The Art of Bible Journalling
Five years ago, Trinity independent student Amy White bought a devotional Bible with extra wide margins to add notes, and then discovered the idea of Bible journalling through Pinterest.
She began to post her artwork on Instagram, along with reflections, ideas and tips to help those who want to try this form of journalling, and she now has more than 4,000 followers. ‘I love arts and crafts,’ she explains, ‘and Bible journalling is a way to process what I’m learning in the Bible, to take what could be quite intellectual and turn it into a devotional practice, meditating and reflecting on it. It’s about linking head and heart in my own personal journey.’
During a college Quiet Day, Amy ran a session for students who wanted to learn Bible journalling, where she shared three of the benefits she’s gained:
- Memorising: ‘It’s an amazing way to memorise scripture. I often spend over an hour on each page, and this length of time allows me to internally picture what the verse is saying. The result is that I then have a visual memory of the page. I want to memorise more scripture, and this is a way of doing that.’
- Meditation: ‘I’m reading Leviticus now, which can be difficult to get through, and as I’m making my way through it, I’m reading about how you should treat the immigrant as someone native born, that you should treat the foreigner as you would want to be treated. That really spoke to me about the situation with immigration and foreigners going on in our world today. That was so relevant, so I journalled a page in my Bible as a reminder that we do need to stop treating others as different from ourselves.’
- Memorial: ‘When Joshua crossed the Jordan River, he was told to erect a memorial, so that every time they passed by they could remember what God had done. They were told to put down memorial stones. There have been many times in my life when I have been going through something difficult, and God really ministered to me through a passage of Scripture. When I see the page where I journalled that verse it reminds me that God speaks and is active in my life. My Bible is a place of ongoing testimony of God’s activity in my own life.’
Amy came to Trinity College Bristol after serving as principal of a Bible college because, she says, ‘I knew I needed deeper preparation for what God has called me to in the future—I am passionate about equipping the next generation of leaders.’ She is an independent MA student, who hopes to focus her postgraduate research on leadership and discipleship.
For those who would like to experiment with Bible journalling, Amy uses a Crossway ESV Single Column Journalling Bible, enjoys the blog ‘Illustrated Faith’ for ideas, and uses the US company ‘Sweet N Sassy Stamps’ for supplies. You can follow her on Instagram at delight_in_colour.
Posted December 2018
