When I Have The Time…

By Chelsey Dankert

When I have the time…

Fill in the blank. What would you do if you had the time? 

I have seen the reels and heard the stories that “I didn’t lose myself in motherhood, I was redefined…” and to a certain extent that is completely true. The throes of motherhood have definitely shown me different seasons and different priorities; however I believe that we (or maybe just, me,) get lost in the everyday tasks that we do, in fact, lose ourselves to the constant needs of those dependent on us. 

How many times have I just wanted to sit down and finish a cup of coffee without being interrupted or eat my own sweet treat without the sticky hands appearing out of nowhere asking to share.

In all the ups and downs that motherhood whips our way, it can be really easy to lose our own footing and forget about the things that we actually enjoy doing!

I, for one, love hobbies. I love starting new hobbies. I love buying new items for my new hobbies. But I don’t love that I often don’t stick to them. It could be more time-consuming than I thought, not having a dedicated space to keep supplies out, or the seasons shift and it’s not a reasonable tote to keep kicking around the living room. 

More often than not, however, I think I drift away from hobbies because I feel guilty for “wasting time” on something when I could be productive doing something else. 

In January, while I was participating in a time of prayer and fasting with my church, I felt nudged to pick up a hobby that has been pushed aside. Little by little, my supplies snuck out of the bottom tote and onto our kitchen countertops. The more I considered the objects, the more I became excited to get back to it that evening. I found myself meditating on Bible verse and being able to see so clearly how to bring that to life on the pages of my journaling Bible. 

I was first introduced to the concept of Bible Journaling at a camp conference and completely fell in love with the idea of visually expressing Bible verses, biblical truths, worship lyrics, even prayers. 

There are some differing opinions about this art, and each should be respected. I will say that the Bible shown is not my everyday study Bible. While I have changed some of my art to not cover so much of the written words, there are several pages that are nearly unreadable. However, knowing that the purpose of this Bible is to creatively express what the Holy Spirit has laid on my heart, I am not ashamed of the artistic direction that some designs take. 

I use a specific “journaling Bible” as the pages are thicker with wide margins for maximum space. There are some Bibles that have outlines for coloring in throughout. While the outlines can be helpful, the ones that I’ve used I found myself more disappointed when a page already had an outline on it and I couldn’t design my own. 

Crayons and colored pencils work wonderfully - and we most likely have those sitting around anyway! I have collected some more “specialty” items to help create specific looks and designs. 

You can make it as simple or complex as you want! Pinterest has a lot of ideas and once you start looking, you may find it hard to stop!

Happy journaling!