As For Me and My Household

When I journal and create in my Bible, I do it as an expression of time spent with God. The designs emanate from worship. I think often about the legacy of faith I want to leave my children and grandchildren. My Dad left such a powerful one for us, and I want people to say of me too that my faith endured to the end and that praise for Jesus rested on my dying lips.

 When I think of a legacy of faith, I definitely think of Joshua's farewell address to the Israelite leaders in Joshua 23 and 24. I relate so well to his intense desire to make sure those who would come after him really got it...that they not only understood the imperative for remaining faithful to God, but that they desired God as much as he did. I love the story of Joshua's life. One of the most well known verses is Joshua 24:15, "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” It's a choice we all make whether consciously or not. Because God has presented the choice in His Word, we are accountable for the choice whether or not we are people of faith.

As for me and my family...we will serve the Lord. My family is blessed with a legacy of faith. My immediate and extended family claim Christ as Savior and Lord of their lives. I'm the wife, daughter, sister, mother and daughter-in-law to men who have committed their lives and service to the Gospel. What a powerful legacy that is. I'm thrilled that my grandsons have that behind them to shape what lies before them. I pray that my sons will always faithfully love and serve God. It is their calling...I pray it will be their highest joy always.

My pages were done entirely with Prismacolor pencils. I LOVE those things. They are creamy and rich, vibrant in color and add a soft luster to the page. The stamped "serve your God" comes from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps set, Worship the Lord. I doodled the frame around it. The house and tree are from Market Street Stamps, now closed. The rest is hand-lettered and hand drawn.

He Refreshes My Soul

One of the things I like best about Bible art-journaling is that God refreshes me through it.  It of course takes me into His Word, and if I ask for a place or a passage that God wants me to dwell on, He always delivers.  There is always something that leaps out and speaks to me in a new and fresh way.

A favorite verse of mine seemed perfect for what is called "mini-journaling."  I love the simplicity of it.  Mini-journaling focuses on the verse, not the art so much.  So the technique is to be very simple and small with the artwork.

Psalm 18:30, "As for God, His way is perfect," has been on a magnet on my refrigerator for as long as I can remember.  It's a great prompt every day to set my perspective on God and His plans and purposes for me.  The next part of the verse is, "The Lord's word is flawless." I believe that with all my heart.  There is no error in God's Word.  The sovereign God of the universe can certainly keep intact all that He wants recorded, all that He wants revealed to man.  It's preservation alone speaks to the power of God to ensure that His Word endures.  We can depend on His Word, for it is the full revelation of His story, His will. His way is perfect, ALWAYS! 

While I was working on illustrating Psalm 18:30, I continued reading and meditating on the next page.  It's a beautiful passage in the Psalms.  As always happens on nearly every page of Scripture, a verse or passage will leap up to grab my attention.

Psalm 19:7-8 expanded my featured verse on the previous page, "The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making the wise simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart."  A flood of remembering washed over me, and I recalled the countless times I ran to God's work for refreshment, encouragement, wisdom and counsel.  God has answer my inquiries of Him again and again as I sought Him through prayer and His Word.  So I wanted to preserve this portion of scripture as well, and personalize it through illustration.

I used a cut out for an art-journaling mat.  First I created the background of color by inking some of my acrylic stamp blocks with ink and spritzing with water.  I placed the inked side of the block directly to the page.  By using different size blocks, you get a nice geometric look to the multi-colored background. 

I used Sweet 'n Sassy stamps (Message of Hope, Worship the Lord) for the decorative words, "Lord" and "Soul", and the rest is hand-lettered.  I felt like making this a very personal page.

Using the cut out as a tip-in, I could lift that up and continue more personal journaling underneath.  While the writing is brief, I spent a long time just remembering the many ways God had delivered me through His Word, or directly by His hand.  It was a beautiful time of worship.

After working on this page, I wondered what I had created on the other side by using so much ink and water on my blocks. And sure enough, there was quite a bit of bleeding.  Rather than being upset by that, I thought..."Another page background already done!"  So I set about studying the passage of scripture on THIS page...and that's when my worship/prayer time went even deeper.

David and I have been in a season of prayer while considering the possibility of another ministry opportunity.  David has felt called to the transitional pastor ministry for several years.  His skills and heart are well suited to go into a hurting church and help them heal and prepare for their next permanent pastor.  It can make all the difference for a pastor if he steps into a healthy church rather than a hurting or even dysfunctional one.  David had guided a church through the process over the last 2-1/2 years; the church called their new pastor and David preached his "farewell" sermon on March 20.  He had been invited to preach the next two Sundays at a church that was also without a pastor.  He was being considered as an interim pastor there.  Following his second sermon, we met with the search committee, and they went into prayerful deliberations following that.  We anticipated hearing back from them on Wednesday, April 6th or later.

Reading this section of scripture was so naturally a prayer.  And it quickly became my prayer for David.  I went line by line and prayed the heart of the prayer over David in regard specifically to the church who was also praying over him.  Not having another position right away would create some new financial challenges for us, so of course I prayed that God would meet our needs. If our help could come for that particular "sanctuary" it would be a double blessing, for we were certainly feeling positive about our being there.  I've long since learned that we cannot base our actions or decisions on feelings.  Those must be rooted in God's will as best as we can discern through HIS actions and Word.  As I read and prayed I felt He was confirming what He would do.  I knew that God would answer directly, that both the church and we would know what God's will was, and that He would make that will evident.  I knew it!  And I took such joy in knowing that God would move in the situation.  We would not have to lean on man's ways or plans, but that God was going to step in and take control of this situation.

Note again though the structure of this prayer in the psalms.  The latter part of chapter 20 is obviously a prayer, but chapter 21 begins with God's answer.  And I immediately knew God had already answered the prayer.  I am no prophet, and I can't see into the future.  But in these moments God confirmed to me that the answer would be HIS.  And I knew that whatever it was, we would find joy in it, that God would provide for us and care for us.  You'll note that I put a bracket around the answer, and journaled specifying that portion was God's answer.  I even dated it...the date we thought we'd hear from the committee.  But notice the date 4-6-16 is in pencil!  I thought that as certain as I was, perhaps God was moving just as certainly with the committee and we might hear sooner.  David preached and we met with the committee on 4/3.  I did this journaling early the morning of 4/4. The committee met early, and gave David their answer on 4/5!  Seeing God move in this way was THRILLING!

The final design/journaling work I did on this page was to record my confirmation.  I believe that God had already answered.  And through every circumstance was moving to confirm that with both the committee and with us.  I absolutely LOVE the way God works and can't even describe how excited we are to be following His lead to serve at this new church.

When we pray, we can all pray believing He has already done it!  God moves behind, beside and in front of us all the time.  He already knows His plan and we pray in concert with His Spirit and His Word, He will reveal himself to us.  That's just how God works!

His Banner Over Me!

Before I share my Bible art-journaling sample for today I have some big news to share.  In a previous post I mentioned that I was "all in" with this new passion.  I've been reorganizing supplies and space, and I'm sharing my work in several online venues.  But one of the most exciting outcomes of starting this venture is that I was invited to join the design team on Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.  The Creative Worship team will be showcasing the Creative Worship stamp sets and their inspirational samples using the sets.  I'm so thrilled to represent Korin Sutherland and her amazing stamp line. 

Since my husband and I will celebrate another anniversary next month, April 2, I decided to design something in Song of Solomon.  David and I wrote our own vows using verses from this book, so it made a great canvas for art-journaling. Korin had the perfect stamp set in the Creative Worship section of her store...

 Worship the Lord

 

 
Here is the two page spread I designed.  I wanted an old, splashy antique watercolor look to it. (I'm still very much in the experimenting stages, determining how art mediums interact with the thin pages of my Bible.  I'd read about practicing on some of the back pages in your Bible which I thought was a great idea.)  I depicted SS 2:4, 16 in the margin of the left page..."my page" and the verse David referenced (SS 4:9) in his vows on the right page.  I feel very sheltered in our marriage.  Thinking of David's love being over me like a protective banner so aptly describes the safety I feel.  Husbands are to nurture their wives, bringing them to a banquet table of all that delights a woman's heart and soul.

I brushed over the entire surface of both pages with brown watercolor and added more distressing by sponging with brown ink and creating some darker splatters.  I taped off the two verses I wanted to highlight later with red.

David's vows were amazing.  But when he got to his paraphrased version of SS 4:9, I melted.  All he did was to insert my name in the verse! I was already David's sister in Christ. That is a deep bond that makes the marriage relationship, being his bride, even deeper, stronger, more resilient through the storms of life and love.

To design "his page" I used the heart from the set and colored with watercolor paints again. I hand-lettered on both pages---ugh, still lots of practicing to do on that!  Since the theme is about banners, I thought it would be fun to add the washi tape banner.  I've spent years designing greeting cards and could just never get the hang of washi tape.  Bible journaling is MADE for it!  I've used it more in the time I've been journaling (weeks) than in all my years making cards!  It made a perfect little banner and that added some color to my page.

I'm so looking forward to this journey with Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, with Korin, and all the precious ladies on the Creative Worship Team.  My debut post is HERE today, so I invite you to hope over and say hello to me there too.  

Blessings on your day, and thank you so much for stopping in.