Bible Journaling Workshop
Last weekend I had the delightful privilege of teaching a workshop to some of my favorite 6th grader's in Nashville (and their momma's) that was all about Bible journaling! And while traditional Bible journaling isn't something that I would say was apart of my wheelhouse before being asked to teach back in the summer, it is a very close cousin to my exact vision for my creative business. I'll explain what I mean in a minute.
When you have 30 or so ladies in a room with a bag full of pretty art supplies in front of them, the anticipation builds like waiting for Christmas morning. Each mother and daughter duo had their own bag of goodies to work with.
We worked through 3 verses; one of which these 6th grader's selected for their schools' theme verse this year. 2 Timothy 1:7 ESV "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
In addition, we dwelled on Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
...and Psalm 92:15b NIV “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
Okay. Here is what I mean when I said traditional Bible journaling is a close cousin to what I usually do. I frequently get mental images of concepts from the Bible that I think are from the Lord, and I sketch them out. I will write verses in calligraphy, and pair them with drawings and paintings that come to mind. Almost always, the inspiration is personal to me, or is brought to mind as something that I hope will be meaningful to a friend or someone that I know based on something they are going through at the time. Specifically, I love to create something unique that is special for someone in particular, and then make it available for others as well. Here are some examples that I shared with the girls.
It was so fun to see them get their creative juices flowing once they got into their art supplies. While some chose to draw or watercolor paint directly onto their bibles, others opted for using watercolor paper as their foundation. That is the great thing with bible journaling. NO rules. As long as you have scripture, art supplies and you're willing to spend some time just focused on God's word, you will do well! The goal is just to meditate on His word and draw or write things that help you remember it.
These girls came up with some amazing pieces! It is so interesting to me to see how different every person is. No one's artwork can look the same as someone else. I think these girls enjoyed getting to spend some quality time doing something fun and creative with their moms!
I can't wait for my next workshop! I'm thinking a Calligraphy for Beginners would be a good choice...what do you think?