Appreciating & reading the Word of God. It's a constant battle for me. I do great for a while, revived & inspired. My Bible speaks to me in torrents of words, guiding me, teaching me. And then I fizzle out, the torrent slowing to a trickle, so gradually I'm surprised when I find myself in the spiritual desert again. The first few times this happened it scared me. I got so frustrated with myself & would try to recreate the feelings I had before when I felt so close to God. Over time, I've realized it's okay that those times come. They will come. Every day won't have "the spiritual feels".
Darwin's been so good for me in this area. He's steady as a rock, serving God no matter how he "feels". That being said, I still like to "feel". But I know it takes effort on my part: God is always near, but sometimes I have to fight through the shrouds of indifference & laziness on my side to see Him again. I've tried highlighting & writing notes in the margins of my Bible. (Which helped, but now my Bible is squirreled away lest some poor unsuspecting soul find it & read my sometimes terrifying outpourings!) I've tried journaling about what I've read. I've tried to text Dar my summary of my reading of the day. Those all worked for a time. But eventually I lose steam & fizzle out with those too. What's a girl to do?
Now, maybe this is wrong. If it is, I pray the Spirit will prompt me to get back into the right mindset. But I've realized shaking things up, trying something new, keeps me more motivated to focus on my devotional time. So, lately, in the morning, when I read my Bible, I've been handlettering a verse that stands out to me. It helps the verse stick in my pathetically scattered brain, gives me some hand-lettering practice, & makes me mull about the verse as long as it takes me to finish my drawing. My intention is not to create art, but to simply help me focus on the words I read.
If you struggle to focus in your daily devotions, try this! Even if you aren't an artist, or have never hand lettered before in your life (there are some amazing handlettering artists out there! Check out her & her & her for some inspiration), the point of this is simply to help focus during reading. Don't make it about the final product; make it about setting time aside to let God' truths wash over you. Here is how I approach it:
-Gather your supplies. You will need:
a few pieces of paper. Any kind will do.
A pencil.
An eraser.
A fine-tipped sharpie.
A Bible.
And coffee. Don't forget the coffee.
-Pray before reading, that God would open your heart to His voice. If you skip this step, it is a pointless exercise. Just saying.
-Read through once, then come back through & read again, listening & watching for the "verse of the day" that you are going to focus on.
-Count how many words are in your verse. (just for the sake of simplicity & not giving up before you start, pick something shorter) I chose 2 Peter 3:14, with 15 words.
-Pick the key words, or phrases you really want to highlight in your handlettering (I boxed mine in the photo) These are words you can make more artistic. The filler words (and, the, if, with, etc.) you can just write in your everyday hand-writing.
-Sketch out your framework of words. Don't fret over this. Remember, this is about focusing on scripture! I drew an oval & divided it into thirds; one third for each of my keywords.
-Practice a few words in pencil on a different piece of paper to get your hand relaxed. Move your whole arm from the shoulder, not just your hand at the wrist. This will keep your lettering more flowy & flourishy. But seriously, don't stress.
-Then relax some more & with your pencil, write your keywords. Use whatever font style you want: blocky, chunky, scripty, it's up to you. I tend towards calligraphy inspired fonts.
-Once you're pleased with your keywords, fill in the rest of the words around them in pencil, trying to get an overall balanced look.
-After you're satisfied with your layout, go over the lettering in pen. I use a humble fine-tipped sharpie. There are lots of more expensive pens out there, but a sharpie works just fine.
tip: On your keywords, add some depth or calligraphy look by fattening up your down strokes. This is easier than you think: just make any stroke you write downward thicker & your upward strokes leave alone. Here is a good tutorial by one of my favorite bloggers.
-Add some little flourishes or a frame if you want. Totally optional. Whatever keeps your mind focused on the words & not on your daily to-do list.
Sit back & read your verse again. Let it sink into your brain. Something else about doing this: you may notice a trend in keyword from one day to the next...I've been seeing diligence everywhere! Guess I need to work on that:).
I hope this helps you if you've been struggling with some focus. I have been loving it.
And I would love to see your letterings! Feel free to share them with me. My email is jennaksinn@gmail.com. You can find me on instagram @jennasinn (use #likepearlshandlettering to share yours & see others!)
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