Bible Marginalia- Heart Watch

Bible Marginalia Series---#267

1 Samuel 16: 7b

Sermon notes

Samuel comes to Bethlehem

 to anoint the new King.

He comes with trepidation and fear

 that Saul the King would find out.

Jesse marches out his sons-

seven of them to be exact.

He sees handsome men 

and judges it to be one of them.

The Lord says they are not the ONE.

"For the Lord sees not as man sees,

man looks on the outward appearance, 

but the Lord looks on the heart."

And then he asked if there are any more.

Well- just the youngest.

David comes and the Lord says- 

"This is he."

Samuel anoints David and the 

Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David

 from that day forward.

Pretty dramatic day there.

A reminder of just what is 

important to the Lord-our hearts.

And how often we get sidetracked

 with all the things that are not heart-tending.

Lord, keep me focused 

on the RIGHT THINGS.

Supplies:

Fine-point Sharpie pen-non-bleeding

Micron pen

Colored pencils 

Uncluttered Spaces

We need "uncluttered time and space 

in which we can distance ourselves 

from our own activities 

enough to see what God is doing."
Eugene Peterson

Keeping the rhythm of 

work and rest within 

God's time is necessary, 

faithful and wise.

I hear the disclaimer over and over 

among our harried lives--

too busy, too much, too little margin.

We need to remember that God will STILL 

work in the margins of our lives.

He prefers first fruits, and lifted offerings.

But, He still delights when His children

 come as beggars 

with little to offer and sit by the wayside.

His powerful presence will take

 our meager offerings 

and turn them into banquets that feed our soul.

How blessed that we have a heavenly Father,

who meets us right where we are-

strung out and strung along.

He takes frazzled, piece-meal connections

and still works Miracles.

And maybe from that point of view-

we can SEE what He is doing.

Visual Faith- Charleston, West Virginia

We gathered on Saturday- October 14, 2017 

at St. Timothy Lutheran Church 

in Charleston, West Virginia

for a Visual Faith event.

It was great to have a non-gendered 

and intergenerational event.

Visual Faith coaches 

Kathryn Stanis and Wendy Hardy

 came from the Pittsburgh area

 to bring encouragement for "starting out" 

and what has worked for them 

to begin a Visual Faith ministry.

Participants were from a variety of area churches.

What a blessing to be together.

Lots of show and tell to share.

The mother -daughter team of 

Connie Denninger and Sara Wilson

 brought stories of encouragement 

for Visual Faith practices.

Pages from the Bible 

of artist Daphne Boder.

Visual Faith coaches - 

Daphne Boder and Pamm Moore-Haley
 and Jan Northcutt

were instrumental in bringing 

the details of the day together.
Michelle Fowler was the chef extraordinaire.

Faith Art Canvas shared by

mixed-media artist

Candice Mullins.

Pages journaled in a "regular" Bible by 
practitioner- Bobi Bryant.

I will continue to pray over this faith community.

It is always a blessing 

to see what the Lord does in the Kingdom

 from these Visual Faith gatherings.

We already know that He

 is about the Next Thing for participants 

that were gathered in this place-

 for such a Time as this!

Bible Marginalia- Increase Our Faith

 Bible Marginalia Series- #266

Luke 17

This section of Scripture highlights 

one of the challenges for me as 

I have been doing Bible Journaling practices.

There is so much HERE.

Temptation to sin reminders, 

and forgiving our brothers and sisters.

The Apostles ask Jesus to "Increase our faith," 

and then there is the mustard seed reminder.

The unworthy servant and our duty.

The Cleansing of the ten lepers--

and then Jesus says-

"Rise and go your way;

your faith has made you well."

And the coming of the Kingdom-

"behold- the kingdom of God 

is in the midst of you."

These are some of my well-remembered

 phrases in the New Testament.

Bible Journaling has helped me to SEE

 that sometimes they are all on 

ONE page of the Bible.

Though this makes it difficult to pick out 

what might be highlighted in the margin,

each time I come back to this page over and over-

it is so RICH in WORDS and IMAGES.

And since I don't do much actual drawing-

it is the image of the flower napkin 

in the background that makes 

these words jump off the page.

From right here- to my heart- as prayer.

Thank you, LORD, 

for making your WORD so full of meaning-

every time I linger in it. Amen.

Supplies:

Napkin- one layer
Tai-Art Clear Gesso

Alpha stickers

Colored pencils 

Fine-point non-bleeding Sharpie

Bible Marginalia- Sing the Lord's Song!

Bible Marginalia Series- #265

Psalm 137: 4

I have been thinking of this verse

 for a few weeks now-

 How shall we sing the Lord's Song?

Somehow in the aftermath 

of the shootings in Las Vegas- 

this thought comes front and center.

In a world full of disaster and hurting people,

where discouragement reigns supreme,

 hope slips away between 

the crevices of our days.

How do we respond 

as followers of Jesus?

We sing His GOODNESS.

We tell of His MERCY and GRACE.

Nothing that comes from us 

can begin to bridge these deep soul losses.

It must begin with our God, 

for He ALWAYS reaches for us first.

And in these days of grieving
 for so many and so much-

we certainly still have a song to sing.

We sing the LORD'S Song.

Supplies:
Napkin- (single layer)
Tri Art Clear Gesso
Acrylic paint
Assorted Alpha letters
Colored pencils

Gifted To Influence- Leadership Conference

Had an opportunity 
to attend this conference

 this year as a presenter and exhibitor
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

We were able to share the story of

 Visual Faith Ministry

 and launch the new website.

Visual Faith Ministry

With Co-Founder-

 Patricia Maier- at our exhibitor's table.

Show and Tell for ideas 

for visual faith practices.

Our new logo for Visual Faith Ministry.

WLI Director - Darcy Paape

opening with "story" at the Honors Dinner.

I shared conversation and presented 

with the topic of Deploying Digital Missionaries.

Pat shared the vision for Visual Faith practices.

A bite for lunch downtown Milwaukee.

Some evening fun with comedian-

 Leslie Norris Townsend

And THIS foursome-
Patricia Maier, Wendysue Fluegge, 
 Deb Burma and myself
 will be leading an 

Extravagant Love 
Caribbean Cruise - 

February 9-14, 2019 with EO TRAVELS

Mark your calendars now!!!
Never ceases to amaze me
 about what the Lord is up to!

Visual Faith- The VRSLY Project

The VRSLY PROJECT- 

The updates for Visual Faith

 intersections in my daily life.