Journaling with Colored Pencils

Get out your colored pencils! The Bible Art Journaling Challenge over at Rebekah Jones (Rebekah Jones - here) features colored pencils and the book of Proverbs.
I love Prismacolor Pencils - smooth, creamy, lots of color without having too press down hard. Perfect for the thin pages of my bible. For my page, I used violets, a grey, and a white pencil. I like to lay a bit of white on top of my other colors - it gives it a smoother, bletter blend.
The book of Proverbs is such a rich (yay for purple symbolism) collection of wisdom, so on this first page of Proverbs I pulled out the first part of 1:5 "Let the wise hear" for my focus. I used my computer to print my words first, placed it behind my page and then traced, just as Rebekah did in her video - super easy!

Morning Motivation...Sunday Reflection

Do you know what got me out of bed this morning at 5am? In the interest of being completely honest, it was the thought of a cup of coffee.  BUT immediately following the thought of coffee, it was the thought of revisiting my notes from Sunday's sermon and journaling in my bible (with a cup of coffee).
Yes - I wanted to get out of my comfy bed because I wanted to delve into the Word.  I wanted time with Jesus. I wanted to reflect on and talk about some of the things my pastor said on Sunday.
Do I say this to brag? Absolutely not! I share this because I'm excited that journaling in my bible does this to me and it's done this to LOTS of others (see the 16,000+ members of the Journaling Bible Community on Facebook, the hundreds of bible journaling pins and testimonies on Pinterest, just to start.)  It can do this for you, too.
Very often I'd go to church on Sundays and though I thought I was listening at the time, later I'd have a hard time remembering what the pastor said in his sermon (sorry Pastors).  It wasn't necessarily the pastors, it was more me.  Distracted, daydreaming, making mental lists or plans for later in the day/week. Now I attempt to listen not just with my ears, but also my heart and a pen. Write down notes, references, main points, questions for later. Underline. Doodle. Sketch. Now I look forward (even at waking at 5am) to looking at those notes, rereading scripture, and responding with creative bible journaling.
I'm excited to get "artsy" in my bible, but I know that just getting artsy is not the heart of this motivation. This morning motivation stirring in my heart has been placed there by the Creator Himself. He made me this way and He's drawing me closer this way. I'm honored that sometimes He uses what I create with my hands to bring others in, too.  That's why I continue to post to my blog and Facebook and Pinterest.
Yeah, I like this morning motivation. Keep it coming, Lord. Keep teaching me, guiding me, using me.