This is a different post that is not related to my quilting, but rather my faith and how I hope to grow through craft and study of the Bible. If you would like to know more then keep reading, however if you are not interested your welcome to wait on my next post. Thank you. Miss Mae.
The latest craze in the the craft world and especially for Christians is the art of Bible Journaling. This is something I found out about from my mum about a year or so ago. The first thing I thought was "Why would you want to draw in your Bible?"
Yes I was one of the people who didn't understand the fascination, and upset that the words would be covered with paint and writing. However that's what I get for assuming.
I am a Religion Teacher and I have studied the Bible and other religious scriptures intensely for almost eight years now. It is something I enjoy even though it can be challenging at times. I am also a Christian. My faith has been challenged constantly and it has been tough. Working within my faith sometimes makes it hard to separate myself from the people I want to teach and teaching myself. I have lately needed and wanted to study the scriptures for myself and to rely entirely on God.
I decided to create a Bible Study Planner. I researched on Pinterest and Youtube on how others planned their Bible study as well as incorporating what I know works for me. I decorated my dividers with verses and planned my sections. However I couldn't work out how to start my study. I am one of those people that if I haven't got something to show for it I won't do it. Now with that in mind, this should be easy for me to write notes and prayers etc. This is how I planned to show my progress. Currently it isn't working. I can't seem to bring myself to choose a book or a verse or a devotional to begin my study. I became extremely busy with work, creating resources, marking and admin. Another reason why I haven't posted in a while either.
In my research as I looked for ways to really come back to the Word of God, I came across Bible Journaling. Now the first Youtube clip I watched was a young woman named Meredith Grace. She spoke about how she wanted to share her faith more on her social media and how she found out about Bible Journaling through a blogger which led her to Illustrated Faith. Illustrated Faith is a company that informs and sells products for the art of Bible Journaling, and their founder Shanna Noel has inspired so many people to write, draw and paint in their Bibles. So once I watched Meredith Grace's video and got an understanding why she was doing it, I wanted to know more. I researched other people about how and why they were decorating their Bibles through Youtube, blogs and Pinterest. There are many schools of thought of what supplies to use, what they will write in the margins, whether it is okay to cover scripture or not and if you even need a Journaling Bible. Some people will cover the words, others will use only the margins, and some will use a completely different notebook and not write in their Bibles at all. Some students of this art form have more than one Journaling Bible because they can't fit anymore in their first one. The artwork of these people is astounding and there are tutorials, and templates you can use in your own Bibles. There are even Bibles that have the art included on 500 pages, like an adult colouring book for those who don't feel they are artistic.
The world I had just stepped into was incredible. I cannot believe the community that has come out by just writing and drawing in Bibles. This sort of thing I believed to be at first somewhat unnecessary, and now I feel that this is my ticket to getting into the Word. I have ordered a Journaling Bible based on the reviews of Rebecca R Jones on Youtube. I purchased the ESV Journaling Bible Leather, Antique Flora as I kept being drawn to the floral cover. Plus the spine looks like an old leather bound book. It arrived yesterday and though it's not completely new (I bought a slightly cheaper one), it is gorgeous and I am super excited to work in it.
I have yet to start my entries and test my supplies. I would call myself a lucky person as I draw and paint occasionally and already have supplies such as watercolours, coloured pencils, soft pastels, stickers, stamps, tabs and many other supplies to use. All I needed to purchase was a good archival pen and some setting spray for the pastels I have. I am hoping that these things work. I hope to test them out and maybe write a post on them in future.
I hope to write more on this in future, I may use this as my platform or create a different blog should there be enough interest. I am a beginner in this so if you have any tips to share, comment below. If you want to see my entries or my supplies or anything please comment below.
Thank you for reading.
Miss Mae
