Bible Journaling for Beginners

If you’re new here at The Littlest Way, first, Welcome! I try to post around three times a week and send out one newsletter a month. You’ll want to sign up for my email newsletter here because I have an extensive free resource library of printables, mini Bible studies, and digital lock screens for phones and computers for email subscribers only. Second, I love reading my Bible, but I haven’t always and sometimes still consider it a box to be checked. Totally honest, completely ok. Third, I started retraining my mind a number of years ago using daily affirmations. And finally, I love Bible Journaling and Catholic Bible Journaling and Bible Journaling in a notebook and verse mapping. That all being said…

I’m not an artist. I’m not creatively creative with paints and other crafty supplies. I’m average at best. And no amount of positive affirmations trying to tell myself I am a world class, artistic Bible journaler will change that fact. But guess what,

I do it anyway.

Sometimes I’m impressed with myself when I’m finished, more often than not I’m humbled and make a choice to laugh at myself. Because good, great, or barely average, if I’ve been Bible journaling, it means I’ve spent time all over the Word of God.

So if you a beginner or a pre-beginner, meaning you want to start but are paralyzed to even try, this post will definitely help you. Promise.

Bible Journaling for Beginners: Before and After

Above is the before and after of my recent Bible Journaling. My supplies included:
Blessed is She Catholic Journaling Bible
Illustrated Faith Bible Journaling Kit: Less Hustle More Jesus
Acrylic Paint
A Fork
Glitter Glue

Since so many of you contacted me telling how much you enjoyed my last process post because it made Bible journaling seem doable, here’s another one for you.

First, as I was looking through the new Illustrated Faith Bible Journaling Kit: Less Hustle More Jesus, I noticed the cutouts had the words ‘His Yoke, His Rest, My Peace’ among others. Those words made me think of the verse about taking Jesus’ yoke and finding rest. So I Googled “Take up my yoke” to find the verse. I knew it was in Matthew somewhere but wasn’t quite sure where exactly.

Once I got on the page with the chapter and verse, Matthew 11:28-30, I was happy to see the verses were all together and took up most of the page. To me that meant I could journal the entire page.

I liked the neutral, kind of muted colors of the die cuts in green and purple. I also liked the word stickers in rainbow colors. I decided to smear bright yellow paint in the journaling margin. You can do the whole page or part of the page or just the margin like I did; it’s personal preference. To smear the pain I squeezed a small glob on the edge of an old gift card and drug it down the page and to the sides. I didn’t put anything under the page so some of the paint got on the edges of a couple of pages underneath but that’s not a big deal to me.

Next, I took my hair dryer which I rarely use for my hair, put it on a low setting and dried the paint quickly because I’m a little impatient with paint and creating. When the mood hits I’m ready and if the process takes too long, I’m so over it before I can even finish it!

Next, I took some purple, pink, and blueish green and globbed the colors separately on a paper plate. I then took a kitchen fork and smooshed it in one of the colors. I dabbed it on a damp paper towel and then pressed it onto my page. I repeated this with the other colors, wiping my fork off well in between colors. I used my hairdryer again.

Next, I glued the die cuts onto the page: My Need, His Yoke, His Rest, My Peace. And then I circled what I considered to be the key to those phrases, “…learn from me…” I looked through the rainbow sticker set included in the kit and pulled out characteristics of God: compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, faithful, love, truth, and peace. I stuck them to the page and found accompanying scriptures for each characteristic; I only wrote one or two even if there were many.

Finally, I remembered I had just bought my kids some glitter glue and found it in the cabinet. It was purple so I checked with them to make sure it dried clear and they said it did. So I smeared a healthy dose of glitter glue all over my page. You guessed it, then I used my hairdryer again. I finished the page by putting the date on it.

None of the above processes bled through although the steps left the page nice and crinkly–which I love.

I really hope showing the materials and supplies, plus walking you through not only the creative process but also my thought process encourages you…you can totally do this if you want to! And if the little voice inside your head keeps telling you that you can’t, it’s the enemy and he’s lying.