Bible journal with me – Highs and Lows

Happy Friday, my friends, and welcome to another Bible journal with me post! This week, I’m journaling through a mini devotional and printable journaling kit from Illustrated Faith. Hope you enjoy!

The Study – God is greater than the highs and lows

This week’s study started with a printable mini-devotional from Abigail Clone at Illustrated Faith. She is around my age (younger probably) and so talented! I loved the pastel colors and tropical theme of this kit, and of course it reminded me of Owl City’s song “Learn How to Surf” from the new album! You can find out more about the new Coco Moon and what my first impressions were here ; ) .

So the theme verse from the “Highs and Lows” kit was Romans 8:28, but since I already journaled both pages in Romans chapter 8, I decided to look up some cross-references. I ended up in John 16:32-33:

“Behold, an hour is coming, and has [already] come, for you to be scattered, each to his own [home,] and to leave Me alone; and [yet] I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

John 16:32-33 NASB

The general idea of this kit’s devotional content was that “God is greater than the highs and lows.” As in, the hard things that happen are for our good and, and we can turn over all of our difficult emotions and overwhelm to God because He is greater. The surfing theme of the kit also reminded me of the song “Learn How to Surf,” and the key line: You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf. I love when a Bible study reminds me of a fandom and vice versa! It’s just so much fun.

The process – acrylic paint and printable stickers

The first step in this week’s Bible journaling process is to lay down a background of acrylic paint. I wanted to use some of the colors from the IF kit, so I picked three areas on the page and added colors a little at a time. It’s a good idea with this technique to start with warm colors (pink, orange, yellow) and add the cooler colors (green, blue, purple) after rinsing your paintbrush.

Step two is to add some washi tape and stickers! Again, the pattern I usually stick with is to pick three different spots on the page to create a visual triangle. I chose to highlight the key verse from the study I did today and cover up some of the other verses in the process, but I also enjoyed reading the context of the passage in the process of making this page. John chapter 17 has a super beautiful prayer of Jesus for the disciples (and us!) that was encouraging to read as I was reflecting on the highs and lows of life.

Now I was so inspired by this study that I ended up making several more pages after this one! I found that several Biblical characters came to mind as I was doing the initial study with this kit. Here are a few of my take-aways:

• Abraham and Sarah learned that god will always keep His promises, even when we get impatient (Genesis 17-18, 21:1-8)
• Joseph learned that God will never leave or forsake us, even when everyone else does (Genesis 45:4-8, 50:20)
• David learned that god fights for us when we depend on Him; He is our refuge and strenght (2 Samuel 22:36-44, 47)
• Ruth learned that God is our refuge, provider, and redeemer (Ruth 2:12, 4:14-15)
• Paul learned that God equips and transforms the people He chooses and calls to bring Him glory; He gives us challenges and allows us to go through hard things but He always brings us out the other side (Philippians 4:11-13)

Here’s a look at the pages I made in this week’s Bible journaling process:

I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s Bible journal with me post! Here’s the Illustrated Faith printable if you’d like to purchase it for yourself, and a FREE printable that I used for my July 2023 bullet journal theme.

Do you have any other examples of people who learned how to “surf” through the ups and downs of life? I’d love to know!

Happy journaling!