A glimpse at my bible

( It wasn't until I had finished typing this post, that I realized this post is more than a glimpse.)

 There are times that I am tempted to be sad about the things that I don't have and can't do and don't realize what I do have and can do. This last week there was a bible journaling retreat. My friend Lee Ann and I wished that we could have gone to this retreat because we have a lot of stamping friends that went to it. We decided that we would get together and have our own retreat. We decided to focus on what we did have. She took me out for Chinese dinner then we went to her house and we did bible journaling together. What a blessed time we had. We laughed and really enjoyed eachother's fellowship. I knew that she had the Sweet N Sassy set called Furever Friends that has the cutest little fox.

 I suggested that we use that fox and journal Matthew 8: 20. Jesus replied,"Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of  Man has no place to lay his head."

Now most of the time the projects that I share are the ones that turned out how I liked them. When I started bible journaling I was afraid and thought "What if I mess up in my Bible?" Well, I don't have to worry about that now because I did mess up the other night.

I had my Bible open and ready to stamp the little fox. I am not sure how the page turned but when I finished stamping I realized that I had it one page over from where I had intended to journal. Nothing about foxes at all on this page. Well, I fixed this page and I will show you how I did that later in this post.

So after I restamped the fox on the correct page. I masked the little fox and masked a circle for his hole and then gel printed on the page. Sometimes the idea in my head should have stayed there because it didn't look how I wanted it to. I laughed because there was a fox with a floating hole next to him. I thought if it was science fiction that the hole would be a portal to another dimension. I added some more layers with a stencil and added lettering and finally had to stop because it was getting late. My friend took a photo of both of our pages. I really liked how hers turned out. 

I found myself guilty of comparing how our pages  turned out. I reminded myself about a post the other day that I really like. It was titled   Bible Journaling Commandments. I asked the author if I could share and give her credit. 

Bible Journaling Commandments 

Taken from Nadine Kennedy in the Bible Journaling Community Illustrated Faith Facebook group

With permission to share.

1. I will NOT compare myself to others.

2. I will NOT try to be like others but find my own style.

3. I will always appreciate edify and honor my sisters in this community.

4. I will NOT get involved in Drama.

5. I will only create on page per week. (Lee Ann and I changed this one. We decided that it should read, I will not create a page just to check it off a list, but strive to create pages that have meaning to us. -That might be more than 1 page a week and we want to be open to what God is speaking to us.)

6. I will NOT be envious of other people's supplies or ability to get them.

7, I will give credit to those I have copied or took ideas from.

8. With God's grace, I will try to not be resentful towards people who take my ideas and make it their own without asking And worse without credit, but I will remember the grace given to me towards my own failure.

9. I will NOT judge

10 I will not harm or dishonor God's creativity in me by saying "I am not good" "I can not" or "I wish I was like."

11. I will honor and appreciate the creative space I'm in and trust God to help me learn and grow.

12. I will take others up with me

13, I will make this about God, NOT about man, followers, likes, comments or sales.

14, I will honor God in what I do.

15 I will guard my heart.

16. I will NOT let this be an idol.

That being said, here is how my page looked at the end of the night when I had journaled it with my friend Lee Ann. . 

My one rule of art, which is different from the Bible journaling commandments that I just shared, was, If I don't like it, I must not be done. Well. I followed that rule and worked some more on the page and now I do like how it turned out. Just a little highlighting with a white gel pen and some texture with colored pencils. 

Now to share how I fixed my mistake page. When reading the scripture opposite my "mistake" I saw the verses about Jesus calming the sea. I decided to do a  monotype with my gel plate to mimic the waves of the ocean. 

When I pulled the print from the gel plate I added some extra white paint with a stipple brush.  I personalized the scripture that Matthew 8:26-27 says. 26. He (Jesus) replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men (the disciples) were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him."

Thanks for reading this long post. I hope that my being transparent, helps encourage you.