Bible Marginalia- The Joy of the Lord

 Inspire Bible- Bible Marginalia

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Ezra Reads the Law

Grandson Levi read the Old Testament Reading

 in worship this past Sunday.

 Maybe I was listening a bit more intently than usual.

I had my Inspire Bible and a few colored pencils.

 Just the movement of my hand helps me to listen better

 and concentrate on what the Lord wants me

 to hear in that time frame.

It had been so long since the Israelites 

had heard God's Word read aloud.

They stood for hours.

They were weeping in sadness and Nehemiah tells them

 to go and celebrate.  

Share the food with people who have nothing prepared.

"Don't be dejected and sad, 

for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

Supplies:

Inspire Bible

Colored pencils

Washi tape

Worship into the Week- Walk in His ways

 

Worship into the Week- Walk in His Ways

Psalm 128

"Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord

 and walks in His ways." v.1

This Psalm of Ascent was likely a pilgrim song recited

 by the travelers in the company of their families as the hills

 of Jerusalem came into view.

The Psalm describes the blessings that come to a

family where God is feared, loved and respected.

That blessing moves from one generation to the next-

to our children's children.

Thank you, Lord.

Supplies:

Visual Church Year Printable

vcy-graphics-only-january-2025

Magazine Cutouts

Vintage Stamps

Distress ink

Colored Pencils

Worship into the Week- Called By Name

 

Worship into the Week- Called By Name

These past few months have brought the floods 

and the fires. In all of history that isn't a new catastrophe.

But, maybe this generation hasn't seen this 

level of destruction in our own country.

The world whirls with the devastation.

Ancient times weren't saved 

from horrific natural disasters.

Isaiah's words ring through the centuries 

as a reminder of God's presence.

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
 When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.

Isaiah 43:1-2

God reminds us that He is both creator and redeemer. 

He can lay claim to both.

Then He commands us to Fear not.

Even facing Babylon- 

God steers the people past the present situation.

When I hear by name called-

 it is by my creator and redeemer. 

It is an intimate announcement 

of ownership with a promise.

When the hard times come (not if)

He will be with me.

Come flood or fire.

And if it it all goes away on earth,

I am His in eternity.

That's a life insurance policy for sure.

Supplies:

VFM Worship into the Week

vcy-graphics-only-january-2025

Magazine cutouts

Colored pencils

Vintage stamps

Distress Ink

Worship into the Week- New Year and Epiphany

 

Starting off the New Year with the 

Worship into the Week resources.

I am a bit behind the weeks for this January, 

as I was praying about whether I wanted 

to continue this practice.

I started back in 2018, to just do up a "few weeks",

 so that I would have some to show others about the resources.

Then I was "hooked".  The big surprise was that I 

planned for maybe a couple years.

This starts my eighth year of worship into the week

 pages in a three ring binder.

Some times it takes me a couple of days to finish 

the layout and it really does extend

 the worship experience into the week.

Time to reread the lectionary readings.

Time to see the connections.

Time to peek ahead for the next week themes.

I give thanks to God that He has allowed me the space, 

trial and error and grace for these weeks in His Word.

Supplies:

VFM Worship into the week

worship-into-the-week-january-2025

Colored pencils

Distress Ink

Vintage stamps

Magazine cutouts

Artist Proof

 

We received a lovely gift for Christmas this year

 from our "middle" daughter. 

An original etching from Laura- the art teacher.

So I am learning about the terms.

 Etching- "An art etching is a printmaking technique where an image is "etched" into a metal plate using acid, creating grooves that hold ink which is then transferred onto paper when pressed, resulting in a printed artwork with the etched design; essentially, it's a method of creating prints by chemically "carving" a design into a metal plate."

OK, that sounds complicated and time consuming. 

So my delight in the gift of this project just went up a bit.

Then another term- Artist Proof.

"An artist's proof (AP) is a print that an artist makes to assess the quality of a print, or to make final adjustments before producing a limited edition."

OK, now that little AP at the bottom is kinda wow.

Laura said it was an intensive process 

and she learned ALOT.

A simple design- a beautiful gift.

Think this needs a frame.

Worship into the Week- December 2024

 Been slowing working through

 the readings of Advent and Christmas.

Time to do some great reflection without 

being hurried.

That is one of the things I am seeking to practice-

Living Unhurried.

One of the ways to step into UNHURRIED 

is to move beyond a calendar framework.

There are so many lectionary readings for this season of the year. 

I thought about picking and choosing,

 but when I took off the deadline that changed my process.

Finishing the Worship into the Week layouts

 right into 2025 was just right.

This year we are doing a Year in the Psalms 

at Visual Faith® Ministry and there were a lot of Psalm readings.

I even found a perfect Sally Beck image

 from the Christmas card she sent.

Pulled out the vintage Christmas stamps. 

 Found a 5 cent stamp from Canada.

Wonder what year that was?

Also added a Christmas stamp from 1963.

I still love using just magazine for the base layer for this journal.

This page is a cityscape turned upside down. 

Becomes very graphic.

So there is December 2024 Worship into the Week

Unhurried fashion.

Supplies:

VCY Worship Graphics

vcy-graphics-only-december-2024

Chalk highlights   Vintage stamps

Gel pens      Colored pencils

Magazine cutouts     Washi tape

Calendar Journaling- December 2024

 

A bit behind in posting and wanted to catch up

with sharing. Seems like things get a bit crowded 

into the end of the month of December. 

But, even if it is a bit later,

 it is good to conclude the end of Advent

 into the Christmas year.

 Then to cap it with Epiphany season.

So into 2025 I move-

 with devotional time, looking for words of grace,

and opportunities for connection with holy interruptions 

and divine appointments.

 

They Found the Studio

 

For better or worse.

There is alot going on when the #dengrandloves

 are in the house.

Moms, dads and Papa were taking turns 

with the groups outside on the new Razor Shuffles.

Gigi is cleaning up a meal 

and starting to prep for the next feeding.

On one particular day someone said,

"Where is Jonah?"

Then shortly after, "Where is Hadley?"

At the current ages, they kind of come and go in and out.

More challenging to get the head count

 for current numbers and where they are stationed.

Hard to look at the shoe and coat count to tell who is where.

As I walked downstairs to investigate I heard giggling.

In the studio.

My studio.

The room that somehow they have not found

 in the past ten years.

In the beginning, it just wasn't child safe with scissors, 

too many tiny things, and too much to keep out of reach.

We simply redirected them and got out another activity.

Then Jonah got to spend some extra time with Gigi last year 

with mom starting a part-time ministry position.

He learned about the punches and 

the paper packs that were "OK" to use.

He loves the "use whatever you want from this cart" motto.

He knows where the glue sticks are kept.

He was the perfect teacher for cousin Hadley.

I peeked in.

Quite busy. Lots of chatter.

"You guys doing OK?"

"Yes, we are playing office."

"You need any help?"

"No, Gigi, we got this."

So, I closed the door and left for half an hour.

Returned on a cycle about every half hour.

They were there for almost 3 hours.

(this photo was taken the next day after the mail person 

stuffed our mail in the front of the box)

Every few minutes we spotted Jonah dashing out

 of the house and running to the mailbox in his socks.

"What are you doing, Jonah?"

"Getting the letters to the mailbox, what do you think?"

 

Save your odd envelopes and gather some 

random pieces of paper in envelope packets. 

You can even just cut up junk mail. 

They will love it. It is the great recycle. 

Then stock up on Dollar Store glue sticks.

Add some child friendly scissors

 and a few paper punches.

You might get a block of time for some 

new year's sorting and organizing.