Bible Journaling - Genesis 39 & 40

We get to pick up the story of Joseph again in Genesis 39. In the last chapter of our Bible Journaling experience, we left him hanging to first take a look at what was happening in Judah's life. In the meantime, we learn that Joseph went to work in a powerfully influential man's house where he quickly rose to the top and made a brilliant impression on his owner and boss. The man's wealth increased and Joseph quickly rose through the ranks, being promoted from one position to the next. Sadly, a temptress soon put an end to this brilliant career, even though Joseph never caved to her wily ways, so that at the end of the chapter, we see him confined to a prison. There he again proves his character to be outstanding and before long, he gains the respect of all and sundry. It is also in prison that his special gifts with dreams come to the fore again, when he foretells the future of two fellow inmates, when layout out their dreams. When I journal these chapters, I insert a page with a poem that I wrote a while ago. Let me walk you through my journaling steps in today's blog.

When I insert a page, we necessarily have the story run over onto the next page, as the inserted page now needs to be turned. We also need to figure out what to do at the back of this inserted page.

After the extensive journaling, of the previous four pages, we then have a short overflow onto the next page as well.

Genesis 39 and 40 look like this in the Inspire Praise Bible.

I coat the pages with Zellen Clear Gesso before I start. I have since been given two bottles of Clear Gesso to pretest, before marketing and manufacturing, which are much superior products, but I am not yet at liberty to disclose more on this topic, though I would advise you to keep your eyes peeled in future blogs, as I am very impressed with the results from one of these test samples.

When I return the pages again, I have already journaled the previous chapter and my pages now look like this.

I decide to depict the wealth and increase that Potiphar experienced under Joseph's stewardship in the form of a very modern bar graph, with an upward growth pattern. I also add the universally recognizable dollar symbol to indicate wealth and financial prosperity, as the NLT is an American translation of the Bible. I do all of this with Mont Marte Adult Colouring Duo Markers.

I the go the next passage, wher Joseph finds himself behind bars. I use a pencil to draw two hands holding on to prison bars.

I use the same markers to colour this illustration.

I then find a pretty page to insert into the Bible.

As the page is slightly too big, I trim the edges so it will fit into the Bible.

I then use a fountain pen to rewrite the poem I had written on the page. The poem is simply titled Verkragting (Rape) and deals with both sides of the story, namely actual rape versus false claims of rape. It also sympathizes with both victims, pointing out that both abuses of power has devastating consequences for its victims. It seemed a good place to insert this poem after we have read of the actual rape of Dinah and now the false accusations brought about Joseph. Two of Jacob's children had to suffer the devastation of rape and its consequences. The poem is written in Afrikaans and I place it here for those of my followers who understand the language.

Verkrag - deur Marietjie Uys (Miekie)

Hier staan ek voor die woord verkrag

en verwonder my oor al sy mag.

Hierdie woord wat lewens stukkend skeur

of dit nou wel, of nie, gebeur.

Hoe is die mens nie oorgegee

aan elkeen wat hul weg betree,

maar hoe kan mens dan ooit verwag

dat iemand jou summier verkrag?

Daar is geen twyfel oor die pyn

wat dalk vervaag, maar nooit verdwyn,

en dan opeens weer fel na vore tree,

heel onvoorsiens en ongeleë.

Dog, wat as daar nooit verkragting was,

en die onskuldige was verniet belas

met hierdie woord wat seerder maak

as moontlik enige ander saak?

Is die skade enigsens minder fel

as in die ware verkragtingshel,

of is dit moontlik net so erg

vir hul wat teen die woord verdwerg?

Waar lê die blaam, en wie praat waar,

wonder elk wat om die woord vergaar.

Tog is daar geen uitklaring vir die vraag

waar elkeen kies wie hy onderskraag.

Dis man teen vrou en kind daarby

in 'n stryd wat net nooit einde kry,

gemotiveer deur mag en toon van krag

in 'n wêreld wat na steeds meer smag.

Hierby sal ons die saak moet laat;

die woord bestaan alleen uit kwaad.

Daar is geen goed in hierdie ding

wat ongevraag lewens indring.

I then dare to use some embossed stickers on the insert page, as it is quite thick and the embossed stickers should therefore not negatively impact on the rest of my pages.

I add some stickers to the opposite page as well to bind the two pages into a unity. At this stage the page is simply loosely slipped into the Bible to see what it would look like when done.

I remove the page again to draw the dream of the baker on the back of the page. This is one of the dreams that Joseph laid out/explained to the dreamers. I start with a pencil sketch of the top of someone's head, a basket of bread balancing atop it. I then draw a bird feeding on the bread.

I use the Mont Marte Markers to colour this illustration.

I then decide that the illustration appears too bleak and colour the background as well.

I then draw and colour a grape vine with the Mont Marte Markers in the Bible. This is to illustrate the dream of the cup bearer.

I also draw a cup filled with wine.

Now it is time to insert the page into the Bible. I stick a strip of two-sided tape to the insert.

I then carefully position the page into the spine of the Bible. My first two pages now look like this.

When I turn the inserted pages, my page layout looks like this.

Yet, the chapter continues on the next page as well. These pages have already been treated with Gesso.

The verses does not deal with anything new, but simply continues the story that I have already journaled. I therefore decide to simply add a decorative sticker to the open margin next to the passage.

When I am done the page looks like this.

I page back to get an overview of the chapter.

And then I page back again to where I started from.

You can watch a short compilation video of the steps above on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/PAkiJbifjnU

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2005,2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois, 60188. All rights reserved.

Inspire PRAISE South Africa edition copyright 2017 by Christian Art Publishers, PO Box 1599, Vereeniging, 1930, RSA. All rights reserved.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
You may prefer to follow the traveling blog, A Pretty Tourist.
For more crafty ideas and great product reviews, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
If you are in a literary mood, follow Miekie's musings, stories and poetry on A Pretty Author - Miekie.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making life PRETTY.
You can subscribe to any of these blogs and receive regular updates by email. Simply register your email address at the top of the applicable blog.