 Hi there, I'm Sandy Oluk, artist and paper crafter here on YouTube, and today I want to share with you some tips on Bible journaling, specifically my top three things that I think you need to remember as a Bible journalist. I don't claim to be an expert at this. I haven't been at it nearly as long as many others. I have a different style than many other people as well, but I think these three things apply to pretty much all of us, so we can keep the right heart in mind as we do our creative work with God. So let's get started. The first thing is that it's all about time with God. He wants time with you, and you need time with Him. During my recent 30-day challenge to create in my Bible daily, I began by reading in the morning as my pastor says, reading until my heart got happy, until I heard God speak, until something caught my heart. Then I would tuck that scripture in my heart and on a piece of paper in my pocket and meditate on it throughout the day. You would be surprised at how many times a day God will speak to you through daily life if you try this. Then by the evening time, I was ready to journal what He had been saying to me all day, and I usually had some sort of image or color developing by then. This was a beautiful way to really soak in the Word throughout the day, and though it was for the 30-day challenge, I found that I've continued it since then, which is the biggest blessing ever to become a woman who craves that time with God every morning. So if you're trying to just cram in a half an hour of art in your Bible in the evening without really spending time with the Lord first, you're missing out on the very best part of Bible journaling, time with God. Second, it's all about being authentically you. I actually had to go on a Pinterest and Instagram fast for a while. I was spending tons of time looking at amazing work by other people, and that had two results. First, I started comparing myself. I wanted to make things that were Pinterest worthy or pages that would get lots of likes on Instagram. I got caught up in thinking about making my pages for others, and I felt inadequate next to some folks who had very different talents than I do. I also started trying to be others. I saw one page in particular that showed me where my heart was. I saw somebody do a page with a gorgeous pastoral scene with sheep and a shepherd, and I started stalking her blog to find out if she posted the page and the products used for it so I could go get them. She hadn't. And as I realized that I was getting frustrated, I also realized that I suddenly wanted to become her. I wanted to copy her page. While learning from others is really important, it's also important to be you. Don't worry about what other people are doing. If you draw stick people, that's perfectly OK. If all you can manage is a background, do not feel bad. If your hand lettering looks as crazy as mine or your stamping is off-kilter like I do half the time, stop beating yourself up and just be you. You do you. God made you to be the way he made you. And if he wanted you to be like that Pinterest lady, he would have gifted you that way. So use your skills and do what he says you should do. And when we copy pages by others, we also end up depriving ourselves of that engagement with God on our own. We journaled the passage that someone else picked out. For a while, I found myself thinking that following somebody else and copying their idea was a shortcut to getting a page done. But by cutting out God from the process and not hearing from him myself, it really only left me short. Thus, by fast, I recommend staying off of social to search for ideas until you get in a groove with your own style and your own process of hearing from the Lord yourself. Once you've established how you go about it, then you're safer to look at what others are doing without putting yourself down or copying others. The third thing I've learned is that it's not about the art. I know that's a weird thing to say, right? But I refer you to point number one, it's about time with God, not about what that finished page looks like. Bible journaling should result in a closer relationship with the Lord, not with worry or with fear over doing things right. Just some of the fears I've heard people say have been, which Bible do I get? What paints do I need? What gesture do I have to buy? Which mediums bleed through? What have my paper wrinkles? And on and on. And while these things can make a difference and be upsetting to you, please know that stuff's going to happen. You'll discover as you create that even if someone says that a certain type of pen or ink or paint works, sometimes that's only with a certain number of colors and other shades will bleed a little bit. And unless you want to spend your Bible journaling time wrapped up in worry, let go of that. It's a must. Researching online about what others say works can only go so far. And you're going to have things happen that you won't be thrilled with. And that's just okay. Plus, all the pages that you've seen rolling through in this video, they have all been created without gessos or grounds or any kind of medium as the base on the page. I was delighted to find out they aren't necessary, despite the fact that some Bible journalists swear by them. It's okay to deviate from what others say is required. I wanted to create with products I already had. I didn't want to have to buy all the special pens or the special inks or the special devotionals or buy all the stickers and all the stamps. And I encourage you to do the same. Treat yourself once in a while to a couple new things, but feel free to start with a very simple pack of colored pencils, your Bible, and time with God. Again, Bible Journaling is all about developing a closer relationship with God. If you end up stressed out or upset or worried as a result of doing it, it's probably not getting you anywhere. In this video, you've seen a couple Bibles that I'm using. Yes, I said a couple. I began by purchasing two journaling Bibles. First, I just Googled for journaling Bible and the translation I wanted. It's very easy to locate them on the web. I discovered by working with all the Bibles shown in this video, that they have Bible paper in them. Think about it. If anything had thicker paper that we can get artsy on, the Bibles would be huge and thick. So please don't expect a heavy paper. You're always going to get Bible paper. Get a journal if you want that kind of paper. It's a great option for those who love going crazy with mediums. In this video, you've seen mostly the one with a two inch border. And this exact version is out of print, but a quick search online for journaling Bible or note taking Bible will reveal a lot of Bibles in a variety of translations. Some have lines like mine and some do not. Another has a one inch border all the way around. While there isn't the wide column for art, there is a more narrow border on three sides that allow for more written journaling in those margins. In a Bible like this, you can decorate a page with a beautiful background and leave yourself room for your journaling about the verses because I know some people love to do word studies in the margins and this would be a great option. Next, Tyndale sent me their new Inspire Bible with pre-printed verses to color. And that's a good one for new folks who are kind of paralyzed about where to start. There's a couple things I want to draw your attention to. One is that some pages are completely covered by the provided journaling. So if you want to journal another verse on that page, you may have to get creative and do a tip-in or something. And related to that, this Bible as beautiful as it is could also become a coloring book and nothing more. So I ask that you pinky swear with me if you get this Bible, commit yourself to reading the whole chapter before coloring any image so that you have some scripture to meditate on as you color. Remember, this is all about time with God. Crossway sent me one of their interleaved Bibles. It's a little thicker than the average Bible, but it has a full empty page in between each printed page. So you have a whole page to go crazy on and two sides of it if you use things that don't bleed through. For some people, a full blank page though can be large and scary and empty. Even for myself, I discovered that that can be a little intimidating. Finally, I want to address those who don't have the money or the desire to go get a new Bible. You don't have to get a new one. After working in some of these other Bibles, I went back to my normal study Bible that I've had for decades and started working in that one. I've done some art that just highlights verses. I didn't get crazy with drawing or wording. The images are simple if they exist at all. So even if you just use your existing Bible and a tiny bit of color, you can highlight what God is telling you in the book you already have. The type of Bible you choose is a matter of personal choice, honestly. After doing this for a while, the two inch border is probably the most comfortable for me. I discovered that I like the limited space. So now that you know my top three things about Bible journey, it's all about time with God. It's about being authentically you and it's not about the art. Well, I'm sure you still have a gazillion questions about mediums and techniques and all the things you've seen in these pages. And rather than making a five hour video out of this one, I've put together a small class on my blog. It's only a few dollars to make it accessible to everybody who wants to learn more. There are currently 10 lessons and there could be more added over time. They include everything from how to approach a page, how to begin thinking through your imagery, how to transfer it onto your paper, and then a variety, a wide variety of mediums and techniques and a lot of the testing that I did of different brands so you can have a better idea what might work in your Bible. And even if you don't wanna take the glass, you're welcome to go see stills of all the pages seen here and more on my Bible journaling page along with the list of supplies that I use for creating in my Bible. Links are in the description for all of this. Thanks so much for spending a few minutes of your day with me. I will see you next time I post a new video. God bless you, bye-bye.