were then given complete creative freedom to document what we had gotten out of the message!

We were able to try new materials, seek Shanna's knowledge and guidance, and get to know those around us!  At the end, each of us shared our pages.
You know what?  I later realized that each person held their page up for about 7 seconds, and then spoke the rest of the time about what GOD had spoke to them and how GOD was working in their lives at the moment!

How. Cool. Is. That?!!!!

So, thank you, Shanna, for investing in us, for being obedient and faithful to the Lord's calling, and for being so super fun and fantastic as to give us all this amazingly special treat!!!

Stay tuned to see more on my process and techniques that you might like to use!