Please Write and Doodle

I still have my first two Bibles.
My first Bible I received in the third grade but didn't use until seminary. The second Bible (an easier translation to read) I used in college. Both Bibles have notes and underlining, some verses I've put stars, exclamation or question marks in the margins.
Over the years I've written in journals—if I were a bit more artistic I might have doodled.
So, I'm excited about two new books: Book of Fidgets: A Jot & Doodle Journal for Christian Youth by Josh Tinley and Keely Moore; and Writing in the Margins: Connecting with God on the Pages of Your Bible by Lisa Nichols Hickman. Both books will encourage you to read, reflect, and write or doodle. Both books help make the spiritual discipline of journaling accessible in perhaps a different way. Both books would make a fun gift for someone you love.
View sample pages in the downloads below.
from the backcover of Book of Fidgets
Focus your energy
Engage your energy, creativity, imagination, and focus as you make this [book] your own.
Christians have long connected with God through [writing] and journaling. But words alone aren't always the best way to express how we feel. Sometimes we do better expressing ourselves in pictures and [doodle] scribbles & scratches.
Enter the BOOK OF FIDGETS, an interactive "[doodle] journal" that gives you space to [write], sketch, scribble, and be creative. It's not about doing, but about creating. Instead of filling in blanks or completing crossword [puzzles], you will [doodle]. You will create. You will have the freedom to go wherever your brain—and, more importantly, the Spirit—leads you.
FIDGETS offers all sorts of [doodle] and journal prompts, including activities related to Scripture, the seasons of the year, and what it means to be a Christian. In addition, you'll [love] creating an animated flipbook from scratch!
from the backcover of Writing in the Margins
No other time-honored spiritual practice is as immediate, raw, and scripturally engaged as writing— responding to God—in the margins of the Bible. From composers like Bach to theologians like Barth, botanists and saints—all have written their thoughts directly in their Bibles. In doing so they engaged their fullest selves with our most significant text, creating a divine conversation that transforms and guides.
Writing in the Margins introduces a devotional and scriptural path of engagement that is life-changing. This book inspires a new encounter with “the living Word”—and jump-starts a deep, creative, hands-on approach to reading scripture.
As you sit, with pencil, pen, crayon, or marker in hand and Bible in lap, at whatever edges of life you are living within, the invitation is yours. Meet God in the margins. Let God shape your character from the living interaction on the pages of your Bible.
View samples from the books below
Do you journal or doodle? Is there a tip you could give the rest of us? Comment below.