I clutched the Walmart bag to my chest, leaving my husband to load the rest of our purchases, all groceries, into the back of the SUV. That cheap plastic bag held my new toys–shades of blue gel pens and a box of Crayola 50-count colored pencils (pre-sharpened, thank you very much.)
Like a child who has just begged a treat from Mom, I was determined to enjoy my new possessions all the way home, dreaming of the prettiness I would soon create.
At a ripe older age, I’ve only just discovered the joys of creative Bible journaling.
Rooted historically in the days of Medieval manuscript illustrating performed by monks and scribes, running through the 18th and 19th Centuries when families used Bibles to record vital statistics in the margins of the pages, Bible journaling has progressed to the digital age. A woman named Shanna Noel is credited with creative journaling trends that began in about 2014, the year I was starting my print-on-demand book publishing business. And that’s probably why I never caught the fever for this wonderful hobby until now. I was too busy with other creative pursuits. Noel popularized using paints, washi tape, and stickers to document personal faith journeys, and she did so in the margins of her Bible. That led to publishers creating Bibles with extra-wide margins, and suddenly, you’ve got a movement.
I got the fever just a few short months ago, when I spied a Bible on a sale rack at Mardel. It was my favorite color, turquoise, and the fore-edges were sprayed with more turquoise and a warm gold. I’d been seeing sprayed fore-edges in books that were being shelved at my favorite local bookstore, Round Table. Of course, I had to have that Bible, and when I opened it in the aisle at Mardel, I almost salivated. That’s how excited I was to begin coloring the intricate designs in the margins and chapter headers.
The process of coloring in that Bible, while reading and scanning the text alongside the designs, was a meditative, prayerful experience. I’m such a tactile person, I felt like I was experiencing the Word physically, as well as intellectually.
Then came the fateful day that I actually wrote in the margin of one of the Inspire Bible’s pages. That took some getting used to, as I’d had teachers drill it into my psyche that writing in a book was a criminal act that could result in forfeiting the book deposit you’d paid for the year’s textbooks.
I passed another milestone the day I scanned the QR code in the front of that new Bible to connect to videos, guided studies, and many other resources that the publisher, Tyndale, has paired with the New Living Translation. No more boring black leather King James Bibles for this woman! Give me color. Give me a living, breathing book that I can touch and treasure, memorize passages from, and truly discern the love of God.
I’m already tasting heaven.