Illuminated Journaling: Toe Tapping Praise

When I began thinking about how I wanted to document Isaiah 66:1 where God declares, "Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool" I totally saw this pair of chucks in my mind...and even though I kept trying to find another option...there just was none...so I thought I would take that image and the inspiration from the style of another Bible Journaler, Lisa Rutherford-Montgomery and go with it!

I was teaching at a worship conference several years ago and one of the other teachers was talking about worshiping in the midst of our difficult times. He said, "Praise in the hard times is one of the purest ways we can tell God we trust Him." "Praise in the hard times reminds our hearts that our future is in God's hands, not ours." and "Praise in the hard times, makes God's heart glad!"

Great teaching, right!?!?! And then he told a story...and I have remembered the image that he created with that story ever since. He said, "God told us in Isaiah 66, that heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool...and I recently made a connection between that and another scripture found in Acts 16. This is the story of Paul and Silas singing hymns of praise at midnight after they had been thrown into prison. As they were singing and praising God, there was an earthquake...!!!"

And then the teacher said, "Now I don't know if this is true or not - because the Bible doesn't tell us...but I couldn't help but think that when God heard the praises of Paul and Silas - His toe began to tap...and the more they sang in joyful abandon - the gladder His heart got and the faster His toe tapped...to the point that the earth began to shake beneath His feet resting on it as His footstool!"

Now don't get me wrong...I'm not sharing this story because I think it is where the earthquake came from...I'm sharing it because it has become a visual memory that reminds me when I find myself in a difficult place that the very best thing I can do is PRAISE GOD. Circumstances should not dictate my praise.

Perhaps that is why I couldn't imagine another illustration for this verse other than the "chucks" - they just seemed like the kind of shoes that would be "tapping" along with a song of praise. One of the things that I love the most about journaling in my Bible is that the visuals are tied to my study of His Word, and when I see the picture - I remember the TRUTH that He taught me when we met on the pages of His Word. Our minds think in pictures...and the pictures and words and images we add to the pages of our Bibles reinforce our memories...and I bet THAT makes God's toe tap a bit too!

Illuminated Journaling Workshops

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The tools and supplies I used:

ESV Journaling Bible	48 Prismacolor Pencils	Koi Watercolor 24 Field Sketch	Micron 6 Pen Set
Watercolor Brushes	Fine Point Pencil Sharpener	White Gel Pen	Kneaded Eraser
Gamsol/Odorless Mineral Spirits	Blending Stumps	Tim Holtz Idea-ology DESIGN RULER Clear 12 Inch TH92481	Tracing Paper Pad
Graphite Paper

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