How I use my Bible Study Guides

December 14, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

So I don’t know about y’all but I love blending arts and crafts wherever I can, so today I’m going to show you a few tips and ways that I mix fun ideas into my Bible study. Also I’ll show you how I use Bible study guides to help me out. Now, the guides I use, you can download them on my website and you can find them by simply clicking here. They do come in a size A4 so when you print them out, change your printer settings to A4 and it should work. If you don’t have a printer you can fill them out on your mobile device as well.

Okay so to print them out I use thick copy paper just because they feel more like cards then, but you can use whatever paper you like. I do print them out on letter size paper, then I cut them out with a pair of scissors. Although with a paper-cutter it would work a lot better, but I don’t have one so this works to. To cut straight lines I just draw a line and cut along that line. And then you have a small enough size card to fit in your Bible or even a small binder if you wish.

Now, I have a NIV Life Application Study Bible that my husband gave me for my last birthday–I love it! It’s so clear and I learn so much from it. But . . . we can learn from any version of the Bible. Although I recommend investing in some type of Bible study recourse to help you understand the tough verses.

Here are a few Bibles and recourses you might be interested in.

NIV Life Application Study Bible

Bible Studies

So the way I use the guides: I simply fill in the boxes, answering the questions above. (What did this scripture mean to me? A special phrase that stood out to me was . . . What are my goals after reading this? My prayer:) I also have this thing where I underline or circle any verse that I like. Although I know some people don’t like to write in their Bibles and if that’s the case for you then I recommend putting post-it-notes or bookmarks by a chapter that you really like.

Now you’ll notice this card on the left. It has five different ideas on where you can read and then on the other card–on the top–you right down where you read for that day. Of course, as you continue to study you’ll have to print out more cards. So maybe print out five or ten right away, so you won’t have to worry about not having enough cards. Also I put washi tape on one of my cards. I like adding my personal touch to almost anyting, if you haven’t noticed. But you can do whatever you like to make it your own. But I thought this was kind of pretty.

Now when it comes to putting these cards away after you’re done, I like to put them in the front of my Bible. I use a paper clip to keep them on the first page of my Bible. Of course, as you collect more and more cards, you can use binder clips to keep them in place. Once I’ve collected a lot I will defiantly have to find a different storage system, and when I do I will be sure to share it. As for now, this works great.

Wait. Before we head out for the day, let’s talk about Bible journaling. What if you want to add a little more color to it? Then s defiantly for you. You can use a Bible journal to color in your Bible, to draw and make notes on what you read. It depends on how I’m feeling that day, sometimes I’ll do Bible journaling in my Bible journal, sometimes I’ll do Bible studying in my study Bible. Both work for me, so it just depends what I feel like doing that day.

This is my KJV Bible that I use for Bible Journaling. I’ve started doing a lot more Bible journaling and I even got some neat journaling supplies to make it even more colorful. But if you want to journal, and still use those study guides–all the better! I just wanted to quickly share with you another process. There are so many fun ways to get to know God’s Word, that if we really try we can for sure learn something.

You can find more ideas on Pinterest. And if you have Pinterest be sure to check out my Bible Journaling board here. I hope this blog inspired you to study your Bible and I wish you the best on your Bible studying journey.

Until next time,

Maria 😀

Budget Planning and Bible Jouranling

November 30, 2018.Reading time 10 minutes.

Alright so in my last post I mentioned a few changes in my life. I also promised I would share what I learned during my break from writing. I learned a lot, but above all I learned two things. One: when things get hard lean on God. We hear this very often. Our friends tell us this all the time when things aren’t at its best. But no matter how often we hear this, it’s hard to follow through. However, I found it’s super important to study the Bible and talk to God even when it doesn’t all work out. Especially then! Second, I learned to stay organized. Now I’m sure this is different depending on what you do or what stage in your life you’re in. You might be a high school student, a housewife, a working mom. Maybe evening a husband who drives to work every day with a boss who has the day planned out for him. If that’s the case, then staying organized is probably not what you need. But for me, as an aspiring artist and a working teen it was exactly what I needed. Yet sadly, I didn’t find this out as soon as I would have liked.

At the beginning of the year I was on track and feeling in control about everything. Nothing was too crowded, I had plenty of time to promote my book, work with my blog and on the farm. But when summer came it got busy and stayed busy. Now I grew up on a farm, so a busy summer was nothing new to me, but then the wedding planning came. And the blogging began to stay behind, my writing became a chore, and because of that my farm work became a burden. I became stressed and overwhelmed. I wasn’t myself because of all things I knew I had to do, but I couldn’t do it all. And when you notice others are suffering because of your workload, that knocks you down even further. So, while we’re trying to carry our workload we now also have guilt to carry.

My family helped a lot, but I didn’t like them having to do my work for me. It was my wedding, my blog, my writing, my job, my book to promote, my responsibility. So, I carried this for a while and I was okay. Obviously, this happens to everyone, I told myself. So, I went ahead with the wedding planning, yet slowly everything began to fail. It felt like absolutely nothing worked out for us. First our wedding date didn’t want to work; then we couldn’t find an officiant; then people started canceling our agreements; then we couldn’t find a venue, we thought of so many ways, but we couldn’t schedule the correct time so it would work for everyone. Then the invitations didn’t come out right–like that, one thing after the other wouldn’t go right. When everything kept piling up further and further my family stepped in and saved the day.

However, I still had an inside battle to win. During my stressful year my relationship with the Lord began to tilt. While I needed help to carry all of this, I constantly told myself that I could do it alone. I told myself it’s no big deal, it’s just work that needs to be done. It’s too simple to talk to God about it. But I knew that God helps us with everything. But then I said, “Well I don’t know how He would help with this anyway.” I thought this was too simple and small that God couldn’t help me with it. That this was just something I needed to do on my own. But no matter how simple or small it may have been, I needed help with it. And I didn’t realize that God was right there, wanting to help. Because He does care about every area in our lives and if we give our troubles to Him He will help. But, like me, sometimes we must accept that nothing is too small or too big for God and give it all to Him.

After I fought my feelings for so long, I was exhausted. Something had to change. I knew from the pass that the Lord had always helped me with everything; I didn’t know how, but I knew He would help me again. So, I prayed. I finally realized that He and only He could truly help relieve my stress. And even though nothing extraordinary happened, my vision became clearer. And because of that I was able to make the decision on what would be best for me. So, I decided to put my blogging and writing on hold and focus on the important things. My wedding and the family farm. I only focused on my career to market my book. Then after months of not writing I began to have new ideas–my creativity came back. That break was just what I needed. The Lord helped me out in so many ways that I didn’t think would work. And it turned out that that was just what I needed for every part in my life.

Now, this is where my new projects come in. Denying God’s help also made me stray away from studying the Bible. It truly is true what people always say, too much work will lead you away from the Lord. But it’s those times that we really need Him and need to know what His word says. Sometimes we can’t figure out where to read and after we’ve read it it’s easy to forget what we’ve read. I know this happens to me more often than what I’d like. So, I’ve designed a helping hand to those who want it. Once a week I’ll upload four Bible Journaling worksheets. Starting this Thursday. They will be downloadable on my blog, available to print out or edit on your device. Each sheet will have four sections to write on, with one set of verses to study. As you collect the pages, you can keep them in a binder or recycle them, whichever you prefer. Or if you don’t wish to collect worksheets, download the sheet and follow the guidelines, writing down your thoughts in your journal.

Earlier I also mentioned how important it is to stay organized. With the work I had to do all at once, it would have helped a lot if I had systems in place with schedules made daily. That way I knew what to do so it would all work out and I would still have time to relax in the evening without stressing about tomorrow. So, checklist and budgeting worksheets will also be available. (Don’t forget to keep a beautiful planner on hand!) Along with this you’ll see occasional post with tips on Bible Journaling and organizing. You can also expect occasional short stories as well.

So, with my story and knew blogging schedule shared, I wish you all the best on your jouranling and organizing journey. I hope this will be helpful to you in some way or will inspire you to stay on track with what’s going on in your life.

Y’all have a good day and we’ll talk to you next time!

Creative Tuesdays: Putting Those old Journals to Use

February 19, 2018.Reading time 10 minutes.

Can one ever have enough journals?

The fact that I enjoy writing seems to have gotten around very quickly. Well I suppose after five years the word was bound to get around. I started journaling when I was thirteen. Before that they were mainly silly diaries that I would write in a little bit then lose. Ever since people noticed I enjoy writing I’ve gotten a lot of journals and notebooks. I love every one of them and if I would have passed them by in a store there’s no doubt I would have gotten them. No matter how many I have, my love for journals never ceases. But with time they start to pile up, because my ideas don’t always come flying to me like I would want them to, so they stay empty sitting on my desk or laying in my drawer. Especially because I receive them as gifts from my friends and family so I want them to have a special purpose, not just something to doodle in. Here’s what I’ve come up with after months and years of thinking.

My Daily Adviser

A friend gave this to me years ago and, call me blind, but I honestly didn’t see right away what it was. I read it and loved it. I thought it was a simple sign, later it fell and I realized it was a notebook! I loved what I discovered and I instantly thought I would use to write my poems in. But years went by and I lost an interest in poetry, so I was back to square one . . . using it as a sign on my dresser. Until I realized it was a perfect notebook to use for a daily planner!

As you can see I already have a wonderful monthly planner, but it is a bit small. There’s not a lot of room to write. So I decided I would use my “chocolate book” to write any extra notes that wouldn’t fit in my monthly planner. I also thought this notebook would be the perfect one for a daily planner because it looks like it belongs in a kitchen. Doesn’t it?

This is how I converted a notebook to a daily planner.

First thing first. Leave two rows on the top before the first marked line. I use this space to write the month and the year, along with the days in the week I will list. Then I draw lines every second row. This leaves plenty of room for notes, plus this way you have one cross overlook for one week. A few lines are left on the bottom this way, giving you room for any extra notes.

This works perfectly! I left a few blank pages so far and I’m sure I’ll leave plenty more for stuff like grocery list, sticky notes, food menu ideas and so on. I clipped the shopping list in the book so I could take it out easily when I want to go shopping, yet wouldn’t lose it when I open the book. You could also use empty pages to write down ideas for girls night out, date nights, or family nights. Because, speaking for myself, when I write something down I’ll remember it easier. Often when I’m hanging out we have no idea what to do, yet just that week I had great idea.

Add a bookmark! I added an old postcard from an awesome trip I took a couple of years ago. Just another way to “make it your own”.

My Recipe Book

I have a lot of recipe books, but the problem with those books: they don’t have my mom’s recipes. My talented mom memorized all the traditional German recipes her mom taught her; for the past four years she’s tried teaching them to me, except I can not seem to remember them. Yet, they are way to tasty to put aside so I write them down in my “Mom recipe book”. My friend gave this book to me for my seventeenth birthday and I loved it! I also wanted it to hold a special purpose, so I decided this was the perfect book for the recipe job. And don’t you just love the cover!

I don’t have that much to say about this book, for recipe books are quite simply–in my opinion. I do write bible verses every now and then because I’m sure life won’t always be a picnic. So one day when I’m cooking I might read it and it might lift my spirits. It does have bible verses at the bottom, which I really love. I do think I picture of Mom and I working would be a lovely marker. You can always experiment on your own.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

If you want to know what God wants you to do–ask Him, and He will gladly tell you. James 1:5

And now . . . my Journal

I absolutely love this journal! It speaks Me from the front cover to the back cover, and on every page in between. All my journals do I suppose. There are plenty of ways to make this happen. Here are a few.
Memory Pieces

If you have old pictures, postcards, ribbons from old dresses, friendship necklaces, rings, cards from friends, letters, newspaper clippings, put them in there. In all my journals from five years ago I’ve put loose keepsakes in there–even roses. It is easy to see what interest I had then and do now. This is the beauty of keepsakes in a journal. But before you do this you’ll want to make sure you have a journal that will hold them. A band journal or a tie journal work best for this kind of stuff.

Verses, Poems and Quotes

I open my journal and I see my favorite bible verse. This is a really good start to making your journal, your journal. And the date that you started this journal on the next page. This gives the first few pages, that no one really likes because they’re just not fun to write on, a purpose.

If you read a good poem in your poem book, tear it out and put in your journal. This will be more meaningful than if you just mark it in your poem book. Also if you hear one that you love, write it down and write down where you heard it. If you have a favorite quote write it down. If you have a favorite old song, make a copy or tear it out and of the hymn book and put it in your journal. Why not create an artistic page with mod podge. Or simple . . . glue stick. Or if you don’t have the song–if you heard it on the radio or somewhere else, right the lyrics down and draw pictures around it, illustrating the song.
Stickers

Who doesn’t love stickers? You can put these anywhere and they add color to everything. I found an awesome set of stickers at Hobby Lobby with bible verses. If you have these put them in your journal to brighten your pages.

That’s it.

Oh well, that’s all I have to give about journaling for now. I hope I have given you a bit of an insight of all the unique ways you can use your journals. I would love any ideas you’d like to share in the comments below. If you liked this then keep an eye out for more creative ways to make your stuff your own.

Maria Loewen-Friesen

Category: Creative Ideas

How I use my Bible Study Guides

Budget Planning and Bible Jouranling

Creative Tuesdays: Putting Those old Journals to Use