Skillshare Mini Challenge // Backgrounds for Everyone!

If you're following along with the Scripture Memory / Dwell Richly printable, here's the verse for week 42: 

But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Nehemiah 9:17 (ESV)

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A S S I G N M E N T

Mini Challenge for Bonnie Christine's Intro to Surface Pattern Design Class: Design a desktop wallpaper featuring your own artwork and favorite inspirational quote (for more examples, check out the free downloads under 'class project'). 

You can sign up for a free month of Skillshare here!

C L A S S   P R O J E C T

Desktop Background: I love the idea of this challenge but honestly, I rarely see my desktop background. There's a reason I design planners and organization printables... not because I'm organized but because it's my life goal to have structure, to get organized and to figure out a system. I have yet to achieve any of those goals. ;)

So, for this mini challenge, I played around with a few different desktop backgrounds to fit the styles of everyone. For those of you who keep a clean desktop, the ones who close out all windows at the end of the day so that they can open a fresh workspace every morning, I used the quote: "What she tackles, she conquers." Because trust me ladies, if you can create structure and strategy like that, I firmly believe that what you tackle, you will conquer. Plus, what a wonderfully motivating quote that would be to start your day with! 

And then I created this desktop background for people like me. People who always have countless windows and projects open, way too many to tackle in one day. People who, let's be honest, if you actually ever see your desktop, it's because you've stretched your trusty computer a little too far and it's given up on you. Time to close everything up and reboot. Time to take a break. Time to go pick some flowers on the wildside. ;) 

I realized after I posted the project and the name [Backgrounds for Everyone!] that I only posted feminine backgrounds so here's a gender neutral one. :)

Which background do you relate to the most? Feel free to use these backgrounds for your own desktop! 

The Holy Spirit & A Free Scripture Memory Print // Romans 15:13

If you're following along with the Scripture Memory / Dwell Richly printable, here's the verse for week 11: 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NIV)

This verse calls for a free print... seriously. In every study I'm going through, in every sermon or lecture JD and I have heard in the past four weeks, the Holy Spirit is the main focus. And yet the Holy Spirit immediately directs the attention right back to Jesus. I can't imagine that this topic is a coincidence. I'm embarrassed to say that I am constantly amazed by God - I mean, it's a good thing but shouldn't I know by now that God is God and He is consistently faithful in being great, just, merciful and loving? And yet He still shocks me by His goodness, His grace and His provision. 

For those of you that don't know the backstory of the Dwell Richly printable: JD's sister (Theresa) and I were sitting at the dining room table at Christmas. I told her that I felt led to put together a supplemental tool for the 2015 Agendas. Within a few hours, the Spirit led us in creating the printable, without phones, apps or Google to help us find verses. It was such a sweet and beautiful time I will never forget with my sister-in-law, us depending solely on God and getting super excited about the verses to where the Lord would lead us. 

The greatest thing has been to see the way God has orchestrated events in our lives to synchronize with the verses at the perfect timing. And by 'our,' I mean, all of the friends, myself included, who have texted or emailed me about the way God is speaking to them in the verses. This week has been no different.

The Holy Spirit is entirely infiltrating and transforming all of the knowledge I thought I knew about Him. Confession: For so long, I have thought of the Holy Spirit as a sidekick, a little brother who picked the short straw, the one in the Trinity who was least of the three. I referred to the Holy Spirit as an "it" because I failed to realize that the Holy Spirit is very much a person and very much relational. Even to talk about the Holy Spirit, it was a little 'too charismatic' for my southern baptist background. In John 16, Jesus says,

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:7-15)

It blows my mind that Jesus says it is good for Him to go away, so that the Holy Spirit will come and dwell in us. But it was good. The Spirit teaches the truths of the bible to God's people (John 14:26), convicts people of their sinfulness and need for the Good News (John 16:8), gives believers power over sin (Galatians 5:16-21) and the power to live a fruitful life (Galatians 5:22-25), helps believers and prays for them in their human weakness (Romans 8:26-27), and affirms salvation and believers' identity as children of God (2 Thessalonians 2:13). My favorite is that the Holy Spirit, in all of His glory and responsibilities, His most important job is to bear witness to Jesus and to bring Him glory (John 15:16 and 16:14). God, the Holy Spirit, directs all of the glory straight back to God, the Son, who then directs the glory to God, the Father. I won't pretend to understand the mysteries (or even the non-mysteries, the actual things God lays out for us in scripture) of the Trinity but I'm deeply grateful for what the Spirit is revealing to me about Himself, and in return, what the Spirit is revealing to me about the Father and the Son. I pray that He is doing the same for you.

There are so many other amazing characteristics of the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to listen to the lesson given by Karen Burke about the characteristics of the Holy Spirit (all of the ones listed above came from this lesson): Journey Through John - The Holy Spirit

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).

To download the free print, you can click here. The logo and desktop background are not included on the print. Please do not redistribute the actual file on Pinterest or professional / personal websites or blogs without permission. Thanks!

Hebrews 4:12 Free Printable & Scripture Recap

Download Hebrews 4:12 as a free 8 x 10 printable here. 

I don't know about you but I've been feeling highly unmotivated this week. JD has had to pull me out of bed most mornings because my body has felt like a heavy brick. I've been building blanket tents on the couch with warm coffee in my hands non-stop. I'm thankful for the sunshine pouring into the windows today as this week has been awfully dreary and the weather has seemed so sad. I'm also thankful for the fact that even when we're feeling sluggish, God's word is ALIVE and ACTIVE. What a beautiful truth to cling to! 

Thank you to everyone who has sent texts and emails this week about how God has spoken to you through this verse. If you missed my Facebook post this week, read it here:

As I was writing out Hebrews 4:12 this morning, I asked God if He could really affect people's lives with the verse this week from the scripture memory resource. "I know Your Word is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, but how is that going to carry people through a tough week?" Hello!? What more do you need to carry you through the week? When everything is crumbling around you, the Word of God is STILL 'alive and active; it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.' That is a beautiful promise, a promise we can surely cling to.

Within an hour, two friends messaged me saying how much they've been clinging to Hebrews 4:12. One friend said, "It is empowering and comforting to know that God's word can see right through my 'tough' exterior and evaluates my heart. When others may misinterpret my intentions, He is refining me and loves the deepest parts. Good words to know by hear." I'm thankful for encouraging friends and I'm thankful for the One who hears me, in even my most naive moments, and still chooses to show me grace and truth at every corner.

Dwell Richly Update: I seriously can't get enough of Lindsey S.'s chalkboard memory verses! Loving that they are memorizing the verses as a family each week! PS: Sending infinite and GIGANTIC Happy Birthday Wishes to you today!!!! 

Amy G. posted the AMP version of Hebrews 4:12 this week. The details and descriptions are so good:
For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and the [immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

If you'd like to join us in memorizing scripture this year, download the free Dwell Richly scripture memory resource for 2015 here. Post photos and status updates about how you're memorizing scripture and/or how God is speaking to you through the verses on IG, Facebook and Twitter using #dwellrichly and #scripturememory.

2015 Scripture Memory // Dwell Richly // Free Printable PDF

Download the free 2015 Scripture Memory printable here.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)" If you've been reading our blog throughout the past year or know me in real life, you know that I've been obsessed with this verse. Paul stresses the importance of scripture memory, to not only memorize God's Word, but to walk with Christ and encourage others with His Word.

The continuing of this verse encourages a deep level of intimacy within the believers' community... teach one another, admonish one another in all wisdom; sing together; be thankful together in your hearts to God. We need community. We need one another. It's the desire that God has created within us. When we first dwell in Christ, His love is an outpour - an overflow - into our communities. We are called to let the words of Christ dwell in us richly as a life-giving command for ourselves but also as a life-giving command for others. His words dwell in us and in return, pour out from our lips as truth to another as a form of accountability, love, wisdom and worship.

This is dwelling.

This is community.

This is worship.

an excerpt from Dwell (March 6, 2014)

So let's join in community together and memorize God's Word this year! We are so thrilled to release this free printable of 52 scripture memory verses for 2015. While this printable was created to supplement the Jitney's Journeys 2015 Daily Agenda, we encourage anyone and everyone to use this as a resource for scripture memory.

Format
While you are welcome to use this printable however you'd like, here's what we had in mind when designing it: Each weekly verse begins on a Monday; therefore, week 1 begins on January 5. The theme for each month has been built to interrupt you from typical monthly rhythms (i.e. "freedom" is in February instead of July and "gratitude" is in April instead of November).

This resource was designed to help you dive into scripture. Don't stop at memorizing the verses; meditate on them and ask God to speak to you through them. Seek opportunities to encourage other believers throughout the week by speaking the truths you're learning.

Share
How do you memorize scripture? Index cards? Writing it in the Dwell Richly section of your 2015 Daily Agenda? Or maybe you write out the verse as you practice your new love of calligraphy? Share with others how you memorize scripture by posting photos on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter using #dwellrichly and #scripturememory. We'd love to see what you're doing too so follow us and tag us @jitneysjourneys.

Download
Here it is!! Download the 2015 Scripture Memory Printable PDF here. As much as I hate to make this disclaimer, past situations force me to request it: Please be considerate of our Terms of Use located on the second page. Thank you!

2015 Daily Agenda
On a lighter note, have received your 2015 Daily Agenda yet? Purchase it from our Etsy Shop here!

New to the blog?
Start here. Get instant updates by following us on Instagram and liking Jitney's Journeys on Facebook.

Other Resources
4OnePurpose.com and SheReadsTruth.com are two of my favorite studies going on right now. If you're not currently involved in a study, check these out!