A Chat About Bible Art Journaling: Picking a Verse to Journal

Hi everyone! I decided for today that I'd grab just a small portion of the Month Seven lesson in Creative Adventures in Bible Art Journaling and share it with you today. If you are a Bible Art Journaler (or wish to be), I hope that you'll find this helpful and informative.

How to Pick A Verse To Journal About (And How to Journal It)

When I pick a Bible page to read, I often have the intent of doing some Bible Art journaling on that particular page. So I'll start reading that particular page. If nothing really grabs me by the heart, then I will often just keep reading until something does feel highlighted and captures my attention. I do this because I know that God speaks to us through his Word (the Bible/Scriptures) and this is one way that he does so - by capturing my attention. I also do this because I want to position myself to hear Him and to pay attention to what he might want me to focus on. When someone talks to you, you don't ignore them - right? So when I feel something capture my attention and give me that "I need to process this and talk to God about this" type of feeling - I know that he's reaching out to me. So I need to respond back.

One way to do this is to just acknowledge it - that He got my attention - and then ask God questions.

I want to be clear though. I talk to God about it, regardless of whether I feel that he's answering me back. God. Not the universe, not angels, etc. I'm specifically referring to the Hebrew and Christian God of the Torah and of the Bible. 

Sometimes I'll hear something in reply. Other times I'll see something (such as a vision - pictures playing on the movie screen of my imagination, but which don't originate from me). Sometimes I might not notice a response.  Or I might feel tears rise up which to me - indicates a feeling of the Holy Spirit being near (he is the third person of the Trinity). Regardless of what happens, I sit, pray and process. The artmaking starts when I'm ready for it to start. This entire process is just one way that I develop my relationship (and my "paying attention" skills) with God.

Whatever verse or concept that captures my attention - that's the one that I will typically journal.

Sometimes instead of the verse, I might personalize the verse (taking ownership of that concept) or writing a prayer (a response to the verse or passage). Other times the verse might be a bit too long for the page, but I can simplify the concept (and highlight the verse with a highlighter instead). This is usually the easy part for me - figuring out what verse to draw out.

Being real here - sometimes I just don't know what I want to draw or illustrate on the page.

Yes - even I have days when I am just not sure what I want to do! Sometimes the verses give me all the feels and I want to just really soak into that attitude of worship! But sometimes I need help getting started because the verse might not have sparked any illustrative ideas.

When I feel like this, I turn to my list that I created for myself. I'll read off my list and whatever idea on that list feels like the right one - I'll use that! But if I'm not getting any "feels" or inspiration, I'll often turn to my number one thing - lettering. :)

So - I encourage you to make a list like this as well. We all have days when we are not feeling how we want to feel or don't know what to draw/illustrate. Here's some ideas for you:

• use your own lettering style
• create a layout with bubble lettering and shadows
• create a layout with flowers spilling out from it (or around it)
• do some lettering and add vines everywhere
• doodle flowers (and decide how to letter after creating the flowers)

I hope that helps!

Do you have go-to's (like the items on this list) which help spark your creativity when doing Bible Art Journaling? Let us know in the comments if you do.

:) Heidi