Hello, sweet summer friends! I don’t know about my fellow bible journalers, but with summer vacay in full swing, I am struggling hard to carve out precious quiet time with my bible! The kids need #allthethings and I know God has ordained this time for me to reconnect with them with lazier days, helping hands & learning experiences spent under the summer sun each day.
But sometimes mama just needs to get her paints out & spend an hour crafting. Crafting with God on board, too? YES & AMEN! I’ll throw up some big praise hands for that :]
Last week, I took an hour to do just such crafting while my three littles had some “mandatory quiet time” alone in their rooms. I *finally* pieced together my June devotional kit’s ‘Stronger Together’ DIY Booklet…. nothing like waiting ’til the end of the month, right?! I truly love how these precious resources from Illustrated Faith + Dayspring allow us creative freedom without scheduled deadlines though!
If you have some extra time on your hands [what’s extra time, right?!], pop over to the Illustrated Faith Facebook page & catch the live replay of my interactive DIY booklet build. It was so fun to do this via social media!!! And if you ever need a refresh, I also shared an informative how-to post of my DIY booklets earlier this year which you can find here :]
I wanted to share with you a little more today about how creating these fun DIY booklet/faith-filled junk journals help me to dig deeper into the devotional content each month. I adore the latest style of the devotional kits & how much creative freedom it gives us with beautiful artwork backed with thought provoking content, journaling cards, tip-ins & more. It’s so exciting for me to see how all the pieces pull together in my booklet each month…. I don’t pour in too much rhyme or reason, but just have FUN & spend that time chatting with God while I busy my hands with all the pretty things.
I begin each booklet with a PRAY IT page — a place where I ask God to step in & show me how this devotional can specifically change my own life + heart for His good.
PRO TIP: Date stamp your prayer page so you can come back & see later on how you’ve grown & how God answered these prayers you laid out ahead of time!
I am always sure to include all of my devotional content cards inside my DIY booklet — and any take-aways are what find themselves pulled into my bible margins. If I have time on my hands, I get these spots all colored up & crafty too with cut apart alphas, watercolors, enamel hearts or whatever else I have laying about my craft corner! But simply putting pen to paper is all it takes to start that deeper connection with these devos, friend!
I’m also sure to rummage through my craft cart of scrapbook paper pieces, shipping tags, paint chip cards, etcetera to build up lots of extra journaling spots in my booklets. This is the BEST part of having a separate booklet to journal through in addition to the devotional kit. Sometimes I just need MORE space for ALL the words [it’s my love language] & having these pretty little nooks built in for some extra prayers, scribbled thoughts & typewriter-ed verses just bring it all together for me, personally.
If you’ve been digging deeper alongside me with your own form of DIY Booklets for each month, I would LOVE to see how you’re crafting with God! Tag me on instagram [I’m @marine_parents] or tag your post with #IF_DIYbooklets so we can all share + cheer one another on!! Happy crafting, beautiful friends! xo
addtional supplies: Bella Blvd Wonky Alphas – oreo
Love this! Please don’t ever stop making your books!! They make me so happy!!