The culture of this world is all about dwelling on discontentment. We are taught that we should never be satisfied with ourselves or with our circumstances. We are often bombarded with self-help books, podcasts, and talk shows talking about how we should constantly be striving to improve our lives. I’ll be the first to admit, that this is something that I often fall into. I am an ambitious person. I have big dreams and goals. And, I do try to evolve and improve as a person. But, I do think there is a difference between living in a state of discontentment and embracing the journey that God has us on. Day 3 of “Greener Grass” from BTW4G has us looking at some of the consequences of living in discontent:
I have recently started journaling in a new Artisan Journaling Bible, which is a big change from the spiral bound Illustrating Bible. I had a growing desire to return to my roots of Bible journaling, and to have a Bible that I could journal in and more easily carry with me. To tell you the truth, carrying a journaling Bible with you to church or to a coffee shop is a real conversation starter. It helps me to bring my faith out into the world in a tangible way, which is something that I have been missing.
I began this page with some simple ink blending through a brick stencil. I chose three colors (abandoned coral, spun sugar, and spiced marmalade) that are not typical brick colors, but that do coordinate nicely with the kit. The wall motif was something that I wanted to include as an example of what discontent can do. Living a life of discontent really builds walls in your relationship with God. It divides and plants lies in your heart, much like it did to the Israelites after being rescued from slavery in Egypt. Not long after being triumphantly marched out of Egypt, the Israelites turned to an attitude of discontent with their current circumstances. This was the beginning of the many walls that they put between themselves and God, which Moses and Aaron constantly worked to tear down.
After the background was complete, I used a couple of new stamp sets (Flower Bed & Foliage) to stamp on the coordinating patterned papers. I am LOVING these papers each month. They are so fantastic and the perfect size to add embellishments to your journaling pages. I stamped out six flower and leaf combinations, fussy cut them out, and used them to create journaling spots across my two page layout. Then, I added stamped numbers over top of the flower clusters to mark the six consequences of discontent that the devotional talked about.
The title was added using the new Brush Stroke Alpha stamps from By the Well 4 God. One tip for adding titles…I often stamp words backwards! I do this especially when a word or title is going to be right-justified. This helps me spacial plan a bit more effectively when I am actually putting my title on the page. I also used a mix of stamps and stickers for this title. One part of using a traditional journaling Bible is that there is much less space than an Illustrating Bible. So, the clear alpha stickers really come in handy so that you can add title and words without covering up text!
To wrap the page up, I used a library card to add room for prayer journaling and then secured it down on the page with a paper clip. It was certainly an adjustment switching back to the smaller Bible, but I loved it! It really does bring me back to where my Bible journaling started and is an awesome reminder that the words are far more important than the art!
Keep it creative,
-The Scrappy Wife
Supplies: (Some of these are affiliate links…thanks in advance for supporting my blog!)
- Artisan Journal the Word Bible, NIV (Various covers available)
- “Greener Grass” Devotional Kit
- “Greener Grass” – Traveler’s Notebooks
- “Contentment” Papers
- Contentment Tile Alpha Stickers
- Contentment Clear Alpha Stickers
- Contentment Stamps
- Rest Stamps
- Brush Stroke Alpha Stamps
- Flower Bed Stamps
- Foliage Stamps
- Patterns of Faith Stamps
- Coordinating Distress Oxides (Spiced Marmalade, Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Spun Sugar, Peeled Paint, Abandoned Coral)
- Tim Holtz Brick Stencil
- Scrapbook.com Domed Blending Brushes
- Pixie Spray
- Detail scissors
- Archival Black Ink
- Versafine Onyx Black Ink
- Uniball Signo Gel Pen
Love the comentary for this page. It is all so true.