Hymn and Faith Journaling - I Surrender All

God made each of us special and unique in some ways. As a scrapbooker, I believe I can tell the story of our family and of my growing up years so that it benefits the next generation(s). One story of my life I've definitely wanted to share has been the point in time when I received Jesus as my Savior and was baptized. Patter's (Triple the Scraps) Hymn and Scripture Challenge in 2012 included an "Invitation Hymn" that we sang many times in church, inviting people to come forward at the end of a service and receive Christ. I decided to use her hymn challenge for "I Surrender All" to share my own Invitation to Salvation.

I apologize for the photos. It has been dark and cloudy here for so many days lately. My photos aren't what they should be, so I may retake them and edit this post if we ever get a sunny day and I'm home! I used 12" x 12" pages for this layout since I wanted plenty of room for the hymn, Scriptures, my long story, and a photo.

I used the first page for the hymn and this handwritten verse that goes along with my journaling:
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23.

The right page has my personal story and my photo taken at that age along with this verse that the pastor shared with me:
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

I used Basic Grey "Sugared" papers and stickers. The Paper Studio "Faith" paper is the gold one that has crosses. I punched borders with a Martha Stewart punch and added a few buttons. What had always seemed like a formidable task to make just right, was not so hard in the end. I hope it inspires you to share your own story. I'm sharing this "Faithbooking" layout with Word Art Wednesday where I've seen inspiring layouts every week and am now more inspired to do the same.

Here's how I shared the journaling. May God bless and inspire you to do the same!

I sang this invitation hymn many, many times as I was growing up. From the time I was a baby, my parents had taken me to a Baptist church. When we moved to the Hickman Mills area in 1955, we started going to Besonia Baptist Church at Bannister and Raytown Rd. We didn’t have children’s church there, so I sat in the church service Sunday mornings and evenings. At the end of every message, the minister, Rev. Richard Waltz, would give an invitation to anyone who wanted to come forward and accept Christ as their Saviour or join the church. One Sunday morning when I was six, almost seven, I heard him talking about how our sins would keep us from getting into heaven. I whispered to my mom that I wanted to go forward to ask Jesus to be my Saviour because I wanted to go to heaven when I died. My mom asked me to wait until the evening service. They invited the minister,  to come to our house that afternoon to talk to me about salvation. We sat on the sofa while he asked me questions to be sure I understood that I was a sinner and that Jesus died on the cross for me. It all seemed very clear to me. He led me in prayer and then I prayed, telling Jesus I was sorry for my sins and that I wanted Him to come into my heart and be my Saviour and Lord. I was really happy afterwards and told my parents, who had been in the other room, probably listening. That night at the evening service I went forward when the invitation was being sung. A week or two later Rev. Richard Waltz baptized me. I can still remember the entire experience, even the green and brown plaid dress I wore. I remember it as a happy experience that I’ve felt sure of all of my life, knowing that I did have forgiveness of sins and I did receive Jesus as my Saviour.