A New Year of Journaling

I can't believe it is already January 1 ... of 2014.  Like about 2000+ other people, I am participating in The Documented Life Project ... and I love it!  My book is combining the idea of a planner, art journal, altered scrapbook, and whatever else I can manage to throw in!  I am also including work from another online class, so mine is not  real planner per se, but I am adding some planner pages as I go along.  I didn't get a real good photo of my cover, but here it is:

I am not much into paint brushes these days, so I brayered on several acrylic colors onto an old binder and I added rub-ons and layers of napkins to blend and change up the look.  The tabs were a free printable from the web that I enhanced with circle punches.  Persevere is my word for the year and I am plastering it everywhere I can.  Much of my journal work this year will hit n that topic.

The first challenge for The Documented Life Project was to take a photo of our front door or entry way as a reminder that we are opening the door to 2014 and all it holds.  This assignment hit home on so many levels.  It is not well known, but my home has been a place of bondage for me many years. I did not own my home; it owned me.  Years of abuse left me with the disease of hoarding ... and more shame than I could carry.  I locked my house up.  I did not let in friend, foe, or plumber.  

My life changed in October 2004 when I invited Christ into my life.  I was incapable of clearing away decades of junk and dirt apart from Him.  146 weeks ago, I started clearing away junk and literally gutting my home while I was living in it and i did it through His strength ... while I was pursing a new career ... while I was attending college ... while I was dedicating time to outreach ministries.  I am not done ... but God has equipped me with perseverance and strength and friends to love me and support me and and on occasion pick up a hammer or paintbrush.  

I still have 2 rooms left that need to be overhauled and the rest of the house is disorderly, because all my art studio furniture and supplies are in my living room while the art room is being gutted and painted ... but still ... my house is a miracle.  There has been a huge transformation inside.  But I am tired and most weeks, this feels like a project that will never end, so my word for 2014 is persevere.  I need perseverance ... a lot.  So this assignment has made me emotional about God.  Last year I painted my front door an outrageous color.  It is a really bad paint job (my first attempt at an artsy door LOL), but it is a symbol of transformation and revival ... of me and my home.  And I hear God encouraging me and assuring me that He will build perseverance in me ... and that I (and my house) are both a work in progress ... and He has not forgotten us.  I won't give up before the miracle.  Doors are going to swing wide open in 2014 :)