She Did What She Could - by Deborah Gregg

It's good to pray before I read my Bible, to ask God to speak, and to make sure that I am ready to hear.

Here's a verse and a prayer I found online (can't remember where!) that I journaled into a bookmark for my 'reading' Bible.

When I'm reading my Bible, prayerfully and expecting to hear from God, I'm often find that there are certain words or  phrases I am particularly drawn to by the Holy Spirit, and that's what I love to journal! I especially love to discover something new that I hadn't seen before in a familiar verse or passage.

Here's a journal page that is really meaningful to me, and I'll try to explain why.

In this familiar passage in Mark chapter 14, Jesus was annointed with the jar of expensive perfume, as the woman poured this on his head, amid fierce criticism. I love how Jesus defends her saying, "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly, I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." (Mark 14:6-9 NIV)

I read this passage again back in February, at a time when God was speaking to me about my need to surrender to Him, every single area of my life.

For me this beautiful story shared how this amazing woman did what she could - she surrendered all she had - her most precious possession - to Jesus. And how He loved her, and honoured her! And gifted her with the blessing of a lasting legacy of honour. And as her story is shared today, God continues to speak through her actions and Jesus' words to her - and to us.

To me, the phrase 'She did what she could' really struck me - yes she could have sold the jar and given the money to the poor, and that would have been commendable. (In fact that's what Jesus told to rich young ruler to go and do!) But instead she offered and used what she had, in the way that she felt led to, in order to honour Jesus - even at huge risk of criticism and backlash from others. She was obedient to what she was called to do with the gift she had to offer. Jesus said she did a beautiful thing.

Ephesians 2:10 says: "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." We have all been created in order to be given a job to do, that God has assigned to us individually, that no-one else can do quite like us!

I created this page in my journal to try to reflect my own response to God to this passage. It's my first attempt at a self-portrait (!) and though not perfect it came out a bit better than I'd thought it would! I used my Inktense pencils to colour this page, I love the vibrant colours. I did smudge the colours with a damp brush after colouring, as this really lifts the colours, but only a little bit as I quite liked the pencil marks. I then used a Micron pen to outline and to add the wording.

I have deliberately not shared this until now in the main Facebook page, because I was concerned that the full meaning of this passage would not be reflected in these 5 words! I felt that the phrase 'She did what she could' might be mis-interpreted as 'Well, she tried!' or 'She gave it her best shot!' or 'She had a go!' - all of which seem a bit negative with a hint of failure. Completely the opposite of what Jesus actually said, and meant!

Let's respond to Jesus' call to offer our very best - all that we are and all that we have - surrendered to Him. Don't we long to hear His words over us, saying 'She has done a beautiful thing to me...she did what she could.'

So it's been good for me to be able to write a few words here about the context of this verse in the passage, and its application in our lives. Sometimes when doing Bible Art Journaling it can be easy to be drawn towards key 'catchy' phrases or verses we love but may be over-familiar with. Let's remember to read the whole passage - to study God's Word diligently and to try to establish some context. We don't have to be Bible Scholars - the message of the Gospel is for everyone! But let's make sure we prayerfully read around our verses that we are journaling, to gain a greater understanding of God's Word to us. That's how God's Word will speak deeply to us, and meditating on His Word will bring transformation to our lives.

Another example of this is the familiar verse: 'Draw near to God and he will draw near to you'. I love this so much and it has provided encouragement and comfort to me time and again over the years. Yet, in context - this is actually only a tiny snippet in the middle of a whole section of very strong words all about repentance from sins!
'Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded! Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up." James 4:7-12 (NIV)
Same verse, still with the comfort that God will lift us up and draw near to us - but much more challenging when read in full context! We're not just to draw near to God, but we're to fully repent from all our sins and change our lifestyles too!

That is another example of living a life of surrender. Our lives are not our own. We have been bought with a great price. Let's offer our lives fully, completely, utterly surrendered in His Love.

Mothers....and others

So Mothering Sunday has passed. The chocolates are eaten, the wine drunk and the flowers are reminding us of the love our families have for us. The cards - some hand-made, sticky and glittery - others carefully selected in a quiet moment, a memento of the special day.

In modern times the verb "to Mother" has become a noun "Mother's Day" - a "label" perhaps that can isolate and be painful to those for whom it doesn't quite fit.

As one of those people, I shy away from the spotlight that Mothering Sunday shines onto my relationships: both past and present, those that never quite blossomed as they should, and those that only existed in dashed hopes and broken dreams.

Rather than hide away from the issues that cause me discomfort, I try to tackle them openly in my Bible Journaling and prayer.

The scriptures are so richly filled with descriptions of parenting, and particularly mothering - its joy, nurturing, purpose...and pain.

My Bible Art Journey started (as for many of you journalers) with my favourite verse - the verse that has anchored me during storms, held me together in challenges, pushed me into happy times, and that I have thrown back at God in anger and frustration.....

Psalm139

The Bible has lots to say about families and relationships. Focussing on these has helped me to understand God's plan for my family, and has guided me in my role as a wife and parent....

Ephesians 5

Colossians 3

And I've also been able to reflect on and capture the happiest times. This one makes me smile every time I see it.....As it happens, the entry above this one in my Bible is "with God all things are possible" - something God proved to me with those smiling faces in the picture.

Mark 10 v 14

And yet our earthly families are not perfect - there is tension, pain, stress, worry - and sometimes unforgiveness and hatred. But we have a perfect Father who understands the things that we don't. We have a big brother who protects us, guides us and loves us so much he is willing to die for us.

And despite the jumble of emotions that are forced into the open at this time of year, we have a hope, and the ultimate comfort in the Love of our Almighty God.

Psalm 131

 by Lindsey Campbell

You're Very Good! By Claire Graham

Over the summer I finally 'got' something that God has been trying to tell me for years! 

I've never felt quite good enough, at anything really, I don't look right, I'm not as good a Mum/wife/daughter/friend/Christian as I 'should' be. I listen too much to the voices in my head that say I'm not enough. I'm an introvert and an over thinker. I constantly compare myself to other people and to the 'ideal' unattainable superhero me that I've created in my mind. 

It was while I was away in my caravan that I finally got it. I'd set myself a holiday project of drawing a self-portrait in my Bible (using my amazing inktense pencils and having watched a Rebecca Jones tutorial before we set off - http://www.rebekahrjones.com/bible-art-journaling-challenge-week-17/ ) and God really spoke to me as I was doing it. 

I literally spent hours, over several days working on this page. 

As I kept going back to it, adding layers of colour and details God started speaking to me, really clearly. 

It started as a whisper... "when I said that all I'd created was very good... I meant you, not just good, very good!" and grew and grew... parts of my appearance and personality that I've always struggled with I felt God saying "I made you that way, I love you that way... and I don't make mistakes". So I wrote down what God was saying, and once I was back I wrote it out on tracing paper and stuck it in my Bible with washi tape.

You're not a mistake either, you know, God carefully created and designed you. And once He'd made you He said "you're very good!" Not just good, not oh dear, I messed that up, very good. And God doesn't make mistakes.

Bible Art Journaling UK Admin team - thank you so much Claire for sharing this personal testimony of what God has been showing you over the summer. Going by the comments and conversation this has generated within the Facebook Group, we think this is something we can all identify with! So thanks for sharing this encouraging word.

Stamping in your Bible - by Sarah Anderson

There is a bewildering array of both stamps and inkpads out there so I'm going to try and shed a little light on the whole thing.  Be warned, this is a long, photo heavy post - I didn't want to leave you 'hanging' with a two part blog post on stamping!

When I first started stamping, many, many years ago, all stamps were wood mounted.  Now these are few and far between and most stamps come 'unmounted.  This means that, to get a clear impression, you need to mount them temporarily on an acrylic block.

Acrylic blocks come in various sizes, and various thicknesses.  They are available in Hobbycraft, and in shops that sell stamps as well as online.

Clear, polymer stamps will cling to the acrylic block ..

... as do these cling stamps from Prima.

With unmounted rubber stamps, like this one from MakiStamps. you can use a Pritt stick to temporarily stick it to an acrylic block, or

add a repositionable cushioning such as Kling On or EZ Mount.  The stamp will then cling to the acrylic block.

Ok, now onto inkpads ...

..another bewildering array!  There are two main types of inkpad - pigment ink and
dye ink.  Pigment ink is slow drying and is great if you want to emboss your stamped image with an embossing powder.  That is definitely another post but here's an example -

The gold flowers have been embossed with a fine detail gold powder.  There are some fast drying pigment inkpads, like Versafine, which are fine for general stamping (and waterproof),  but generally I use dye inkpads which dry quickly.  However, they are often not waterproof so if you want to colour your images with a wet medium such as watercolour paints then you need to be careful about which ones you buy.

Now I'm not a prep your page girl.  I tried it once!  I like to be able to just journal immediately rather than having to put gesso (pronounced 'jesso') down and wait for it to dry; I also like the paper to feel like the paper, I know how that reacts!  But that's just me.  This means that my stamping is often evident on the other side of the page ..

...and thanks ok with me.  If you'd like to have less of a 'bleed through', Art Basics clear gesso is highly recommended by those in the know, as is Dina Wakely's.

 

It's a good idea to try out new products in the back of your bible.  I've run out of space there so tried out my different inkpads in some of the pages at the beginning.  There was actually very little difference in the amount of bleed through between all the different dye inkpads, and fast drying pigment inkpads.  Remember, I've NOT prepped my pages.  Personally I choose inkpads by colour range, and ease of availability.  All of the inkpad types I've trialled above - versafine, versamagic, archival (by Ranger), adirondack (also by Ranger but now discontinued; still currently available in stores though), staz-on, and memento are waterproof.  Distress inkpads are designed to be messed about with with water so aren't best for colouring in with watercolour paints etc but you can get some cool effects with them - that IS another post!

 

My go-to black inkpad is a Versafine Onyx Black pad.  It is great for picking out small detail and is waterproof.

So now I've confused you over inkpads, here's how to stamp!

If you're using a little inkpad, like my Memento Dew Drop (available in Hobbycraft, as well as online and in other shops), tap the stamp as show above to cover with ink.

Then apply even pressure to the block.  If you're new to stamping, or have a new set of stamps, it's always worth practising your stamping and getting used to the pressure needed, on scrap paper before stamping in your bible.

 This word stamp is one of the words from Clarity stamps word chains.  It's not just Christian stamp companies that have great, relevant words and images for stamping in your bible.

 You need a firm, flat surface to stamp on.  My bible has lots in it now so I use a wadge of copier paper or an exercise book underneath the page to provide a firm surface.

The first stamped image is darker, but if you stamp a second image, without re-inking you get a paler image.  I love using the two degrees of  'inkiness' in my bible,

and it also makes it easier to clean your stamp afterwards!  I use baby wipes to do this.

 You don't have to stamp directly into your bible.  Here I've stamped on painted deli paper  (a thin paper great to glue into the pages of your bible)

and here I've stamped on copier paper and cut out the images before adding them to my bible pages

I recently picked up a stamp of Jerusalem from makistamps.  I love hunting down a theme in my bible (stars are a particular favourite!)

I used my Versafine Onyx Black inkpad to stamp the image in my bible.  I went over some of the text and would have preferred not to have done.

I then added some of the text from Psalm 122 with my favourite pen -  a fine Bic!  I love the texture it adds to the page, a lovely bit of crinkle ;)  I like to repeat stamp a key word on the page but didn't have one that said 'peace'.  What I do have is sticky backed foam and a die cutting machine so I got out one of my alphabet dies ..

...trimmed a piece of sticky backed foam..

...and ran it through my die cutting machine (I have a Big Shot).

 

I picked out the letters I needed and added them to some thick card.

..and trimmed it down to form my own stamp!

I then used my Adirondack inkpad, in Pool (because that's the colour I wanted)..

..to stamp the word around my page

To finish off, I added some more colour to some of the words with a coloured pencil, and coloured the walls on the stamped image.  I also wrote the word 'peace' within the walls of Jerusalem.

I find stamping allows me to add images to my bible that I wouldn't be able to draw.  Stamping words repeatedly also means I spend longer with a verse and focus on key words within it.  If you're new to stamping, it's worth practicing on scrap paper.  As adults we often expect to be able to do things well straight away, but as with all new skills, they take practice, and that's ok!

Happy Stamping!

My Bible Art Journaling Journey - by Lori Weeden

This week's blog post is by the lovely Lori Weeden, who is sharing about how she got started with Bible Art Journaling, and what it means to her. Enjoy and be blessed by some of her lovely artwork! 

About a year ago whilst studying my Bible, I wanted to write down scriptures on love in a way that was easy to remember and that helped me to meditate on them. I wanted to make the scriptures more memorable by decorating each one on different pages. Not long after I started to decorate some pages, I spoke to Deborah Gregg at a Come Closer meeting and she shared her Bible Art Journal with me which gave me more inspiration to continue being creative with the scriptures. She held a workshop at her house and explained what Bible Art Journaling was all about and tips about how to use different mediums to create your art work.

By doing Bible Art Journaling, it has helped me enjoy studying the scriptures in a different way and be more focused on them. It has also drawn me closer to the Lord. There has been many times where my artwork has helped minister to others, so it is doesn't just bless me but helps bless others too.

Thank you so much, Lori, for sharing this with us! If anyone else would like to contribute to our shared blog, do get in touch with Deborah Gregg, Sarah Anderson, Jane Butcher or Sharon King - we'd love to hear from you!