Office Redo–Before and After

This is where I have done my Bible Study and my journaling for the last 2 years. – On my dining table. And so most days it looks like this:



Well, I needed to do something about this mess. So I decided to redo my office.

I’m pleased with the end results:

(don’t expect a neat area! But it’s neat to me!!!)

      
                 Before                                       After
Yes, there is a desk under all
that “stuff.”


     
                Before                                          After


     
               Before                                          After


     
                   Before                                      After


As you can see, I had so much furniture and craft bins – It was too crowded. I had my desk, Randy’s desk, the table he built for our printer, 2 craft bins, 2 storage cabinets, a wash stand and 2 filing cabinets.

I was able to consolidate to 2 sets of shelves, a desk – made from a door, I used the filing cabinets and table Randy made to set it on. The 2 storage cabinets and the wash stand.

I put all my craft supplies on one set of shelves, Bible Study on the other set and bill information on the wall.

I had to buy the door and the shelves. I got a bargain on the door at Lowe’s – $2.66. I used varnish I already had to refinish it. The shelves were $25 each.

         

     Before varnish                     After 4 coats of varnish

I am looking forward to making messes in here rather than on the dining room table!

OH – an unplanned bonus!

I can see the TV from my desk!!

This was my 4th of July week project and I had so much fun doing it! I even went through all of my files and discarded and combined! I feel so accomplished!

Now – excuse me while I go make a mess!

Prayer Journal

Two and a half years ago I began Bible Journaling. I shared about that H.E.R.E. That was the beginning of my journey. 

Well, this summer I am not teaching and have some spare time so I wanted to grow in a Spiritual area so I chose Prayer. I had been keeping lists of requests in a spiral notebook.

I decided I wanted to go into prayer deeper and in a more organized manner. So after reading Stone Soup For Five's Blog on “4 Steps to Create Your Personal Prayer Binder” and watching Gina Garland on you tube I was ready to go!

I had purchased one of Illustrated Faith's Praise Book quite some time ago but hadn’t done anything with it except I had made one page into a missionary page.

But – I wanted to use a verse I had picked for the front of the notebook. So I took the pages out of the Praise Book – because I love them!! and gave the praise 3-ring binder to a friend who was wanting to start her own prayer binder. Then I chose a 3-ring binder that has the pocket on the front so I could add my own cover.

My Bible Study Group had just finished a short study on the Tabernacle and I wanted to use Psalm 141:2 for the cover.

“May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.” Psalm 141:2

The first page in my binder came from this book:

    

                        

My first 5 sections I pray daily:

    

     First is Worship.

     Second, me.

     Third, my immediate family.

     Fourth, my Bible Study Ladies.

     Fifth, my Life Group. 

Since I am widowed, I don’t have a section for Husband and Marriage. That’s why I added my Covenant Sisters and Life Group here. (I will break these sections down more in my next blog.)

Then I have the section in the middle for general Prayer Requests.

The second half of my Prayer Notebook is divided by the days of the week.

On Monday I pray for Christian’s I don’t know and for the salvation of the lost.

Tuesday’s I pray for my family – My Dad, Brother and his family, My close Christian friends, Aunts, etc.

Wednesday I set aside to pray for the Leaders of my Church.

Thursday’s I pray for Missionaries.

Friday’s I pray for our government, Jerusalem and world issues.

There is no right or wrong way to set up a prayer journal/notebook. Everyone has their own heart tugs.

I will go into each section in more detail in upcoming blogs.

I hope this will encourage you to become more intentional in your prayer life.

The other book I have for prayer is:

by Priscilla Shirer

I highly recommend both books mentioned in this post.

Be sure and share with me your journey in prayer!

Have a Blessed week!

                    

journaling

As I’ve mentioned before, I have many journals.

• A journal of lists
• A journal where I write happenings and feelings (I have several of these from over the years)
• A journal that holds my favorite quotes(I have 2 of these)
• A journal where I list books I’ve read
• I use a journal to keep track of Book Club reads and Book Club information
• An art journal for journaling sayings, quotes and verses
• A Bible for art Journaling

Lot’s of journals.

Well, I’ve been noticing on Pinterest there is a great interest in BuJo.  Bullet Journaling and that of course caught my attention.  : )

I’ve been doing some research and it seems as if I do it correctly – I may be able to cut myself down to only one journal at a time. I’m going to look into this further – experiment a bit – and I will let you know what I find out!!

"Take Me Deeper 2015"

I have been spending my time with estate sales, church commitments, my wonderful husband and I've been doing the "Take Me Deeper 2015" Project.  It seems as if blogging has taken a back seat. I’m hoping to improve on that (a promise I have made often) during 2015. I am scheduled to go to a Blog Conference in the fall and am looking forward to it. Until then, I will t.r.y. to get back into a blogging schedule.  

And to be really honest here – I have a new computer and the photo program is giving me FITS… But, you will be pleased to know, I haven’t thrown it.....  YET.

I thought I would share with you about "His Kingdom Come" and their project of “Take Me Deeper.”  His Kingdom Come is a website for people to come together and share their artwork while growing in their spiritual lives.

I am not an artist. If you remember a little over a year ago I tried my hand at Media Art – which I love. But it was kind of like playing the piano – some (ME)  are just not gifted in the arts!! But I did like the idea of Bible Journaling. With or without talent what I've discovered is that journaling a passage of scripture really helps me to meditate on it, to think about it more and so I find that I apply it more to my life.

So I’m going to share a bit with you to give you an idea of how fun and meaningful this is. (if you want to see some FABULOUS art work on these Bible verses take a look at His Kingdom Come website.) 

This is a Journaling Bible that I purchased on ebay. The margins are 2.5 inches wide.

Week 1, Romans 12:1-2:

Week 2, 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10:

Week 3, 2 Corinthians 3:18:




Week 4, Hebrews 10:19-23:




Week 5, Philippians 2:12-13:




Week 6, John 3:16:




Week 7, Matthew 22:37:




Week 8, John 13:34-35:




Week 9, 2 Corinthians 5:17:

I've finished the first two months of the year! Looking forward to the rest of the year.

A dear friend of mine is doing a wonderful thing with her Journaling Bible. She has picked a verse for each grandchild, highlighted it, then in the wide margin has added a current picture of the child with their hand print over the page. It is beautiful and what a wonderful legacy for her grands!!

So many ideas!! Hope you will get some ideas and try them yourself and share them in the comment section of my blog! 

Happy Journaling!!

One Step Forward, Two Back in Bible Journaling

I’m still experimenting – to see what I like and don’t like before my journaling Bible gets here.

On this page I used a stamp, colored the trees with colored pencils, used some stickers for the letters, and gelatos for the two sets of words.

I’m not crazy about the sticker letters, I think I would like it better if I had lettered them.

And, I realized I wrote with the wrong ink pen and the gelatos smeared the ink a bit. I do have the correct pens – just forgot about them.

Also, the sermon I was going off of was so rich with information, I may redo this one and change it up some. But, I do like the idea of being in an orchard when the fruit of the spirit is evident in my life. When I have sin in my life, it’s stepping outside of the orchard.

Only one step to take to move back into the orchard.

The sermon is Max Lucado’s “Immanuel, God In Us.” Anyway, I liked this sermon so much, I am going to use this concept in my Bible.

Bible Journaling–Part 2

While waiting on my Journaling Bible to arrive, I’ve been enjoying this new way of “keeping notes.”

I’ve often blogged about my Bible – and how much I love it.

    
Most of it looks like this inside:


I’ve never hesitated in writing in my Bible. But it has never dawned on me to “draw” in my Bible!! So I did mark some favorite verses with a little extra:

         

Nothing too creative – but a little bit more.

I’ve actually ordered a Journaling Bible to help me be more creative. I’m going to use it for the 52 weeks next year of “Take Me Deeper 2015.”  Looking forward to this new adventure with God.

I have had a bit of fun with Pastor Brad’s sermon from Sunday!!

I realized that “journaling” a verse is much easier than a complete sermon. It looks like PBrad preached for hours! But it was such a good sermon my notes were copious! So the following pictures are a variety of things I experimented with using the sermon as my model.

Disclaimer: I am not – nor have I ever been an artist!! Don’t expect “art” – what I can do is write words and decorate them – which gives me more time to meditate and think about what was said.

The Sermon was taken from

2 Corinthians 10:3-4       Ephesians 6:10-18

(this is a four week series)

I really remember this sermon – probably more than most because of the journaling. I was able to spend time meditating on God’s Word and mentally applying it to my life.

I would love to see some of your journaling if you are giving it a try. It’s fun, it’s calming and for me it’s here to stay!!

Bible Journaling

I’ve discovered something new. Well, new to me! Bible Journaling. I’ve kept journals for years but this is something different. Let me show you - Bible Journaling Pinterest Board. 

Discovering "Take Me Deeper 2015" was the beginning of my research into Bible Journaling and Digital Faith Art. I’m intrigued and jumped in with both feet. I would love for you to join me on this 2015 challenge of letting God take us deeper into a relationship with Him.

Check out His Kingdom Come website. This is the birthplace of “Take Me Deeper 2015.”

I also discovered you can even buy a “Bible Journal” Bible! It has wider margins for your “journaling.”

I did begin in a regular journal and decided I would take the advice of several other bloggers and sketch out my journaling on paper before I transfer it to my Bible. The really serious journalist’s draw on tracing paper and put that over their Bible pages.

This is my first attempt at Bible Journaling, using Psalm 61:2

“From the end of the earth I will cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.”  KJV

What I have discovered in this process is that this verse is ingrained in my mind – much more than when I just memorized it.

I would love to have you join me with “Take Me Deeper 2015.”

I would also love to hear from you –

• Is Bible Journaling something you do?
• To what extent do you do it?
• Tell me about your experience with Bible Journaling.
• Share some of your pages.