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

Watch My Mouth | Thankful Thursday

For today's Thankful Thursday post, I wanted to creatively journal my faith. I chose a book I have been using from PrintPressions. I grabbed my Bible, a sticker sheet I recently received from a friend in some happy mail (thank you Ta'Kesha), and a Happy Planner sticker book I have had for a long time. My goal was to use what I have and make a pretty page while studying God's Word.

I used the bottom rectangle labels to fill in each section of the page.

I am using the S.O.A.P. Bible study method, so I wrote Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer on each label.

The next thing I did was choose a scripture. This can be done any number of ways and it really is not that important how you find your verse or passage. I went to Instagram and decided the first scripture verse I found in the stories I would use for my S.O.A.P. Bible study. I found Psalm 141:3 from Wilma Hollis. This is a great verse and she is doing a wonderful study on IG, you should check it out. So I went to my Bible, underlined the verse and wrote it out.

I used lip stickers that I had found in the Happy Planner sticker book. These are a great visual representation of what this verse is talking about: the mouth and the lips. The next section is Observation. What am I seeing in this verse? What is the theme or main points?

I used more lip stickers as bullet points to touch on the three things I gleaned from this particular verse. Words are powerful. We know that what we say can have a big impact on others, either good or bad.

God is the only One who can truly guard our mouths. We need His help and His conviction to help us know what to say and how to say it.

We must be careful to speak truth and life.
The Bible tells us in Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

The Application section is where we apply what we observed in the scripture to our life. Some practical tips for how to do what the verse says is to pray and ask God to help me not speak anything that is cruel or untrue. I must choose my words carefully because we know how powerful words are.

The last part of S.O.A.P. studying is prayer. This is a critical piece of the study. We cannot really complete this type of studying without it. I prayed a prayer from my heart asking God to help me live out what I just learned. It is not enough to know what the Bible says. We must live out what we know is true. We cannot obey God's Word apart from the help of Holy Spirit so it is imperative to pray and ask for the help we need.

This is the completed page. It only took a few minutes out of my entire day and that includes decorating. You can use any notebook you want to do a S.O.A.P. Bible study. My husband and son did a S.O.A.P. Bible study together from a passage in the book of Acts the other day while my daughter and I had a Bible study where we were just reading in Job and talking about what we were reading.

I did not come up with the S.O.A.P. Bible study method. I have used it for many, many years. My son started doing Bible studies using this method around 5-6 years old. He is 14, going on 15 and he continues to do these types of Bible studies. He has even taught others how to do it.

One friend of mine told me she tried it and was amazed at how much she learned from just focusing on one verse or passage of scripture. Just choose any verse you want. Pray and ask Holy Spirit to teach you what the verse is saying. Write down the things you observe. Then come up with some practical ways you can live this verse out in your life. Write that down under Application. Recognize you cannot do any of this without God and write out a heartfelt prayer under the Prayer section and you have just completed a S.O.A.P. Bible study.

Decorations, stickers, washi, colored ink pens, stamping, etc. are all extras. It helps my brain engage with the message. I remember it more when I have added some decorations to the page. If you do not want to do that, or do not have the things to make colorful pages, then do not worry about it. It is not necessary. The most important part is getting alone in God's Word and allowing Holy Spirit to teach you and then pray to Jesus and ask for help. He will never tell you no if you are asking to live for Him!

I hope this was a fun change for you all who like to creatively journal your faith. I hope that something I shared has encouraged you and helped you. God bless you!

Oh, and if you do a S.O.A.P. Bible study page, let me know. You can send me a picture in an email at bridgettowens78@gmail.com or tag me on Instagram. I am @bridgettowens78 and I would love to see what you are doing for your Bible studies, Bible journaling, and creatively being thankful for the blessings in your life. I am thankful for these studies and for God keeping the guard over my mouth and teaching me to watch what I say. 

Proverbs 15:4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.

1 Timothy 6:3-5 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strife of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Envelope Video Tutorial | Thankful Thursday

This Thankful Thursday Tutorial is how to make envelopes using a We R Memory Keepers Punch Board. I purchased mine from Stampin' Up! when I was a demonstrator and it has been such a wonderful tool. It is an investment that I am glad I made. I have made envelopes for Blessing Card Packs in my Etsy shop: Blue's Blessings. I have created different envelopes for Blue's Blessings subscription boxes when we used to do those. I have made small envelopes to tuck into my Bible and keep lots of prayer sheets and cards inside. I am very thankful for this punch board.

Today's video tutorial is quick. If you want to purchase some envelopes we will be having those available May 1. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Tomorrow we will go LIVE on IG and Facebook with a look at all of our new products and you can see the envelopes I will have available in the shop in case you want the envelopes but you don't have the punch board.

I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to creatively journal my faith including making videos and blog posts like this. I hope that you will be able to watch our LIVE event tomorrow at 7 p.m. Indiana time! Enjoy today's tutorial and if you make an envelope let me know! If you want some envelopes of your own, let me know! I will have two different sizes available in the Blue's Blessings Etsy shop available May 1. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

7 Bible Journaling Essentials That Won't Break The Bank | Thankful Thursday

 

If you want to study the Bible you only need a Bible, quiet time to listen, and a prayer from your heart requesting Holy Spirit teach you what He wants you to know. Nothing fancy. You can even use a Bible app for free on your phone if you do not own a Bible. There is nothing like opening up the physical Bible though and turning the pages, seeing the highlight marks, and reading familiar passages.

If you want to do some Bible journaling or creatively journal your faith in a notebook, I have a video today that gives you seven ideas that can get you started and some affordable options for those who are just starting out. I hope it helps you choose some things to get you started.

I have links in the description box of the YouTube video for products I mentioned from online shops. There is of course our shop, Blue's Blessings, and then Faith Heirlooms where they have beautiful covered Bibles in different sizes and beautiful bow clips. I also like stickers from Nashs PrintWork. These store names are clickable links so you can click on the name in this blog post and go straight to the store.

I am thankful to have a creative outlet to journal my faith. I use a lot of different notebooks to do this. I have used micro Happy Planner notes. I use different size Traveler's Notebooks inserts. I have made note cards, blessing cards, and decorated inside my Bible. It is all a personal preference and the way you choose to creatively journal your faith is completely up to you. You can pick an expensive notebook, use a sheet of copy paper, or make a junk journal with junk mail and other items many may toss in the garbage. It is up to you and what you want to do.

There are things I did not cover like stencils, painting, stamping, and more. I just wanted to share some essential items to help you get started. As I say in the video it is by no means an exhaustive list. And some of these items you may not want to even use at all. For instance, I like a metal ruler. If I use a slicing tool like an exacto knife, I am not going to damage the metal ruler like I could a wooden one. I can stick alphabet stickers on the edge of the metal ruler and easily place my word down in the precise location by having the freedom to move it about the page. So for those reasons and others I enjoy the metal ruler. It was only $1 at the Dollar Tree. It is a great tool for many uses besides measuring and affordable, as well. But, watch the video to see what essentials you think you may want to try to get started.

I am so thankful for having a creative outlet. Our Heavenly Father is the ultimate Creator. He is the original. We are to be like Him, so when we have a desire to creatively journal our faith, we should do so to honor and please Him. It's nice to get compliments from others who see our work, but the main focus should be in honoring God and worshiping who He is. It should not be on the stuff we do or do not have. I am thankful to have a lot of tools and supplies but I have been doing this for 21 years so I have accumulated a lot over time. It is not something I recommend anyone rush into. Take your time and see what you like. Ask a friend if they can let you try their stamps, or paper trimmer. If you have a local scrapbook store, stop in and just see if you can get a tutorial on how some of the items work. If not, there are a lot of video tutorials showing how to use different products. If it is something you want to try, then go for it!

Thank you for hanging out with me today! I am so excited to share this video with you. Let me know if you have any thoughts, comments, or questions. I would love to help you as we creatively journal our faith! God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens