These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things 2021

I am so excited for this holiday season! All of our children will be home for Christmas this year. We have our annual Christmas cookie bake off scheduled for Christmas Eve. This will be our thirteenth year gathering around my mom's kitchen island baking Christmas cookies together, sharing laughter, loving on one another, and this year there will be four generations of bakers! There's even a photographer coming to capture the day.

But Christmas will be here before we know it, friend, and with all the supply-chain and shipping issues we've had lately we need to get right on that Christmas list!

Speaking of supply-chain issues, I recently read this thought-provoking quote:

Saying Christmas is "at risk" due to supply chain problems, leads me to believe that you don't know the reason for Christmas.

​Isn't that the truth! But we know the reason for Christmas and we celebrate that!

Many of you are probably well into your Christmas shopping. Maybe you even have all your shopping done. But if you're like me (I tend to wait till the last minute) have I got a sweet deal for you! It's like going to the mall (remember those days?) but better!

​We polled our guest bloggers about their favorite things, like faith-inspired gifts and Bible study tools, books, etc. and came up with Our Favorite Things 2021 Christmas Gift Guide and we're excited to share it with you today!

​This gift guide has some pretty cool stuff in it and I think you're going to really love it! So, from us here at InstaEncouragements to you there at home, Merry Christmas and we hope you enjoy some of our favorite things this Christmas!

The Best Bible Journaling Highlighters I've Ever Used

I just want to hop right in here and share with you my favorite Bible journaling highlighters of all time!! I wouldn't use anything else! ​This set of six pastel, gel, highlighters also includes a card with tips for highlighting and space to create your own color-coding system and I love that! But what I love more is that these gel highlighters will not bleed through even the thinnest Bible pages, and that's important to me. It's probably important to you too. It's important to me because I bought a new Bible this year! By the way, these make GREAT STOCKING STUFFERS!!

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I Love My New Single-Column Journaling Bible

It's been a long time since I've purchased a new Bible for myself. But this year, I realized I was spending way too much time with the Bible app on my phone and laptop and not enough time with a physical Bible in my hands. I'd lost my way around and started having difficulty finding certain books of the Bible—like Hosea.

So, I purchase this ESV (I call it the Extra Special Version) single-column, journaling Bible, and I love it! It's large-print and easy to read. The brown leather, is soft to the touch and feels feminine. I love the strap closure too.

The extra wide ruled margins allow me to record personal notes, meaningful prayers, and  thought-provoking quotes right inside my Bible!

This Bible is made with high-quality paper and leather and is a durable edition—great for anyone who wants to capture sermon notes, prayers, artwork, discussion notes, or personal reflections in their Bible.

Features:

• Single-column format
• 2" ruled margins for writing
• Cream-colored Bible paper
• Ribbon marker
• Smyth-sewn binding
• Size: 6.25" x 8"
• 7.5 pt Lexicon type
• 1,360 pages
• Black letter text

And the best part is that right now it's on sale over at Amazon! This will make a great Christmas gift for the college student on your list or even for yourself!

Sweeter Than Honey: A 365-Day Devotional Journey

How would you like to read through God's Word in chronological order of book authorship in 2022 with a group of like-minded, Christian girlfriends? ​I'm so excited about this! ​We are going to be doing just that here in the private, Facebook group for Sweeter Than Honey. 

I've never seen a 365-day devotional like this, friend. It's not the usual chronological order of events in the Bible. It's chronological order of book authorship. That's totally different. It begins with Job and ends with Revelation.

This will be a great gift for your mom, your sisters, daughters, the girls in your small group or Bible study, coworkers, and neighbors!

​Artza— The Subscription Box That Follows the Footsteps of Jesus

Artza is a quarterly subscription box that follows the footsteps of Jesus, delivering the best artisanal food, crafts, and content from across the Holy Land straight to your door. This journey brings the land of the Bible to life while supporting the people of Israel, and I absolutely LOVE that! ​

• Each box includes 7-9 authentic, full-size products from around the Holy Land.
• The highest quality Locally-sourced, handcrafted gifts, foods, art and crafts from Israel.
• Learn Hebrew! Each box will include Hebrew words cards and games to help you and your family learn the language of the Bible.
• Original and unique content and photography from around the country that you will not find anywhere else.
• Learn about the artisans behind the products, build bridges and connections with the people of the Land.

​BONUS: We have a unique 15% discount code just for our readers! Enter INSTA15 when you checkout here at Artza and save 15% today! ​

​Prayer Journal for Women

This 52-week Scripture, devotional, and guided prayer journal is still one of our favorites!!
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The journal includes: Scripture verses, reflections on the Word, and journaling prompts to guide your walk with God and strengthen your faith.

Verses are organized thematically: Love & Inner Beauty, Provision & Faithfulness, God’s Love, Adversity & Trials, Awe & Sovereignty, Strength Through Faith, Fear, and Grace & Forgiveness.

​This 12-month journal is a perfect companion for individual worship or group Bible study.

• ​JOURNAL FEATURES:
• A generous 8 x 10 trim size with plenty of space to write.
• Four full pages for each week of the year.
• Original illustrations on each page by author and artist Shannon Roberts.
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• EACH WEEK INCLUDES:
• Scripture - An inspiring Bible verse to reflect and meditate on throughout your week, giving you time to memorize the verse and ingrain it into your heart and soul.
• Reflect - A Reflect page with thoughts and questions prompted by the weekly Scripture verse, along with space to record your own thoughts and responses.
• Journal - Two full pages to journal your praise for God, your prayer requests, the things on your heart, and how you wish to be taught and guided, as well as a Bible verse about the power of prayer.
• Answered Prayers - A tracker with space to record your prayers so you can see how God moves in your life throughout the course of the year.

​Bible and Breakfast

I'll be honest with you, friend, when I first saw this I thought, This is gorgeous! But who has time for this? Maybe you don't have time for this every day, but what about Saturday mornings, holidays, winter breaks, spring breaks, and summer? This would be perfect for those days!

Are you starting your day on empty? Before your feet hit the ground, chaos drowns out any hope of quiet time with Jesus, as the alarm blares, kids run around the house, and your to-do list reminds you that you’re already behind.

If all that sounds too familiar, Bible and Breakfast is for you! In just a month, you’ll kickstart a morning habit of meeting with Jesus and eating a healthy breakfast every day. Join Bible teacher and author Asheritah Ciuciu for 31 devotions for busy women and 31 tasty breakfast recipes.

EACH DEVOTION INCLUDES:

• Feast Bible study prompts for days you want to dig deep.
• Snack on-the-go devotionals for busy days.
• Plenty of space for journaling and responding.

​RECIPES FEATURE:

• Family favorites that are healthy enough to feel good about and tasty enough that your kids will eat them.
• A full-color photo for every recipe.
• Lots of gluten-free, kid-friendly, and freezer-friendly options.

​No more waiting for the perfect time and place. Experience the joy of starting your mornings with Jesus today!

​5 Gospel-Centered Books For Little Hearts & Minds

I love Elisabeth's post about ​5 Gospel-Centered Books For Little Hearts & Minds. She writes, "When we became parents to our daughter Emersyn we agreed we wanted not only to instill a love for books but especially for books that would deepen her understanding of the Bible and cultivate a desire to know God. Therefore, from the very beginning, we’ve been building her little library with books that reveal God’s character, who we are as His creation, and how we can know and love Him better." Read more about the books here.

Elisabeth suggests these 5 books for your little ones:

5 Great  Stocking Stuffers For Bible Study

After I purchased my new Bible this past summer, I immediately realized I needed a set of Bible tabs to help me, once again, find my way around this beautiful Love Letter. I headed over to The Daily Grace Co. and purchase a set of their Bible tabs and I AM IN LOVE!! They were so easy to install. I was a little worried about that, but trust me friend, it was simple and if I can do it, you can do it too!

The second thing I purchase, to help me with my Bible study, was a couple packs of sticky notes. I'm a sticky note queen! I love to make lists and jot notes to myself. Sometimes, you want to write notes in your Bible that are permanent, and somethings they just need to be temporary. I LOVE THESE STICKY NOTES for that! The Blush Bible Study Stickies and the Blush Planner Stickies are perfect!!

Next, I needed bookmarks, but I didn't want just your traditional book marks. What I found at The Daily Grace Co. was great! I didn't even know these existed—magnetic bookmarks. YES! First, I grabbed the Words of Life Magnetic Bookmark Set and then the Bible Study Mini Bookmark Set.

Share with us a few of your favorite things. We may just add them to the list!