Here is the story of how the Lord brought me down the path of doing this fun project while I waited for my Reclaimed Joy book to be edited. This prompt from God became a joyful and relaxing way for me to experience the truth of God’s word. Now as this one year project comes to a close, I hope it blesses you as much as it has me in creating it. I have learned more about God,myself and that striving to people please and perfectionism is not the perfect nor pleasing life to live after all.

The Journal ’s Inspiration
The Clothed in Strength & Dignity Journal was created not only from my love
for journaling and occasional doodling but also from a longing to create a
devotional book after watching the movie 27 Dresses. Though this concept
may not sound spiritual, that next day after I watched the movie, I felt inspired
to draw 27 little dresses in my journal, redeeming the truth nuggets revealed
to me. Each new day I read one chapter in the book of Proverbs as I searched
for daily wisdom, choosing one verse to ponder, writing it down, and titling
my dress. Some of those dress drawings are displayed around this page.
Truth be told, I was not a fan of all of the aspects of the movie’s content, yet
watching the main character Jane’s strong desire to please people struck a
chord in me. For I, too, have lost my identity in the process of trying to please
people throughout my life. Jane somehow found herself saying yes to being
a bridesmaid 27 times with an underlining hope that one day these brides
would return the favor. Not only that, but Jane’s sentimentality lured her to
cram every one of those 27 bridesmaid dresses into her closet, leaving no
room in her closet or life to spread her God given wings and fly.
For me, people-pleasing became a counterfeit love that was based on fear of
rejection, crowding out God’s perfect love that casts out all fear, as 1 John 4:18
promises.
Eventually Jane found her true love and cleaned out her closet, for in that
true love was revealed the truth she needed—spurring her to embrace the
positive changes that were necessary for her newfound freedom. God’s love
will do that for us and so much more. One touch from God will transform your
life forever. Accepting Him as your Lord and Savior and choosing to follow
Him every day will be the best decision you will ever make.
When Jane married the man of her dreams, those 27 brides became her
bridesmaids, returning the favor just as she hoped they would do.
May you find God’s love for you in fresh new ways; may your personal journey
of being clothed in strength and dignity allow you to more fully experience
laughter without fear of the future.

My first doodles.

…let the adorning be
the hidden person of the heart
with the imperishable beauty
of a gentle and quiet spirit,
which in God’s sight is very precious.
1 Peter 3:4 ESV


Journal Instructions
The journal progresses through the book of Proverbs from Chapter 1
to Chapter 31.
One dress to color and one highlighted verse each day. The selected
verse to ponder correlates with that chapter.

Hanging with Jesus! The page opposite the dress and verse for that
day will have a few questions about the highlighted verse and a place to
write your Garment of Praise—your gratitude to God or something for
which you are thankful.

Devotions. If you choose to read the whole chapter (which I encourage)
you may use this space for your thoughts or study notes.

Doodle or Dream. Use your own quiet time style with Jesus that will
promote personal growth and intimacy with Him.

Blank pages at the end the journal may be used to create a collage of
words or phrases, or sketch or draw, to help you reflect on your learning
and or new awareness of God or yourself that emerged as you worked
through each chapter.

I have used The Passion Translation of the Bible frequently because of
the poetic way it is written. I have felt God’s love in a deeper level
through incorporating this translation. Feel free to use any Bible
translation with which you are comfortable.

The beautiful bouquet of God’s Wisdom
The Book of Proverbs is a beautiful bouquet of God’s wisdom and revelation
knowledge. Mainly written by King Solomon, this book stands poised and
ready for us to daily gather up its fragrant truths in the 31chapters it provides
the reader. Wisdom is poetically woven throughout the pages, giving us
answers to our human condition through the lens of God’s divine solutions.
Once we apply the wisdom of the aromatic truths to our lives, we cannot help
but spread that scent wherever we go as our lives reflect the image of God
more fully and completely.
Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.
2 Corinthians 2:15 NLT

You can preorder this book by going directly through Venmo -123 or Paypal.me/heartfullofjoy The price is 14.95 plus 5.00 S/H. Please specify its for the dress book.I hope to ship out the orders by end of May. This will also be available next week for preorders on lisasjourney.net Thank you so much, Lisa