How I Decided to Use My 365 Faith Binder

SO! 

One of the fun things that I received from the Documented Faith crew was

this super cute binder. Since my Blessed Friends Ambassadorship is almost over, I feel like I need to share my thoughts on this product. I am actually excited to do so because it took me a while to decide how I want to use it. 

Here is a little overview on the binder. 

The cost is about $40.00 

You can pick one up here and here. 

It comes complete with dividers, blank monthly pages, and blank daily pages. All are designed by Stephanie Ackerman with her awesome art work. If you don't know her you can read more on her blog Homegrown Hospitality.

This a very nice 3-ring binder with reinforced corners and a lay-flat feature. The paper is card stock. I have used watercolor on the pages and they only slightly buckle and press out over time. The dividers are actually watercolor paper that you can color in as you wish. The dividers are labeled with the word of the month that Stephanie's weekly email focuses on.  

Now!  

Let me say something here. 

Don't let that be a deal breaker. If you want the binder to be used as an actual planner, you can. Just flip the dividers over and label them by month.  SUPER FLEXIBLE! Use it how you want to!

So the first couple of months I really did use it as a planner. 

What I ended up deciding was that this was not really useful for me. I have a lovely Filofax personal size Malden that I LOVE and carry every where. So that ended up not being the best use for me.

Here is a layout that I did with the word "serve" using the Serve Kit, which you can get here. By the way, this kit has my hands-down, absolute favorite stamp set .... EVER!

So after months of working with this binder, I have decided that this is one of the things in life that you don't know you need until you have it and use it. 

The way that I use it is that every week I download the Documented Faith devotion. I pray. I open my bible. I read the devotion and then I pray again.  I ask for clarity and a message. God always delivers.

This particular week Stephanie had an exercise to write scripture. So I did one daily. I also added one of her images from the Adornit ArtPlay coloring book. I just cut it out and glued in.  I also watercolored sections... just because, I'm all about watercolor now. 

I also washied the edge of the lesson download and hole punched so that I could place it in that week. 

Sometimes the devotions come with a really cute image like this one. You can do what you want with it. Use it in your binder or in your bible. 

You can see here, that I did nothing to decorate the binder other than put the weekly devotion in it.  I don't spend the time in the binder like I do in my bible journaling. I really am just Documenting my Faith. 

See?

If you would like to sign up for the Documented Faith weekly email here.

I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions. 

Oh! And if you ever want to see what I'm working on I post almost every day on Instagram. There is a link in my sidebar that will take you right to my Instagram Page. 

It's a Big Honor!

Well, here we are. 

It is March, and I'm saying the same thing ... where did the month go? 

At least I can say that I have been busy. 

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen that I announced that I

have been honored by being selected for the Ambassador Team for Documented Faith.

This is a fun Bible Journaling product line sold by Adonit (a craft company). 

It was originally designed and developed by Artist Stephanie Ackerman her blog is here.

Anyway!  

I will be showing you more later!

Santa Claus, Jesus and Being Shy

Funny name for a blog post but sometimes things just hit me different than everybody else.  Here is a perfect example.

Sunday our pastor preached an awesome sermon on Hebrews 4:14 -16 and 5:1-4. 

Here is the scripture, check it out:

4:14 Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior]. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptation, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. 16 Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God's gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].

5:1 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed [to act] on behalf of men in things relating to God, so that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with the spiritually ignorant and misguided, since he is also subject to human weakness; 3 and because of this [human weakness] he is required to offer sacrifices for sins, for himself as well as for the people. 4 And besides, one does not appropriate for himself the honor [of being high priest], but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.

                                                                                                        from the Amplified Bible

Okay, so the point that our Pastor made was that we should, and have every right, to approach Jesus with great confidence! He even gave a great impression of George Jefferson's confident strut. 

It was a great visual!  

Friends, that IS exactly how we should approach Jesus. 

So here is where my twisted part comes in... 

The whole time that he is telling us how we should be so confident in how we approach Jesus I am remembering how I would approach Santa Claus when I was a kid.  Maybe it was because we are just coming out of the Christmas season and possibly it was because I spent 12 hours on Saturday packing Christmas away.  Anyway, I was probably about 6 or 7 and so painfully shy and timid that I would stand in line and anxiously wait, but when it was finally my turn I would have to be coaxed and encouraged to step forward, knowing that if I didn't I wouldn't be able to tell him what I wanted.  I wouldn't get the Santa hug and it would be a whole year before I would have a chance again.  And yet, I was still too awestruck to move. 

Meanwhile, the kid behind me couldn't wait! He ran right around me and took a running leap into Santa's lap. Laughing and giggling and talking with Santa like they were old friends. I was mortified and even a little jealous.  He got the opportunity and the Santa hug.  Even at that young age, I fully understood embarrassment and hurt pride. Why was I such a baby?! 

Friends this is the problem with the "Santa Claus" Jesus. 

Pray to him when you want something. 

Pray to him when you feel good about where you are. 

Once I get my act together, then I'll go to church.

Everything is good now and my ducks are in a row, so I can approach Him. 

That's not how it works. 

We don't have to wait in line for our forgiveness.

We don't have to worry that the mercy or grace will ever run out.

We don't have to worry that we will miss our opportunity!

I am so grateful that we have the perfect High Priest that we can run to. He understands us and loves us before we even realize how much we need His love.

 Draw near to Him!

New Year - New Bible Journal

Well, it's time.

I have loved and journaled in this bible for the last 2 years.

But after almost 300 entries, it's time.  It doesn't seem like a lot,

however, I was finding that I would go to a page to do an entry and it was already

journaled in. It was getting frustrating. So, I spent a good long time looking for a 

replacement. This one will probably be shelved so that I can use it for reference.

This is what I purchased. I am already moved in and using it. 

It has proven to be a good investment. I can tell already that I am going

to LOVE it!

It is slightly smaller.

With a beautiful natural leather cover.

This gives you an idea of the size.

 The English Standard Version is my favorite. I love the 

faint lines in the margin and the color of the paper.

Here is the box it came in (just incase you want to purchase it).

This is the Crossway SKU

The Lifeway Christian Book Store SKU.

I did get it on sale for $82.99.

And here is the title page that I worked on New Year's Eve. 

I'm  put my contact info on the title page after this picture was taken.

I wanted a page that was a reminder of what is important.

So then what?

HI!

I sure hope you are having a great week so far. 

I am!

I wanted to take a moment and thank my friend Charlene for the additional info and confirmation about my little plant.  It's called Elephant Food and it really does only need to be watered once every 3 weeks! Thanks Lady!

So, May 1st I started a new study on The Psalms.  I'm kind of doing it on my

own, but I'm also using the commentary from FB Meyer and finding it very helpful. 

I usually just do study groups so this is a little different for me. 

But here's the problem. I have already journaled several of the

pages in my Journaling Bible in the Book of Psalms. So then what are you supposed to do? 

Well, this is what I did. I got several Moleskine note books one

lined and the other blank. Of course, I decorated it.  That's how I roll.

So now if the page in my journal bible is already illustrated for the Psalm I'm studying,

I can supplement it with my Moleskine. 

Here's an example of how I do it.

This is my illustration for Psalm 1. 

I am giving an illustration of the versus 3-6.

What I am trying communicate is that (as a tree) when your source is plentiful and steady, 

your roots will be deep and strong.  Helping to withstand strong storms.  

If your roots are depending on scarce sources of nutrients your roots will

be shallow and wide. Prone to wondering. 

Knowing that my plentiful and steady source is God, his word and prayer, 

I want my faith roots to be growing deep and narrow.  

That's what I'm working on. 

Hello! 

Happy Friday to you!

I wanted to say something about bible journaling. 

I have already shared the why and how here.

Now, I want to talk about something else. 

Every time I chat with someone about my journaling, I always hear the same thing!

"But I'm not artsy." or "I could never learn to draw like you do."

And every time I hear that I say the same thing. "You don't have to

be able to draw." 

 I always mean it. 

While these are a few of my favorites, I didn't start out doing pages like these. 

Some of my first pages are very much "not pretty."

These are after some practice, and a lot of trial and error. And the truth of the matter is I have 

no art training, at all! Its just something that I discovered that I really enjoy. 

And obviously the more you practice the better you get.

But the reality is that, if you want to journal,  you have to start. And you need to start somewhere.

If I'm perfectly honest, I would tell you that I wish I didn't have those "experiment" pages in my 

bible. But then I wouldn't have spent that time with the Lord in his word and I truly believe that he has blessed my time that I spend in the bible. 

So let me show what I'm talking about.

Here are a few pages that I did using only my old scrapbook supplies. 

This page (which I love) is nothing but scrapbook paper, (cross) Stamp (the wood grain background) and stickers (crown, roses, and letters) 

This one has some simple lettering but the heart is a stamp, the parenthesis are scrapbook elements, and the black stripe with polkadots is washi tape. 

This one is the most simple one yet... a sticker and washi tape. 

I hope this helped to take some of the fear out of Bible Journaling.  Remember, we all want 

beautiful pages, but that isn't the reason that you start bible journaling. Its to study His word and life and to try to be more like Him.

Bible Journaling Part 2 .... The Tools

Okay! You asked for it.... 

This is my post about the tools that I prefer for bible journaling. 

Before we get started: I just want to make it clear, I'm not

an expert, artist or theologian. These are just some insights 

into what I have tried that has worked. And a lot of what you see

in my journaling are concepts that I got from bible studies. So don't be thinking that 

I'm so exceptionally smart. I'm just making notes so that I can remember later.

You should know that I have had some epic fails to, trust me! 

To name a few:

The brush pen - LOTS of people use it but I can't figure it out to save my life. 

Watercolor paints - Bleed  through and cause the paper to wrinkle beyond belief.  

(My bible is not like the newer journal bibles that have the onion paper. Mine

are much thinner.)

Micron and Sharpie - bleed through

So these are techniques that I have gone back to and 

like best. 

Let's get started, shall we?

Here is a recent entry from a study that we are doing in Philippians at my 

church on Sunday mornings. 

Adopting a Christ-Like Attitude means Serving, Sacrificing and Glorifying God. 

You'll note that I misspelled glorifying in my bible (sigh). Oh well, it happens. 

By the time that I noticed it, I was in the ink stage. (ugh!)

Note to self: there is no spell check on the page. 

So that's the finished product.

Let's step back and have a reality check. Okay, NO JUDGING!

This is actually what my craft table looks like in mid project.

I think I saw a pin on pinterist "I craft, therefore, I hoard."

It applies.

It's true, I like having all my stuff out and available. 

I also like a work lamp. It makes seeing the pencil marks much easier as well as doing shading.

Here are the my favs:

a soft lead pencil (alway draw as lightly as you can)

a polymer eraser (because it seriously removes all pencil marks)
a Uni-ball Signo 207 ultra micro pen
a Uni-ball Signo 207 micro pen
a ruler
And
a pencil sharpener

Lined paper is handy to use under the page to keep your writing straight.

I also like to use color pencils alot. For me the Prismacolor brand is best but 

Crayola works well too. I have tons of them in as many colors as I can find.

I recently purchased some watercolor pencils and a blender that 

I'm anxious to try. It's supposed to give you the look of watercolor

with the convenience of a color pencil. We'll see. 

Washi tape is also a very fun element to add your page.

So I'm a beginner and I'm looking forward to learning more techniques.

I hope this has been helpful for you.

Let me know if you want to see more bible journaling.

And of course leave me questions... I'll try to answer as best I can. 

Have a great week!