Happy Friday Friends. This week has been a particularly long one for me. Fall seems to have that effect. Life just gets busier and busier until the New year when it slows down again for a few months. But I’m not here to talk about my week, I’m here to talk about my bible journaling process!
If you’ve spent any amount of time on our blog or social media you know we’re all about Bible Journaling. Today I thought I would share with you the general process I follow when I sit down to do a journaling page. If you’re struggling to figure out how to get started with your first journaling Bible or find your time Bible Journaling confused and muddled, this one’s for you. And while my time doesn’t always look like this, this is the general routine I follow.
1) Get my Bible Journaling Playlist going.
Background worship music is something I love to incorporate into my Bible Journaling time. Worship music helps center my mind into an attitude of worship and drowns out the background noise of thoughts swirling in my mind. Sometimes I like to sit in silence and work, but most often I’ve got some kind of worship music playing.
If you aren’t sure what kind of music to listen to, be sure you check out our previous blog where I share my Bible Journaling playlist. There’s even a link to our Faith Heirlooms Spotify where you can listen to our playlist.
2) Identify the scripture I want to focus on.
This happens differently every time but it’s always the next step. I pull from a variety of sources to decide what passage to focus on. I keep a running mental list of verses I hear/read throughout my day/week that I would like to meditate on more. Sometimes I think about a theme that God has been teaching me about and do a search on google or my Bible App (see our most recent youtube video for more on that). I’ll search for themes like grace, faith, doubt, etc and find a passage that pertains to the theme. Other times I will find an inspiring supply that makes me want to do a passage I already remember or know about (Ex. using our Keeper of my Heart printables and finding a passage that fits that theme). Sometimes I’ll see another Bible journaling page that inspires me to create my own page on the same passage.
Truly, I believe it doesn’t matter how you find the passage. God is glorified by you digging into his word whether you found it because you’ve been reading through a book of the Bible or because a pretty die-cut inspired to you look around to find something that related to it. I almost prefer the latter because it challenges me to look all throughout scripture for passages I may not otherwise be drawn to.
3) Read the scripture I’ve chosen, in context, a few times.
The next thing I do is read the scripture in context. Often I find a single verse that draws me in, but I want to learn what it means in context of the book and chapter it’s in. Sometimes there is a single verse that has one connotation but it’s surrounded by a completely different connotation (Ex. Jeremiah 29:11). I think it’s important to take time to understand scripture as a whole rather than just in pieces. I also find that sometimes the idea expands beyond a single verse and I’m drawn to focus on a different verse than the one I originally intended.
As part of this step, I also like to read it in a couple different translations (using my bible app again) and pay attention to different wording that stands out to me. This helps me understand and interpret scripture for myself, rather than relying on devotionals or other people’s opinions. Not that using devotionals or reading other’s opinions is bad, but I also think that it’s important to allow the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us on our own. I believe Scripture is accessible to everyone and we are all capable of understanding what it means through the Holy Spirit’s leading.
4) Take time to think about how to express this scripture visually & plan your page.
Once I’ve gained an understanding of what the scripture says and means, I start to think about how to express this visually. Truthfully, this is something I’m thinking about the whole way through, but if it were to be put in a specific place, I guess it fits here best.
I think about what supplies I have and what would fit best with this scripture. I consider colors as well – sometimes using ideas from my post on Color Psychology. Then I begin planning what the layout will be and what vision I have for page.
5) Begin drawing/painting/writing etc.
Then the fun begins. Diving into the watercolors, paint, die-cuts, glue, stickers, etc. and making this vision come to fruition.
6) As I create, I continue to pray and meditate on the scripture
This is what I love about Bible Journaling. Since it takes time to create a page, the time I spend painting, gluing, writing, etc. is time I can continue to meditate on the words of Scripture. I can pray and talk with God and listen to what He’s saying. The continued focus on creating a page that relates to the scripture draws me back in when my mind wanders and helps me to dedicate time to the practices of prayer and scripture reading.
So there you have it! Check out the graphic list below for a simple list of my process. Do you do something different in your routine? Comment below and let us know. Or if you try this process, let us know how it goes for you!
