Spiritual Journey Suitcase

Okay, I know this is a bit different than my usual papercrafting posts, but I felt compelled to share about my spiritual journey suitcase/keepsake box today.  First of all, I recently shared this idea, along with some others, with my MOPS ladies when I was teaching them a homemaking segment on "Leaving a Legacy" in tangible ways.  Then, a week or so later, I was reunited with a dear college friend whom I have not seen in 13 years.  In the process of catching up and sharing our stories and all that God has been teaching us, I found myself again sharing about this keepsake box and giving her a tour inside it.  My sister has also encouraged me to post about various arenas of my life on my blog...so, here it goes!

Basically, in a nutshell, I am a HUGE fan of keepsake boxes.  I have one for journals, wedding keepsakes, childhood momentos...one for each of my children...you get the idea.  Well, recently, I felt led to create one for my spiritual journey--and not long after I had gathered all of these little goodies in one place, I saw this suitcase box at Michael's and KNEW I had to use it for my keepsake box--a suitcase for my spiritual journey...you get the theme here :)

Well, you already saw the outside of the box at the start of the post above (love how it says Enjoy the Journey along the front, displayed so nicely as it sits atop my closet shelf).  Let's look inside...

Basically, it is filled with items that represent MY spiritual journey.  Some of these items will make sense to you, and others will not...and that is precisely the point.  It is MY journey remember :)
Here are a few of the items from inside--my first Bible study I did after I became a Christian (in 6th grade), a little Bible from my Baptism, a cassette tape recording of a mission trip testimony I gave to my church in college, 2 minibooks (look for more on those in upcoming blog posts), pink duct tape (yes, random for you, symbolic for me...), you get the idea.

There are also books that have "spoken" to me such as Scuffy the Tugboat (don't judge...yes, I know this is a super spiritual book LOL!) and the Christian Archie comic books that were so encouraging to me in my early days of being a believer (remember, I was just a kid...yes, these comic books are written with Christian themes, etc, and yes...I still think they are super cool).  Actually, my originial comic books were given away after a move (I am thinking when I went off to college I ditched them)...but then I found these on Ebay for a very reasonable price (like $5) and HAD to have them for my suitcase :)

And these babies--these are two Bible studies I wrote and taught to my church's Ladies' Bible study a few years ago.  One is called "Be Not Afriad" about fear and the God of peace and the other is "Counting the Cost: A Biblical Look at Wealth and Possessions."  Nothing super fancy--they are my original copies and the church office had made copies and put them in pronged blue folders with computerized labels.  I have these copies as well as supplemental information I used throughout the studies in the suitcase.

 

 Ah...and another shot of the duct tape.  You might just have to tune in next time for a bit about that.

 

So, there you have it.  A whirlwind tour of my Spiritual Journey Suitcase keepsake box.  Perhaps you, too, would benefit from recalling all the ways God has wooed and guided and taught you through the years.  Did you know this is Biblical?  SOOOO many times throughout the Old Testament, God commands His people to set up monuments to tell present and future generations about how God was faithful to them as His people! 

 

Maybe this is the time to memorialize God's hand in YOUR life in a TANGIBLE way...