Share with Joy! by Tracy Southam

Comparison Is the Thief of Joy - Theodore Roosevelt

I have always enjoyed arts and crafts, excited by the new and keen to keep adding to my craft skills and abilities. As part of my journey I have been fortunate to meet some wonderful people who share their skills. I have also used my own gifts to teach and inspire others.  

At no point do I profess to be an expert in any of the crafts I enjoy and have no desire to use them to sell myself as such. I do what I do for relaxation, for enjoyment and usually to bless others with what I make.

As part of my craft journey I love to get inspiration from Pinterest, Facebook, craft pages, Blogs and other groups and love the creative buzz that occurs.  

It takes courage to share what you make and and create and the side that frustrates me with these creative spaces is the people who are frightened to share what they make as they feel it does not compare to others abilities. 

If God had made us all the same there would not be the wonder in the world he created and trust me most of the "expert" crafters don't always have successes with what they make and had to start somewhere.

"God made you exactly who he wants you to be. Seek him with all of your heart and become the best you" 1 Thessalonians

I felt driven to write this blog post after doing the following journal page called 'I Quit' which was an Illustrated Faith printable (www.illustratedfaith.com). This was inspired by Matthew 11:28 ESV:

 "Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest."

I also created the following page from 1 Peter 5v7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you"

My wish for you all, friends, is to be proud of the you God created and to share the work you create for him with Joy (if you want to of course)! There may be people who don't like it but you are doing it for your time with God and for the occasional person who doesn't like it there will be another 2 who are inspired to do something new so........

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.