Creative Outlets | Thankful Thursday

My daughter and I enjoy creatively journaling our faith. We use traveler's notebook inserts instead of our journaling in our Bibles and we have a great time. We are currently working on a kit from By the Well 4 God called Famous Last Words. We are not going through this devotional study kit as fast as others we studied before but things are different now in our lives, too. Hopefully when we find our own home we will be able to have all our study materials out and can work on devotionals more often.

Each devotional study kit comes in a linen/canvas type drawstring bag with the name of the kit on the outside. It makes it a great way to find the kit we are working on and when we are done with the devotional book, we can put it in the drawstring bag along with our traveler's notebook insert to store it.

This is a look at the devotional book. I love the typewriter on the front and it has been so nice to work our way through the kit at our own pace. I like having Kadesia work on the kit with me but sometimes I work on it as I get time, by myself.

This is the insert I am using for this kit. I used stickers from the kit to decorate the front and remind me which kit it belongs to.

I prepped all the pages the same way. On the left side, I have a piece of decorative paper in this marbled/watercolor design. I add a piece of cardstock at the bottom to look like it could be an identification card. I use pictures from magazines to place in the small square box and then I write the name of the person, their title or a description about them, their famous last words scripture, and the name of the devotional kit. 

On the right side is where I do my journaling, answer questions from the devotional, or write a prayer. I used some washi to frame the page. I used my label maker to type out the question, "What great things has God done for you?", and then I used some transparent dots as bullet points. My response was:

*Salvation and sanctification. He has never given up on me.

*A family that loves God and me. My husband, Paul; my daughter, Kadesia; and my son, Javan.

*Hears and answers all my prayers even if I have to wait.

*Provided a house for us to stay in until He gives us our own.

This is not even a drop in the bucket of the great things He has done for me.

I completed this particular page on June 19, 2022. I do not have time to work on it today, but maybe this weekend I will have an opportunity to work on the next profile. I have three more to go and then I will start another Bible study devotional. I have some Illustrated Faith kits, and others I want to use as well from different companies. I love to creatively journal my faith in my traveler's notebook.

What Bible study are you working through? Do you creatively journal your faith? Do you do Bible journaling? Today I am thankful for the men and women who share their faith and knowledge with those of us on the journey towards Home. I am counting creatively journaling my faith as one of the things I am thankful for today. What are you thankful for?

I hope you have been encouraged and inspired to dig into God's Word today and count your blessings on this Thankful Thursday. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Thankful For Grace and Famous Last Words | Thankful Thursday

 

This is the last Thankful Thursday of April 2022. I decided today I would creatively journal my faith in my traveler's notebook. I am using a devotional from By The Well 4 God. They have an incredible devotional kit each month full of stickers and stamps, stencils, bow clips, all of the things, but the best part is their incredible devotionals. Each booklet has about 14 lessons in it, which is to be studied and worked on throughout the month. I take my time and since I have several devotionals, I do not stay in this particular one each day. Today, however, I decided to work on an entry in the Famous Last Words devotional.

Inside this pink striped traveler's notebook insert I have created pages as a sort of scrapbook or portfolio of the people in the Bible and their "famous last words." So, today was all about Judas, the betrayer of Jesus.

I created a little card on left with a picture I took from a magazine. I glued it on and then I added the name of the person, a title or description of them, the scripture reference of their "famous last words" and then the name of the kit I am working through. On the right page I decided to write out the scripture reference and a few thoughts of my own.

I wrote from Matthew 27:3-5 in the KJV. It reads, "Then Judas, which had betrayed Him, when he saw that He was condemned, repented (felt remorse) himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? See thou to that. And he cast down (threw down) the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. My comment was: What a shame he did not seek forgiveness. He knew Jesus and yet he never believed because he chose suicide instead of redemption.

We read that Peter denied Jesus THREE times! That is awful and yet Judas's betrayal was far worse and not because of what he had done, but how he responded when he realized his error. Peter wept bitterly but he did not reject Jesus entirely. Remember when Jesus lovingly restored Peter and asked him, Peter do you love Me? He asked THREE times and each time Peter said Yes, I love You Jesus. Judas ran to destruction and in grief over who he had become was still selfish in his death, only thinking of how he could escape the situation. We can choose grace instead of disgrace friends.

The devotional ends with Titus 2:11-12 but I want to share Titus 2:11-15 with you all. It is so precious.

Titus 2:11-15 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

This Thankful Thursday, I am thankful for grace and redemption and the sacrifice Jesus made on my behalf. I am thankful that I have forgiveness from my sin and eternal life is promised to me. I am thankful for devotionals that cause me to pause, ponder, and think. I am reflecting on the goodness of God today. How about you? What are you thankful for?

God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens