what is faithbooking??????

            

What is faithbooking? I found this excellent explanation at Faith Sisters by Michelle (co-owner of Faith Sisters). Since it is perfectly written, I wanted to share with you for inspiration.

“Future generations will also serve Him. Our children will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those yet unborn. They will hear about everything He has done.”                Psalm 22:30-31 LB

The Bible commands us to remember what God has done in our lives and that is what faithbooking is all about!  It is incorporating your faith and how God is working in your life into your scrapbook, to leave a legacy of faith.  It is about remembering Gods fingerprints in your life and passing those memories along to anyone who looks at your faithbook!

In Deuteronomy 4:9, Moses tells the people, “Be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.”

The Lord didn’t want it to be difficult for us to remember His blessings and fingerprints. In the Old Testament Days, He used festivals that the people were required to celebrate or He instructed them to make piles of rocks.  Today we have the means to create faithbooks! 
 
Alan Wright author of The God Moment Principle makes this statement, “Even mature, well-meaning Christians have an incredible ability to forget the extraordinary moments of God.  The memory dulls. The moment loses its luster. And soon, the life changing power is gone – spiritual amnesia has set in.”

Here are a few other benefits of having faithbooks:
   
First, faithbooks will increase our faith so we can withstand tomorrow’s tests -  that is one reason they are called faithbooks.  When we look back and remember times when the Lord healed us, rescued us, sustained us through a difficulty, provided for our needs, gave us abundant gifts, our faith in Him grows.   When we remember how He paid our bills last year and got us through the winter months, we will have the faith to trust Him for this year’s needs.

A second benefit of Faithbooking is that it demonstrates obedience in training our children about the Lord’s faithfulness.
If we go back to Moses, he goes on to say,
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are upon your hearts, impress them on your children.”  Deut. 6: 5-6

It’s not simply for us to remember, it’s for our children. 
In fact Psalm 78:4 says: “We will tell the next generation the praise worthy deeds of the Lord, His power and the wonders He has done.” 
Isaiah 38:19b LB “Each generation can make known your faithfulness to the next.”Joel 1:3 NIV “Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation
We are admonished to “TELL the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord.”  (Psalm 78:4).

The Word does not say if we have time, if we have money, if we don’t work outside the home, if we have a housecleaner and a supportive spouse.  As Christians, we are to remember all the things God is doing in our lives and we are to tell the next generation.

By creating faithbooks for and WITH our children, we are obeying God’s word and obeying the Word of the Lord produces JOY.  Our children too will benefit greatly from that obedience.  Their lives will also be changed by the power of your Faithbooking stories.

Dr. James Dobson made a statement in favor of faithbooks: “If there is anything I feel we have lost as a people in the western world it’s that understanding of who we are, where we’ve been, who our ancestors were, and what our identity is.  And that is done through the family structure.  Continuity from generation to generation depends on taking the best from the past and passing it along to our children.    (June 22, 2000 broadcast).

Our children are faced with pressures to conform to the standards of this world everyday.  Disrespect and rebellion against God and all authority is played-out at school, on television, in music and with friends.  Reinforcing your family values and God’s word in and through our photo album/faithbooks, will give our children the help they need to stand firm in this very pressure-filled world.

A third benefit of Faithbooking is that it glorifies God.  A “traditional” photo album tends to place the emphasis on “me” and the who, what, where and when of the photos such as; where we went on vacation, what we did, who came along and when did we go.   

However, a faith book can take the same events and find the Lord’s fingerprints (His influence) in the same activities.   A faithbook captures God IN me and God at work AROUND me.  Literally, His power affecting our lives.

A faith book causes us to take pictures of events that we normally wouldn’t think of documenting.  When our 2-year-old lathers his face with jelly we run to take a picture of him for our PHOTO album.  “Isn’t HE cute and what a charming personality”…. 

With a mindset of Faithbooking you are now ready to take a picture for your faith book of your four-year-old kneeling by her bed to invite Jesus into her heart.  That photo and story is about her AND the Lord.  “I don’t have my camera ready at times like that” you might say.  With Faithbooking, it’s permissible to “recreate” scenes. 

Increasing our faith, obeying and glorifying the Lord are just three benefits.  You will see that faithbooks also:
1) Help to develop a grateful attitude in our lives
2) Encourage us and others
3) Help us memorize God’s word
4) Teach and warn us almost like a Family Bible
5) Reinforce our family values and beliefs.   

These are just some of the benefits we can experience when we take the time to discover the spiritual power of our own pictures and stories.

Comments

[Sandra Martin]

This is an inspiring post. I love scrapbooking and art journaling, but agree that sometimes it can be too "me-centered." This article succinctly expresses how our humble "faithbooks" can preserve more than memories, but truly be a lasting testimony. Truly blessed by this!

[angeljoy]

I love this idea! What a practical way to chronicle God's work in our lives!