My Bible Journaling Journey

I have been so blown away by all the questions and interest I have received over the last few months about my bible journaling. I thought the best way to answer all the questions I have been asked would be a blog post (plus, my abandon little blog deserved a new entry ;)).

I guess the appropriate place to start is my testimony. I was born and raised in a southern baptist church, I feel like I've always had a solid Christian foundation but in my early twenties after getting married my husband and I started going to church less and less and although I don't feel like I ever abandoned my faith I definitely strayed from it.

Over the past year I've really had a hunger for God.  I started praying and looking for ways to get that intimate relationship with God. I knew people whose faith just oozed from their pores...you know what I mean? They inspire you to do and be better and you always feel refreshed after spending time with them. I wanted to have that impact on other people too.
About five months ago one of my friends posted on Facebook about a book she was reading called "Before Amen" by Max Lucado. I almost immediately downloaded it on my Kindle on the first page of the book I read...

"I'm a recovering prayer wimp.  I dose off when I pray.  My thoughts zig, then zag, then zag again.  Distractions swarm like gnats on a summer night. If attention deficit disorder applies to prayer, I am afflicted."

I thought, this man just described me perfectly!!  A month later I started leading a bible study on this book with other friends and nurses.  I didn't at all feel qualified to lead a bible study but someone told me "God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called" and that really stuck with me.  My prayer life grew tremendously and I continued to pray for God to grow my relationship with Him and give me an intimate relationship with Him.  I knew to do this meant to get in His word but again I felt a little lost.  I would open my bible randomly and read a few verses, but the bible says to study and mediate and when I thought about meditating I pictured someone sitting in indian style on the floor humming.  I guess social media isn't all bad because again I stumbled upon a few different women on Instagram who bible journaled and was intrigued. 

So...in September I bought my first Journaling Bible (at Lifeway) and a few pens, colored pencils, and paint and as they say "the rest is history."  I get excited to open my bible and journal.  I intentionally carve out time to journal and I have memorized scripture (which is something I've always struggled with) because I "meditate" on the scripture as I'm journaling.

God still has work to do in me but I've grown a lot in the last 6 months.  It's so exciting to see God answer your specific prayers.

There is no right or wrong way to bible journal, you're in the word and that's what matters.   If you need inspiration I love Illustrated Faith (you can find them on Instagram) and of coarse Pinterest.  I journal on verses from my bible studies, devotions, books I'm reading, songs I hear, or just verses I like.

I had this beautiful bible cover custom made for my journaling bible by JoyLeanne (you can find her on Instragram @joyleanne or Etsy).  The bible tabs I have were purchased on Etsy from the shop Bible Journaling Daily. 

The entries above were all done using water colors.  I bought this big watercolor palette from Michaels it was the cheap watercolors but works great.  I do recommend getting one of the watercolor brushes (pictured above) to prevent you from getting too much water on your brush.  I also make sure I lay a piece of card stock paper under the page I'm painting to keep it from getting the next page damp. 

The color in the entries above were all done using these Gelatos.  I love these!!  They remind me of colored chapstick and are the same texture.  You just smear them on the page and blend.  I also use them to highlight. These were also purchased at Michaels. 

The color in all of the entires above was created using Crayola Twistable Colored Pencils.  You can find these at Walmart or Target.  They are cheap, work great, and you don't have to worry about sharpening them. 

The flowers in the entry above are hand painted with Acrylic paint.  I purchased this set at Michaels.  It was cheap and gave me lots of color options.   

I love to use washi tape to decorate a page or attach tabs. You can find washi tape at Walmart, Target, or Michaels. 

The arrows in the entry above were created with these Gelly Roll Gel Pens.  I use them frequently to do colored lettering or accent.  They can be found mulitple places as well, I believe I purchased these at Michaels. 

My FAVORITE pens to write and letter with are these Micron Pens.  They come in multiple sizes and all of the writing in the entires posted were done using these pens.  I purchased some at LifeWay and some at Michaels. 

This stamp is fun to date entires with I haven't had it long so I haven't posted many entires that have been dated.  This was purchased at Michaels. 

Happy Bible Journaling and if you have any other questions ask away ;)