Scribbles & Doodles & Reading Aloud

Making Time to Study the Word

Life often moves at a breakneck pace. Whatever season you’re in, I imagine you’ve got a lot on your plate, calling for your attention. 

I am in a season of raising children (toddlers, teens, and a few in between!) and developing my career. The latter, I am grateful to admit, calls for some pretty dedicated time to study the Bible. But in this season of busyness (which is not so different from other seasons of busyness) I find I must make time to cultivate my relationship with Jesus. Like every other important relationship in life, I have to be intentional about how I spend my time and carve out opportunities to enjoy and engage with the One who is my Savior, Redeemer, and Friend. Thankfully, unlike other relationships, He is willing to meet me where I am. 

Here are three things I’m doing to make time and space in my heart and mind.

Scribbles

My first step when I approach a text, either for personal study or professional, is to read it with fresh eyes and rapid log, aka Scribble, my initial thoughts, questions, and impressions. Rapid log is a term from the Bullet Journal tradition. It means jotting down your thoughts, bullet-point style, as it occurs to you. 

This initial step serves to clear my mind of any assumptions or associations I have. I stress that it is an initial first step because it is essential to go back through those notes and seek out the truth about what those stories mean. As Ali mentioned in her post, sometimes all we have is a few moments to jot down our thoughts, but someday we will get the time to dig deeper. 

My scribbles are a way to engage with the text with an open heart. Sometimes I will paraphrase what I’ve read, to see if I’m understanding it. Sometimes I will write down the exact Scripture, and occasionally I will…

Doodle!

When it comes to art, I’ve always been better with words and speech. My ability to communicate visually is somewhat lacking. I can sketch a pretty decent snail when called upon to do so, but even that is hit and miss. 

Yet my hands love to be busy, especially when I’m listening to a sermon or podcast, or even going back over my scribbled notes.  I find my pen working over the letters, making shapes, and sketches of things that are standing out to me. 

What surprised me one day was realizing that what appeared to be mindless doodling was actually helping me remember and connect to what I was studying! The doodles help me to slow down and sit in the words. 

Like scribbling, doodling it is only a piece of Bible study, incomplete on its own, but part of a rich, intentional, process of growing closer to the Lord.  

Reading Aloud

Finally, another way I like to engage with the text is by reading it out loud.  I do this in my room or at the table while my children are eating breakfast. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don’t, but I speak the words anyway.  

In this text from Deuteronomy, the Lord instructs future kings to engage with Scripture by writing and reading it:

“When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes.” Deuteronomy 17:18-19

The Hebrew word for “read” (here and in many other verses) is “qara” (pronounced car-uh). It means “to call out, summon, invite, name, utter aloud”. It’s a hugely different picture than what I usually have in my mind when I think of reading, which is what I have always done when I want to be alone! 

Like scribbling and doodling, reading the words out loud helps me to slow down and take them in, allowing me to engage fully with whatever it is the Holy Spirit is teaching me. 

I love the Word of God. I love learning the history and culture of the people in the ancient world. I love digging into the language and discovering how God is timeless and unchangeable. Mostly, I love that He chooses to engage with us, where and when we are if only we will take the time to engage with Him. 

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

Are you willing to give one of these tricks a try? Here is a Three Ways to Engage Printable to help you incorporate scribbling, doodling, or reading aloud into your time with the Word. Share your experience with us in the comments or on the Facebook Community Page!