Stacked Stones Studio!

One of the things that I love the MOST about journaling in my Bible is that the Word is always freshly applied to my heart. I was studying Psalms 40 a few weeks ago - and so totally identified with the Psalmist when he said, "I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog and set my feet upon a rock making my steps secure." When I was first working through these verses, I was so very grateful that God hears my cry...and that He acts on my behalf...He draws me up...out of the miry bog! Have you ever found yourself in a miry bog? My face still gets twisted up remembering the SMELL of a miry bog that I found myself in as a child. I wandered a bit too deep into the woods near a family friend's farm...chasing butterflies with their hound dog. The hound dog had enough sense to not keep going when the ground got squishy...I however, did not! That place STUNK to high heaven (as my grandmother us...

When I was in high school I had an opportunity to take a class in sign language. It changed the course of my Senior year...as I ended up having a group of girlfriends that were deaf. They graciously shared their world with me...and my world was expanded beyond anything that I could have imagined. You haven't lived until you attend a dance where the music is too loud even for your teenage ears...but everyone can dance because they can feel the rumble of the bass! One of my favorite memories from high school. It has been a long time since I have needed to sign...but there are certain words/signs that are still present in my memory. "I Love You" is one of those! I almost can't hear the words without seeing the sign. When I first visualized this page, I was just going to do a finger with a string on it...but when I sat down to draw - I kept seeing the sign for I love you! I ended up thinking it was more appropriate than just the finger with the string...1 Corinthian...

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, ...

I have loved the Julie Nutting mixed media dolls since I laid eyes on the first one! I'm sure it is the little girl in me that LOVE playing dress up with her paper dolls...but I could serious use one of her dolls on a project a week and not get tired of them...so you gotta know that I was a bit giddy to find a way to use Zoe on one of my pages in my journaling Bible! I have been working on the content for a College and Career Women's Retreat that I will be teaching in a few weeks. I am excited that we will be doing an interesting combination of in-depth Bible study times and then Illuminated Journaling times inter-mixed. My own journaling comes out of my study times - so will LOVE seeing how God meets with these precious ladies on the pages of their Bibles. But I digress...As I was saying, I have been working on the messages I will be sharing during the study time - and found myself focusing on what it means to have Biblical humility. As a younger woman - I think this is on...

Don't you love it when the pastor says something  almost "in passing" that hits you like a TON of bricks! It wasn't even his main point! But it was definitely the point the God intended me to hear...and just maybe...He might like for it to cross your ears too! It referenced Philippians 3:13-18, you know where Paul is talking and says, "Forgetting what lies behind, I press on to the race set before me!" And then he said it..."Yesterday ended last night!" Ummmm yeah! I waste so much energy and time thinking and rethinking things that happened "yesterday!" And isn't it just like God to reinforce His message within the first 24 hours. I was talking this evening to a young mom - a single mother of three while we both waited for our take out dinners to be packed up - and we were watching a large group of people who came in after us....and they just COULD NOT make up their minds what to order...and my new friend and I wer...