Bible Journaling Can Bring You Comfort and Peace

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I discovered today’s guest Bible journaler when I was looking around online to find other Bible journalers to recruit to share in this 14 Days of Bible Journaling Inspiration. Sally Sulcove’s site came up in my Google search and I was excited to find it.  I reached out to her and that’s why she is here.

How long have you been Bible journaling? How did you get started in Bible journaling?

God was so good to draw me to Bible journaling when the movement was just beginning. I’ve been Bible Journaling for 3 ½ years. When I started, I was just missing reading the Bible in the way I did when I was younger, as a love letter. I set aside my well-worn study Bible and the commentaries and started with a single column Crossway ESV Bible, a set of Micron pens, and some stickers. The first passage that I did was “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” With a more artistic approach, I found that God’s word spoke effortlessly to me again.

What is your favorite thing about Bible journaling?

Bible Journaling Can Bring You Comfort and Peace

I enjoy the way that Bible journaling draws me deeper into the Word and at the same time feels restful to me. For me, it is a two-for-one experience: a chance to be inspired by the Bible and an opportunity for creative expression. Typically, the last thing that I do before bed is read the Bible passage for the morning and set out some supplies. I also put coffee in my coffee maker. It helps me to wake up knowing that there’s a Bible, art supplies, and coffee waiting for me. Sometimes my kids are up with me; sometimes its quiet time, but it’s always a nice way to ease into the day. Spending time in the Word, planning the day, and praying gives me a good mindset for whatever the day brings. It makes me smile in the morning.

I find that Bible journaling is easy to weave into life responsibilities, and the artwork leaves behind a footprint of the time I’ve spent with God, a concrete reminder, which somehow holds me accountable. There’s no use pretending I didn’t just read that verse when the pressures of life hit! Bible journaling has provided my life with comfort, assurance, guidance, and direction. Most of all, my margins are an acknowledgment that I received God’s word and responded.

What is your favorite Bible journaling tool?

Over the past three years, I have experimented with all kinds of art supplies. What I’ve discovered is that Bible paper is much more forgiving than you might expect. Many art supplies work well. I generally prefer those that don’t bleed through, even without prepping the page: colored pencils, gelatos, acrylic paint, most watercolor paint. If you use gesso, like Prima Art Basics Clear Gesso or Dina Wakely Clear Gesso, it opens the doors to inks and markers. I like to add stickers, paper pieces, and washi tape, too. Curiously, my favorite art supplies are the ones I started with: Sakura Micron Pens and various stickers. I also consider a pencil and a white eraser indispensable.

Do you journal in a journaling Bible, an art journal or in something else?

I started with one Bible, but now I have quite a collection, some with line art to color. For the first two years, I journaled in just one Bible. Now I tend to switch between different Bibles depending on what devotion I am reading. With my first Bible, I was always very conscious of having one chance to do each verse. It takes some of the pressure off to have more than one journaling Bible.

Sally’s Favorite Bible Journaling Technique

My favorite way to Bible journal is to make a collage. I just gather some supplies and see where the project leads. One thing I’ve discovered through trial and error: It helps to have a simple color scheme. Having colors that just work well together makes the whole process easier. I usually pull the colors from the set of stickers that calls to me.

For this post, I wanted to do something for Palm Sunday, and the song “Your Praise Will Ever Be on My Lips” was running through my head. This led me to Psalm 34. I gathered some supplies…

And here’s how the final page turned out…

When our kindergartner woke up, she used some of the extra supplies on the table for a page in her Bible.  She asked to do the “Love” passage from Leviticus (for no deeper reason than that noticed hearts on the Leviticus tab).  It was the first page that she did entirely on her own and my heart just swelled with pride.  I imagine that God feels the same for all our humble efforts to read and respond to His message of love.