Scripture Writing Challenge 2016

This year, I was challenged by my good friend Abby to dig deeper into God's Word.
The previous year, Abby found the blog Sweet Blessings, where the author (Shannon) mapped out different scriptures that would take about 5-10 minutes to write. I figured I spend so much time doing other things, that might or might not be considered a "waste" of time, that I need to purposefully take time for God. Besides, it's only 10 minutes, what could it hurt?

Here's an example of April's Challenge.

Isn't it gorgeous? And Shannon made lists in Spanish, short lists (My Girl Twin likes the short list cause she wanted to do the challenge too, but found the long version daunting.), and a "manly" list without all the frills.

After pinning everything I could find from Sweet Blessings, Pinterest anticipated my needs and showed me Rachel Wojo, who has everything on Bible Journaling.
(That's a thing now. Did you know that? I feel so out of the loop!)

Rachel's site offers monthly plans as well, but they are topic based. (I pinned all of them for later use.)
Here's the Reading Challenge for April from her site. I know it's a reading challenge, but I know I absorb more when I write.

His Mercy is New is another site that offers Reading/ Writing outlines. Candace is the author of the blog, and she offers topical/ Bible book outlines that encourage readers to Write the Word & Pray the Word.

Heidi St. John also offers Scripture Writing outlines on her site. Hers also seem to be topical.

So why am I telling you about all these ladies and their plans? Because I needed them, and I'm guessing you might as well.

I'm a mom of 4 (yes, I had a baby since the last time I blogged), and an elementary school teacher. I also have a hubby who likes talking to me when we find the time. :)

I was busy. I AM busy. I was also drowning in anxiety.
Have you seen the news lately? Do you see what's happening all over the world? Doesn't it frighten you just a bit? Please tell me it's not just me.
I needed something to calm me.
Now you can tell me to look to God, and I do, but I need something that's routine and organized. I can't just open God's Word on a whim and see what happens.

That's why I love these monthly outlines. I look forward to getting my 5-10 minutes uninterrupted God time. It's not a lot, but it's helped me so much.
I'm calmer. I'm not having mini-panic attacks. I can face the world, my kids, my students, and my hubby without having a million things in the back of my mind whispering how things can go wrong.

5-10 minutes with God has help set me free from anxiety. In fact, sometimes I'll write more. I'll write extra; especially on those days that were more trying than others. 

So, feel free to join me in the Scripture Writing Challenge! It helped me to get a new journal (it gave me something to look forward to) and I got myself a new Bible. I'm using the Inspire Bible (NLT).  
It's so pretty. *she said dreamily*

I can't draw or doodle to save my life, so I like that this Bible does it for me. It's for creative journaling (it's a thing!) and it has lots of pictures just waiting to be colored and journaling lines waiting to be filled.

If you are wanting to map your months out on your own, or you want something to use as a check off sheet, I made a little something you can use! I'm just putting the pic for April on here, but I promise there's a whole year's worth in the download!

Year Outline Color

Year Outline BW

I hope you'll join me! It's never too late to start!
I'll also be sharing scripture pictures from this journey. I find it calming to create, and I like pretty things. :)
Check under the label Scripture Pictures for download links!