Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Creative Bible Journaling - May Pages

Come along with me each month as I journal my way through the Bible.  I'm not artistic at all, so you won't see beautiful illustrations and calligraphy, but what you will see is what I gleaned from the scriptures every day and how I creatively journaled what I have learned in the margins of my Inspire Bible.


For most of May I continued to work my way through an old devotional of mine which had me in Psalms and 1 Kings.  Then Illustrated Faith had a good sale, so I purchased two more of their Bible Journaling Kits.  I gave a review of one of their kits in THIS POST if you're interested in learning more about them.

Let's first start with the pages I did on my own in response to my devotional, then I'll introduce the new Illustrated Faith kit pages.

For my first page, I picked an image of children singing joyfully to represent the imagery in the Psalm.  As Christians we have so much to be joyful for, but the most important reason to be joyful is because we have been rescued from punishment for sin.  Jesus ransomed us;  he paid the price, so we could be set free.

To make this page, I first glued on some designer paper in the margin, then I googled a free singing image, printed it, colored it in, and glued it to my page.  I hand wrote the Bible verse.


While reading the story of Solomon being anointed as king, I couldn't help to see how hopeful and joyful all the citizens were of their new king.  It reminded me of the verse "Be Joyful in Hope..." (Romans 12:12).  The Israelites were looking ahead to a better future.  Today, Christians  should also be looking ahead.  No matter what is going on around us, we have reason to be joyful in hope because we have a glorious future with Him!

To make this page, I painted a design on the page using two different colors of craft paint:  white and teal.  The "Be Joyful in Hope" and "hope" words are stickers.  The flowers are die cuts with gems in the center.  I wrote some notes in the middle of the margin and underlined them.  I hand wrote the scripture reference on the bottom margin.


This is an inspired page.  David's final instructions to Solomon before his death reminded me of Numbers 6:24-26 which my pastor says over us almost every Sunday before he dismisses us.  David was advising Solomon that if he kept God's commandments, all will go well with him.  I have found this to be true in life.  Although we aren't exempt from the trials and tribulations of this world, I have found that people who live a Godly life in general have better lives because the consequences that so often go with sin, are nonexistent.

To make this page, I first glued a piece of designer paper in the margin.  "The Lord bless you and keep you" is a sticker.  The flowers are stamps.  I hand wrote in some notes and underlined them.


One of the things Solomon is most known for is his great wisdom, which he asked God for, and the Bible says that God was pleased that wisdom is a good thing to ask for.  We should all ask for wisdom, especially before making any big decisions or when navigating through difficult times.  (James 1:5). Because we have been experiencing scary world events now and the past five years or more, almost every night, at our dinner prayer, my husband asks God for wisdom for our family as to how to live, and prepare for living during these hard times.  

To make this page, I painted the margin with craft paint then I used stamps and my own handwriting to add the verse.  I then added a second verse from the New Testament and underlined it.  The flowers and butterflies and die cuts.


One of the most famous stories of Solomon's great wisdom was how he determined who the true mother of a disputed baby was.  All of Israel were amazed of the wisdom God had given Solomon.  The next three pages illustrate the wisdom of Solomon.

To make this page, I added a sheet of white paper in the margins and then found a coloring book image of the Bible story on the Internet.  I printed the image out, colored it in, and attached it to the page.  I hand wrote at the Bible verse using stamps to highlight important words.


To make this page I put a sheet of white paper in the margin and using a variety of stamps and my own hand-writing I added the scripture.  I used gelatos to color in the border around the Bible verse.  The image was from a free coloring page on the Internet. 


To make this page, I painted the margins of the Bible with blue craft paint and aded in the scripture with a combination of different alphabet stamps and my own hand-writing.  The images are free coloring pages from the Internet. 


Here I created a page to illustrate how Solomon was the one God chose to build His temple.  I also noticed when reading about the decorations of the temple how often God used Angel images.  I've often been the church decorator at a couple of different churches, and I was always told NOT to use angels in my decorating because the focus should be on Jesus, not angel worship.  I couldn't agree more, however, I found it interesting that God didn't have a problem using angels in His decorations...ha ha!

To make this page, I colored the background with gelatos and then I hand wrote both my thoughts about the temple decor and a Bible verse.  The image is a free coloring book image off the Internet. 


I have been reading of so much injustice in our country today it's driving me crazy.  We sure seem to have a two-tiered justice system in our country that is upsetting and worse yet, there seems to be nothing we can do about it.  I find it so frustrating, and I pray that God will soon equal the scales of justice.  I love 1 Kings 8:32:  "Punish the guilty as they deserve.  Quit the innocent because of their innocence."  It seems so simple, yet man has corrupted the justice system so much.  But our God, is a God of justice and someday soon He will make things right!

To make this page, I adhered a white sheet of paper to the margins and hand wrote two different Bible verses.  The image is a free coloring page from the Internet. 


This page illustrates how the Ark of the Lord's Covenant was brought into the Temple.

To make this page I adhered a white sheet of paper in the margin and hand wrote the Bible verse plus a title.  I highlighted the word Temple by drawing a square around it and underlining it. 


When the temple was finished, Solomon said a prayer of dedication.  He praised the Lord for His faithfulness to Israel, and asked God to hear their prayers when they pray towards the temple...which is still done in Israel today!  

To make this page, I adhered a piece of white paper in the margin and added an image that I printed off the Internet and colored in myself.  I hand wrote the Bible verse using a different pen and hand-writing to emphasize certain words.


God is a promise keeper!  When Solomon finished praying he said "Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises he gave through His servant Moses".  Those promises are for us too...all the promises in the Bible will come true.

To make this page I adhered a piece of designer paper in the margin.  I glued on a rainbow and cloud die cut.  the Bible verse is a mix of alphabet stamps and my own hand-writing. 


And now I have the first page using my new Illustrated Faith kit "Worthy of Worship".  This kit covers the theme of "Worship" explaining all the different ways we can worship God.  It's a very fun, whimsical kit and I've been enjoying working with it very much.

My first page deals with "Worship with Praise".   Paul and Silas were in prison, yet even though they were in such a dark and dismal place, they still prayed and sang hymn.  They were being a witness to other prisoners because they were listening to them, and God did a miracle and opened the prison door and removed the chains of every prisoner!  God moves through our praises!  When things look dark for me, I know I am uplifted when I sing praises through the darkness.  I encourage you to put on some worship music when you start to worry or fret.  It does wonders for your spirit, and God moves when we worship!

To make this page, I first painted the margin with purple craft paint then I decorated using the ephemera in the kit.  I hand wrote a note Kristina made in her devotional (which comes in the kit) and then I put a frame around it and added an arrow to the scripture reference.  


My next page deals with the theme of "Worship with Service".  We worship God when we serve Him in our church and community.  Kristina says "Having a heart of service is a wonderful way to worship God".  Galations 5:13 says "Serve one another in love.".  

To make this page I adhered a piece of designer paper in the margins, then decoration with ephemera from the kit.  I hand wrote the theme and Kristina's words from the devotional and put a frame around it for emphasis.   The kit came with a stamp set, and I used the heart stamps to create a background on my page.  I hand wrote a verse on serving at the bottom of the page. 


Praising the Lord out loud is another way to worship.  Thank Him for all He has done and all He will do.  

To make this page I painted the margins yellow then I decorated using ephemera from the kit.  I hand wrote the Bible verse and framed it to highlight it.


Oh, what a beautiful verse this is:  "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.  I will praise my God to my last breath!"   I love it!  I sure plan on continuing to living this way.  He is worthy!

To make this page I first adhered a piece of designer paper in the margin and stamped music notes from the kit in the background.  I also stamped "Worthy of Worship" on top of the page and decorated with ephemera from the kit.  I hand wrote the Bible verse on the bottom of the page.


 I hope my Bible pages ministered to you this month and I encourage you to worship Him and give Him praise no matter what you are going through.  He will see you through and He will lift you up!

God Bless!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Sunday, June 18, 2023

My Spring Perennial Garden



With summer only a few days away, I thought I'd better get around to posting my spring garden!  Oh, the life of the gardener!  We're always too busy working in a garden to find much time to enjoy it, let alone take photos and blog about it.

Because this post is so photo heavy, I will come back later with photos and stories of my vegetable garden.  Speaking of the vegetable garden,  we are experiencing a terrible drought right now.  It hasn't rained a single drop in over a month.  Everyone is starting to really get worried.  I don't water the perennials ever, but I do have to water my vegetable garden which takes up a lot of time everyday and cuts into other things I need to do in the garden.

Yet even without rain, the perennial garden is looking beautiful.  There is only now a few signs this drought has taken upon them;  mostly in raised bed areas.  Prayerfully, we will get rain soon!  Now, onto the garden tour shall we?
                                                  Daffodils and Crocus

 April starts the season with daffodils and crocus. We did get a huge snowstorm right when the daffodils bloomed.  The daffodils survived the snowstorm, but got all knocked over with the heaviness of the snow.  Eventually though they straightened themselves out and looked beautiful again.




I promise you, I had more than one loan crocus bloom in my yard. 😂. It's just that this crocus bloom was very special to me this year because we had a very long winter and everyone was getting pretty depressed that spring was never going to come, and then one day, I saw this little guy, and well, he gave me a lot of hope that spring was near!



                                    Tulips

Onto May, when the tulips bloom!  This year's tulip blooms weren't that spectacular, as the deer ate a lot of them, but they did leave me a few to enjoy!

                          Spring Ground Covers
I have such a love/hate relationship with the ground cover lamium.  It is so beautiful, yet so invasive.  No matter how many times I rip it out, it takes over again so quickly and sprouts up everywhere.  But it is a beauty, especially in spring when not much else is in bloom.  I love the contrast of the lamium with the chartreuse sedum and yellow flowered ivy ground cover (also very invasive).
Cat Mint is also an abundant ground cover in my garden.  This guy seeds everywhere, including rock walls as pictured here;  but it sure is pretty and the bees love it!
This next ground cover is pretty but has been a nightmare of mine for years (I'm really not making a good case for ground covers in this post, am I?  ðŸ˜‚). It is probably the most aggressive ground cover I've ever grown.  I planted just a few plants on a dry hillside and it took over.  Now you might think that's great, but  weeds still get in and it's hard to dig out weeds in a thick ground cover.  So I have been diligently removing this ground cover from the hillside for the past three years and replacing it with Hosta.  I only have one or two sections left to go!

The name of this plant, if you want an aggressive ground cover that will grow anywhere, is "Herman's Pride Yellow Archangel Lamiastrum".  I have it growing in dry shade, and it's still super aggressive. 
Lily of the Valley with Hosta in the background.

                                      Bleeding Hearts

My shady property is loaded with these self-seeding bleeding hearts in both pink and white.


                                  Lilacs

I didn't have the greatest lilac season this year;  probably due to the late spring snowstorm, but a couple of my bushes did bloom sporadically.


                                      Hosta 

I love the way hosta looks early in the season when the buds are just pushing through the ground, before heat and slugs destroy their leaves.  This blue hosta looks gorgeous when contrasted with the plum tree and various ground covers.
                                   Viburnum




Vibernum bush in background with Goatsbeard and blue Hosta in foreground.


  
   
               Ornamental Onion




                                       Iris
Iris with Columbine Siberian Iris

Cushion Spurge mixed with hosta and iris.
                     Dames Rocket


I had such a good crop of Dames Rocket.  It's a biennial and seeds wherever it wants to.  I just let it grow where it wants because I know when it's done blooming it will die anyway.

                                 Columbine
                                      Peonies




Peonies, Iris, and Dames Rocket



White Wild Geranium in foreground with peony and iris in background
Pink Argyranthemum in foreground with peony and iris in background.
                                      Poppy
                                    Foxglove


I hope you enjoyed my spring garden tour.  I will be back next week with a tour of my vegetable garden.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous blogs HERE!