Resurrection Words Day 15: Glory

 

Day 15: Glory

Our final day of the Resurrection Words challenge. Let's look at the journey we have taken in exploring the resurrection life.

We began our journey looking at the resurrection life at the cross.  On the cross Christ gave His life to reconcile sinful man with a holy God. Through Christ's blood we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. But there is more good news: Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, giving us His Spirit, that we, too, may live new lives. Our baptism symbolizes our death and new life in Christ. We now live a new life, having died to self, we live for Christ through our union with Him by His Spirit. That Spirit is a deposit, guaranteeing our ultimate and complete transformation into the image of Christ. Our new life comes with many blessings: a living hope, the assurance of eternal life, and the power to live lives pleasing to God. This requires we gain a new mindset that views life from a heavenly perspective, focused on the life that is to come, while being transformed into the image of Christ, walking in freedom as children of the kingdom of God, who live a life of love imitating the life of Christ for God's glory!

"Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Hebrew 13:20-21

 

Thank you for joining me for the Resurrection Words challenge. You can continue to share your responses in the Words Facebook group or on social media. I love to see how you respond creatively to God's Word. There's no deadline on that! 

Share your response to today's word and Scripture readings in the Words Art & Faith Challenge Group on Facebook. Or share on social media with #resurrectionwords. 

Season of Gifts

Yesterday I wrote about the various projects I did in December alongside the various ways I participated in Advent this year. My final project for December is the Season of Gifts which is the current theme in the Get Messy Art Journaling community. Throughout the year this community offers a variety of themes, giving its members a weekly set of art and journaling prompts to choose from for inspiration. The challenge is to create an art journal page from the prompts  once a week for the duration of each theme. I have yet to complete this challenge for a particular theme. But that is going to change in this current season! Below are the first four pages for the Season of Gifts:

Week 1 - a favorite quote about gifts

Week 2 - a favorite Christmas song

Week 3 - use something from a gift you received...and glitter

Week 4 - Gift wrap a page ..I wasn't ready to leave behind the Christmas songs just yet!

Two weeks left of the Season of Gifts. :)

We are heading to my sister's today for our final family Christmas celebration. Wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year's Eve!

Season of Introspection

The Get Messy art journal community is in the midst of the Season of Introspection for June and July. Each week we receive art and journaling prompts to help us engage with the theme. My personality leans toward introspection - at times it is probably closer to over-introspection! For me, the purpose of introspection is to examine self in order to draw closer to God and to become more Christlike. In fact, one of my favorite quotes goes along these lines:

“There is no deep knowing of God without a deep knowing of self and no deep knowing of self without a deep knowing of God.” John Calvin

We were challenged to alter a book for this season. Not much of a challenge for me since this is my normal practice! I already had a book I had altered but have not done much work in.

My first two pages for the Season of Introspection:

And a few pages I did recently in the beginning of this journal:

I add a few more altered book art journals to my shop every few weeks. Check them out here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tips for Using Old Books and Papers in Art Journaling

From time to time I receive questions from blog readers, Pinterest followers, Etsy customers, and members from groups I belong to. So I want to take some time throughout this month to answer some of them in a series of blog posts. I'll start with old books since so much of this started here for me.

The first time I made an altered book art journal I was hooked. I started going to book sales and buying books, making journals, using the book pages on my art journal pages, and stacking up books in my studio/office. I started my Etsy Shop, {found on brighton}, as a way to use up the books and leftover insides that were accumulating in my house.

So, what do I do with the book pages? It is quite rare that I make an art journal page where book text isn't peaking out of it somewhere, in some way. I love the look of book text in my backgrounds peaking out through subtle layers of gesso or paint.

I like to cut shapes and letters out of painted book paper.

Or make mosaics.

So these are some of the ways I use old books and book paper in my art journaling. Altered book journals and themed paper packs are available in my Etsy shop.

Are there ways you use books or book paper in your art journaling different than the ways I listed?

30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 7. I missed posting yesterday, so now they are not consecutive. But I press on with the challenge!

My Word for 2015

It's no secret on this blog that I continually struggle with issues of burnout. I think it may go hand-in-hand with the ebb and flow of life in full time ministry - or at least in my life in ministry. In the past few years this struggle has become more and more evident and, at times, incapacitating. It is a huge part of why I got connected to art and to art journaling as a way to help create balance and energy. At times my schedule is packed full of activities and events. In the midst of this there are kids and people with needs that need ministering to. My emotional, mental and spiritual energy can get drained and I have tried to find ways over the years to keep this all in balance.

In the past year, with the help of some spiritual companions, I believe I have started to really get a handle on understanding what I need to keep my energy and my outlook in balance and have started to put some practices in place that help. So, I felt the Lord telling me it was time for renewal in 2015. It sure feels like it's time! A negative attitude and outlook has crept in over the past few years and I haven;t felt like myself as a result of that. But slowly in the past year there have been some shifts.

In a sense I have been renewing my mind over the past year and am anticipating renewal in many areas in the year ahead. 

I posted my page with my theme passage of Scripture last week, but am posting it again with some explanation this time.

There are quite a few places in the Bible where renewal is talked about, but the passage in Isaiah 61:1-4 really connected with me. Jesus quotes this passage from Isaiah and applies it to himself in Luke 4:16-20. This passage describes a Savior who heals brokenness in whatever form or circumstances it is found in us - poor, captive, in darkness, mourning, grieving, despairing - He heals us. In healing He rebuilds, restores, and renews our lives. I'm looking to be renewed this year. To have my energy (emotional, mental and physical) renewed. To have my passion and vision for ministry renewed. To have my health renewed. To have my spirit renewed. To have my emotional equilibrium renewed. It all starts with having my mind renewed and this I cannot do myself. I can only place myself before God and position myself through spiritual disciplines and practices in Christ, ready and willing for transformation.

I completed a few of the Logos365 prompts we posted on the HKC site:

Definition page

Goals page

In order for habits to change and transformation to take place we need to be intentional and set goals. I decided to select 5 areas where I feel I need renewal to take place. I am going to set small, manageable goals monthly in some of those areas. It is said that it takes 6 weeks to make or break a habit and that slow is best in order to see lasting change. I'm interested in lifestyle changes not simply in behavior modification. I think the key to change is in making small baby steps that lead to lasting change, rather than trying to look at the full year and then giving up not too far into it. That may have been why I was able to complete the 52 weekly art calendar pages for the Documented Life Project when I usually struggle to complete projects. It was easier to just look at each week as it came rather than thinking about a full year of weekly projects and trying to plan it out.

To make things more manageable I am combining my Logos 365 word projects in my Take Me Deeper art journal.

Are you participating in one of the many word-of-the-year projects? If so, share your word with me in the comment section below. :)

{found on Brighton} Anniversary and A Giveaway

My Etsy shop, {found on brighton}, 

is celebrating its first anniversary today! 

The little shop I started a year ago as a way to use up the books and vintage papers I collect for my art journaling hobby has managed to stand on her own feet. I have enjoyed all the wonderful people I have connected with through the shop and it has opened up another avenue of creativity for me. As well it has fed my enjoyment (addiction?) of digging through library book sales and giving a new life to old and falling apart books.

Some recent additions to the shop:

So to celebrate our first anniversary I am going to give away an altered book journal. Simply visit my Etsy Shop, then comeback to my blog and tell me which journal is your favorite in the comment section on this post. Tomorrow I will randomly draw one winner from the comments and that person will win their favorite journal from my shop. Comments must be made today only.

I appreciate all of you who follow my blog and join my journey in art, faith and Etsy ventures!

September Projects

In yesterday's post, Blog Hop With a Difference, I wrote about some of the projects I am participating in this month. Here are my art journal pages from those projects:
*Warning: I haven't posted much this month so there are a lot of photos in this post.

30 Days of Lists

The Documented Life Project

DLP Challenge 38: Use a feather

Made Course 2014

That's all for me today, Don't forget to stop back on Thursday ~ I have something to celebrate!