Bible Journaling Made Simple - Review

Bible Journaling Made Simple

By: Sandy Allnock

Publication: October 23rd 2018 by North Light Books

144 pages

Genre: Christian, Non-fiction, Art, Crafts

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

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Goodreads description--Draw closer to God and creatively unlock more of the Good Book!

Your relationship with God is unique. Shouldn't your Bible reflect and celebrate that bond? In this introduction to Bible journaling, you'll discover meaningful ways to combine art, heart and scripture--from backgrounds to hand-lettered verses to beautiful full-page drawings. No expensive supplies or artistic skills are required...only a desire to honor and enhance your spiritual life.

To guide your creative worship experience, this book provides:
Prompts to engage you with the text, then visually interpret Scripture in words and pictures
Basic techniques for working with colored pencils, watercolor pencils and watercolor paints
21 step-by-step tutorials for drawing trees, flowers, skies, mountains, maps, water, light and other popular themes
Tons of inspirational page samples and suggested verses to illustrate
Downloadable icons and technique videos available on the author's website

Whether you're new to Bible journaling or looking for fresh ideas, this book will lead you on a rewarding spiritual journey. Success is not measured in the complexity or polish of the art, but in a deeper, more personal connection with God.

"Our lives are busy, and we leave a trail of things-we-should-remember on the ground behind us. Instead, scoop them up and journal them. Preserve the lessons vital to our growth as Christians." page 12

I've been following Sandy Allnock on YouTube for a while now. I didn't think much about it when she talked about creating a book, but then when I saw it available for review on NetGalley, I knew I'd want to get it and review it. And I'm so glad that I did.

I'm fairly new to these kinds of books. I read and reviewed my first arts/craft book last year and recently I've been on a kick with them as my creative juices have been overflowing. I purchased Complete Guide to Bible Journaling last year and it was so full of great content that I wasn't sure Bible Journaling Made Simple would really have anything to add, but I was so wrong. This book ended up being so much more than I expected it to be.

First off, I love that Sandy Allnock set up this book as a guide for teaching/participating in a Bible journaling group. But if you choose to follow alone that's perfectly fine. The group suggestion is mentioned in the beginning with a guide on how you could go about working the book around a group, but this isn't mentioned over and over throughout the book which I appreciated.

I loved that there are art tutorials, but symbolism is talked about a lot so that why you are creating a particular design for a particular Scripture makes sense. Yet Sandy Allnock really stresses how much the focus is on spending time with God and not simply creating perfect art. As a matter of fact, at times she purposefully encourages you to be imperfect with your art to keep yourself focused on what really matters most.

The art itself and the tutorials on how to create the same or similar pieces feels both challenging and achievable which is a huge line to balance without going over too far to either side. There were certainly examples of her art that is currently beyond my skill level. Yet there were so many things I felt I could replicate in my own style.

Each chapter has a subfocus of a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5) so it was almost like a devotional at the same time. I appreciated that I could nod my head to the Spiritual things she discussed while she maintained distance from doctrinal issues that might be controversial making this book a good fit for any who claims the name Christian.

Also included in each chapter was a list of verses and topics applicable to the tutorials and subjects of each chapter. I really love that this was included because it makes the book practical for the very beginner level of Bible Journaling or a very new Christian.

Bible Journaling Made Simple was so exciting for me because it exceeded my expectations in every way. There's art that challenging yet achievable. There's Scripture and subject focused chapters. And there's focus on symbolism. Bible Journaling Made Simple gets 5 Stars. Have you read Bible Journaling Made Simple? What did you think? Let me know!