Bittersweet Thanks...

Hi friends,

Recently I was scrolling through Instagram and came across a quote that someone shared from a book called Bittersweet from Shauna Niequist, which said 'When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.' Wow, that really hit me in the gut! I've been challenged recently about my attitude of gratitude (or lack thereof!), and looking at the amount of Bible verses that speak of being thankful, I knew I had to journal this.

Colossians chapter 3 contains this tiny little sentence in amongst a bunch of other powerful instructions, which simply says, "And be thankful." That's it. Not caveats, like 'be thankful when life is good' or 'be thankful when you see your prayers answered' or 'be thankful when your relationships are a blessing.' Nope: just 'be thankful.' In all things, in all situations, no matter what. Anyone else find that a struggle? So when I read this quote from Bittersweet, I knew it was God's way of gently teaching me how I can give thanks in all seasons. You see, going through hard times that leave a bitter taste in our mouths can teach us lessons that the good, sweet times can't. I've been through that in the last couple of years and although there have been painful experiences, I know that I've grown in those times and that God has been able to teach me things (mainly by getting my attention in the pain!) that I hadn't learnt before.

 So whether you are tasting the sweetness of pineapple or the bitterness of lemons in your life right now, say thank you, because there is always a blessing to be acknowledged in every season and every experience.

I thought the combination of the Fruit of the Spirit and Incredibly Blessed stamp sets was perfect for this page and this message. I used the masking technique to be able to stamp the images so some appear behind others. Just stamp the first image (in this case the pineapple and first lemon), then stamp them again on a sticky note or low-tack tape/sticky paper and cut the images out. Stick these over the stamped image on the page, then stamp other images either side. When you take the mask off, the original image you stamps will appear in front of the others. Then colour to your heart's content! Here are the stamp sets I used:

I hope you've been encouraged in your thanksgiving to God. I pray that we as children of God would pour out our thanks to Him in every season of life as a testimony to His goodness and grace.

x Amy x

"Fruit of the Spirit" Bible Verse Mini Flip Book

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." 

(Gal. 5:22-23)

I've had the chance over the last couple of months to do an in-depth study of the Fruit of the Spirit.  What I've discovered is that each fruit is an example of God's character represented in our lives, when we are walking and living by the Holy Spirit.  When I received my new Fruit of the Spirit stamp set, I decided to make a Fruit of the Spirit mini flip-book, with a key verse for each one.  

I started with some flat card fronts that I cut in half (you could easily use unlined index cards).  I started by stamping a fruit image onto each card, and then I adding one of the fruit words.

To do this I used a variety of alpha sets, including the new Chunky Lowercase, Skinny Minnie, Bitty Minnie, and Script Outline sets, as well as the Life in Jesus set.  

I added detailing to some of the letters with a while Uniball Signo Gel Pen. I also made a title card with all the fruit images around the border of the card.  

Next, I added color to each card by smooshing the ink from various Pitt Big Brush Markers. The point was to make the color look juicy and wet and spilled. 

I made an extra full card with the smooshed color, and then punched out tabs for my fruit cards. I hand-lettered each tab with the corresponding fruit, and attached it with a tiny stapler. 

Next, I splattered black watercolor paint to the cards with a thin paintbrush to contrast with the bright fruity colors. 

After that, I stamped the verse reference onto labels with the Bitty Minnie alpha, and embellished with some colorful enamel shapes. 

I then wrote out the Bible verses onto the backs of each card.  Finally, I punched holes into the corners of the cards, attached them together with a ring binder, and tied some colorful fabric bows onto the ring.

This mini-book can help me memorize and reflect on the key verses for each Spirit-fruit.  I love the finished product.  As a matter of fact, if you are planning on attending the Creative Worship Bible Journaling Retreat in September, I'm going to be leading a class on how to make these mini-books!  

May God bless you as you learn to grow and walk in the Spirit, and produce character fruit for Him! 

--Julie

"Be Fruitful" Bible Journaling

Hellooooo Friends!

Hope you're finding blessing and inspiration in the pages you've seen - and the CARDS being made!  Oh my goodness - the August release from Sweet 'n' Sassy Stamps is all too good!

Here's the link to get your hands on some of what you're seeing; you really don't want to miss out!

"Fruit of the Spirit" & "Chunky Lower Case Alpha" Stamps used.

My journaling is in John 15 today.  Like so many entries, I usually don't know what I’m doing when I start, but after I lay some acrylic paint down, I'm ready to go!  Acrylic and I are tight when it comes to documenting in my Bible :D
So really, it's simple: I put down a few layers of white, then some smoky grey.  The reason for the basic coloring is to contrast the very colorful fruit images I put down later.  I definitely want them to stand out! 

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Oh, friends, bearing fruit, according to Jesus, is much harder than we think; doable, but hard. 

There are a couple things that I learned while going through commentaries and studies of this passage.  My flesh would like to ignore certain areas of this passage, but I also know that ignoring this passage equates to mishandling the Word of Truth - this God-breathed book of Life!

1. Bearing Fruit is a product of abiding in Christ, and is only possible when we are "in the vine."
2. Bearing Fruit is a product of God's faithful and loving process called, "pruning."

Abiding in Christ (by using practical methods of staying close to Him, like bible study, prayer and Sunday services) is okey dokey with me!  I love gaining knowledge about my Savior and Friend.  I look forward to God's fashioning my heart in the mornings, or times when I can sit and rest in His Word with the added bonus of caffeine stimulant.
The part I want to ignore?  The pruning.  Honestly, who wants that??  I've seen pruning shears and they're wickedly sharp, even when dull!  Not to mention the sinister shape of their jaws.  Yikes! 
But, I think I have it backwards where I believe that in some way God is going to produce much fruit through me if I am comfortable, stationary, and basically sedentary.  Would my husband feel honored and respected by my complacency in our marriage.  What about my kids?  Are they going to understand the love of God through my over/under reactions to difficult situations?  Similarly, God requires action on my part to deepen and nurture our relationship.  I not only need to meet with Him for devotions during quiet times; I need to meet Him in the difficulties He uses to shape my character and walk.

My husband longs to be pursued regardless of ahem…hormones or "moods."  And for my kids, seeing mommy handle a situation with grace and dignity - abiding in the promises of God - will bring them a lot closer to knowing the beautiful heart of Jesus, than would if I never went through trials.  And trust me, we've had some doozies.

Used Arteza Watercolor Brush Markers to achieve this blended look.

In my core, I WANT to bear fruit for Jesus.  I long to be a bearer of His image and torch of His gospel.  But the one way to doing that is to remain in His word, regardless of the present circumstances.  It's E.S.S.E.N.T.I.A.L.  Though we want to resist hurts to my heart, or problems in my family, or issues in relationships, they certainly aid in becoming a light, even if a small one.  Even while I write this, I'm smiling because it's something that I ask for with eyes squeezed shut and fingers practically crossed.  Hard times are, well, HARD!  The God-breathed book accounts for this, and says, "Brothers, consider it all joy when you encounter various trials…" (James 1:2-3)  Trials produce some of the most heavenly-imfused fruit we could ever imagine!  Part of the "fruit" is just being known and identified as a true disciple of God. (John 15:8)  

Then later in James we are encouraged to suffer with patience.  "Be patient…until the coming of the Lord.  See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.  You also, be patient." (5:7-8)

Is bearing fruit easy?  In no way.  In every sense, bearing fruit takes action.  It takes work.  It takes intentionality and it takes time.  BUT GOD is faithful in His working to produce in me - in you - the fruit of His Spirit.  

Love.  Joy.  Peace.  Patience.  Kindness, and you know the rest. 

Spend time in God's inspired Word to us.  Spend time praying, meditating, and reflecting.  Spend time coming to understand who He says He is, so that when the trials, tribulations, and temptations come, you are ready, and you will be fruitful!

Much love,

Deeds

Fruit in Every Good Work...

Hi friends,

One of the things I love about Bible Journaling is doing word studies and finding all the Scriptures in the Bible that speak about a particular topic. When I started playing with the new Fruit of the Spirit stamp set I looked up 'fruit' in a Bible app and looked up relevant Scriptures. One that I really wanted to illustrate was found in a prayer recorded in Colossians 1:9-12. It is such an amazingly rich prayer to pray over ourselves and others:

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

The part about bearing fruit in every good work really caught my attention as something that I desire, as well as need to understand more.

When I've heard about bearing fruit in good works in the past I've always thought about it in terms of output and productivity, i.e. results. I'm sure that this can be one aspect of bearing fruit in the kingdom of God, but as I was journaling this page I began to think of the fruit of the Spirit, and how maybe this is the type of fruit this Scripture is talking about. You see, it is all too easy to be doing 'good works' for the kingdom of God, but not be displaying kindness, gentleness, peace and patience. We can be serving, giving, preaching and praying, whether on Sunday or during the week, and not be walking in love, joy or self-control. And I wonder: is this 'fruitless' good work what God requires of us? I don't think so. Yes, God uses broken and imperfect people in His service (if He didn't no one would be doing anything!), but I believe that as we serve, He desires for us to grow in bearing the fruit of His Spirit. We should not be content with just doing things for God when He wants us to be changing from the inside out so that we end up being different in the process. This is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit though, which is why it requires prayer! And this prayer is a great place to start.

On this page I tried out the 'no line watercolour' technique using these cute fruit images from Fruit of the Spirit. I stamped them using Versamagic Wheat ink, which is a pale beige colour, then I watercoloured over the images using an aqua brush and Prima watercolours. As the paints are applied, the stamped image disappears under the colour and it looks like freehand watercolour. This is such a fun and effective technique, particularly for people who don't feel confident in creating their own watercolour artwork from scratch! Here's a couple of close-ups of the fruit so you can see the detail:

I also used the new Chunky Lowercase Alpha for a couple of words on this page, along with with alphabet stickers from my stash.

I pray this prayer for myself as well as all of you:
Lord may we walk in a manner worthy of you, fully pleasing to you, bearing the fruit of your Holy Spirit in every good work and increasing in our knowledge of you. Amen.

x Amy x