Marydean Draws

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books that shape me

January 25, 2024 all good things•books that shape me

All Good Things: January 2024

This is my blog series where I recap good things I’ve enjoyed the last month, so here goes! I have been more intentional this month about making art a part of my work day routine. There’s always the business side of things that needs tending–bookkeeping, updating the website, checking inventory, sending orders–all the necessary things that help pay the bills, but making art is so life-giving. Here’s a little sneak peak of some florals I’m working on right now,...
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September 15, 2023 books that shape me•kids

A resource for teaching the Bible to kids, the Tower of Babel, + an update on my Bible study project

I recently started teaching Sunday School again and the lesson last month was on the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. After all I’ve been learning about faithful Bible reading, I knew better than to assume that I understood why the Biblical authors and compilers included that story! I found helpful information in this book by Old Testament scholar, John Walton: “The Bible Story Handbook: A Resource for Teaching 175 Stories from the Bible” (I got the Kindle version...

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May 12, 2023 all good things•books that shape me•Uncategorized

All Good Things: May’s Good Books

It’s been a long time since I wrote a “All Good Things” post, but today I’m reviving it! I have gotten back into the swing of reading and I thought I’d share a few books I’ve read recently and what you might learn from them. Everything Sad is Untrue: (A True Story) by Daniel Nayeri* This is the best creative non-fiction I’ve read in such a long time. It’s a hard book to describe because it’s so good for...

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March 25, 2022 all good things•books that shape me

All Good Things: March

Hello and welcome to my “all good things” post for March where I share some of the good things I’ve come across this month. WORKING ON I’m working on a fruit of the Spirit printable Bible verse set! Several of you have asked for this set over the years and I’m finally doing it. I’ve been googling fruits of the Middle East and researching Scriptures to go with each fruit of the Spirit. I may even include a sketch...

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February 25, 2022 all good things•books that shape me•Uncategorized

All Good Things: February

I was talking with a friend yesterday who is walking through some very hard things. I said, “I’ve always wondered how people survived things like pandemics and wars and, well, I guess now we know. You just keep living one day at a time.” Here are some pictures from January and February of living life in the middle of the hard. I hope they bring some joy! Sometimes we like the snow; sometimes we don’t. My son created this...

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January 3, 2022 all good things•books that shape me•Uncategorized

All Good Things: 2021 Year-end recap

Well hello there to you and a new year! Because I was quite absent here on the blog in the blur of work and school activities, I wanted to do a recap of the end of last year. Just in time for the big Omicron surge, my whole family was able to get vaccinated (and I boosted), for which we are very grateful. We started reading through the Narnia books with the kids. I had the opportunity to display...

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June 10, 2021 all good things•books that shape me•Uncategorized

All Good Things: June

Hello friends! Yesterday was the last day of school for my kids are we are . . . ahem . . . adjusting. I typically take the summer off regular blogging and creating to focus on time with the kids. Our summer plans this year include summer school, pool trips, working on a mural for the kids’ elementary school, and preparing for a September artisan festival in town hosted by another local church. The shop will remain open and...

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May 7, 2021 all good things•anxiety•books that shape me•depression

All Good Things May: moments of quiet, a broken rib, and emotional health

Hello friends! This past month has been a whirlwind of adjustments for our family. All my children are now back in in-person school four days a week! My introverted and creative soul has been revived by the wonderfully quiet hours between 9:30 and 1:30. Two weeks ago, I was at a vaccine clinic at our local university’s basketball stadium getting my second dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine (for which I’m so grateful!) . After waiting the requested 15...

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April 1, 2021 all good things•books that shape me•growth

All Good Things: April

Hello and happy April . . . and Holy Week! I have a bunch of happy plant babies growing in my dining room and all kinds of plants waking up in the yard. It’s always a joy to see them faithfully returning each year. My two back-to-in-person-school kids are doing well and adjusting to the new routine. I have even had some mental space to start sketching on the iPad for new coloring pages and cards sets. I’ve been...

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Welcome to the blog!

I’m Mary and I’m glad you’re here! Since 2014, I’ve been sharing encouraging words, fun Bible printables, and accessible art activities.

let’s talk about . . .

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If you look up artwork or movies featuring Mary Ma If you look up artwork or movies featuring Mary Magdalene, you’ll often find her depicted as a penitent woman or as sexualized, with her clothes literally falling off her body. It was Pope Gregory the Great who proposed that Mary Magdalene’s seven demons represented the seven deadly sins and that she was both a prostitute and the penitent sinner who anoints Jesus in Luke 7:36-50 (Jennifer Powell McNutt).

Later church historians assumed that Mary Magdalene’s great sins were to blame for her demon possession (McNutt). While the Western Church came to see Mary Magdalene as a prostitute and a great sinner, the Eastern Orthodox church honored her as the leader of the “myrrh-bearing women” (Taylor and Bond).

Read some research into the REAL Mary Magdalene story here:
https://marydeandraws.substack.com/p/jesus-speaks-to-women-chapter-16
In today's Friday newsletter: 🌸 Mother's Day Sa In today's Friday newsletter:
🌸 Mother's Day Sale! 20% off with the MOMLOVE on my website. Mother's day is Sunday, May 10 this year.
🌸 Part 1 of the Mary Magdalene study is up on Substack. Have you ever heard that she was a prostitute? Where did that come from? Is it Biblical? I was fascinated by how her story has been told through history, the origins of her name, what it means that she had been possessed by seven demons, and her place among Jesus’ disciples. 
🌸 The Holy Post podcast episode with Bri Stensrud, the director of Women of Welcome, “a community dedicated to diving into the whole of scripture to understand God’s heart for the immigrant and refugee.” 

Read the newsletter here:
https://marydeandraws.substack.com/p/marys-friday-newsletter-41726

Read the Mary Magdalene post here:
https://marydeandraws.substack.com/p/jesus-speaks-to-women-chapter-16

If you sign up for my newsletter, you can receive all my posts in your inbox. Sign up on my website at www.marydeandraws.com or find me on Substack. You don't need the Substack app to read my posts, but it's easy to use, and you can listen to any of the stories with the playback feature.
When I started writing the Jesus Speaks to Women B When I started writing the Jesus Speaks to Women Bible studies last year, I started collecting books on New Testament women. I really didn’t know where to start at first. I wasn’t familiar with the scholarship about women in the Bible, and I hadn’t even heard of any female theologians doing this work!

So you don’t have to start from scratch if you’re like I was, I’m going to share a list of books I’ve learned from in the last year. Some are more academic than others, but all have been helpful. 

See the list here or find me "Marydean Draws" on Substack:
https://marydeandraws.substack.com/p/books-about-women-in-the-new-testament
In today's Friday newsletter: 🌸 things I learne In today's Friday newsletter:
🌸 things I learned from my pastor dad (in honor of his birthday)
🌸 upcoming bird collage workshop at Friendly City Clay and Art Center
🌸 using oil pastels + a recommended set from Blick
🌸 book about women in the New Testament 
🌸 preparing to write about Mary Magdalene and the resurrection stories

Read it all here:
https://marydeandraws.substack.com/p/marys-friday-newsletter-41026

The post about books about New Testament women:
https://marydeandraws.substack.com/p/books-about-women-in-the-new-testament

If you sign up for my newsletter, you can receive all my posts in your inbox. Sign up on my website at www.marydeandraws.com or find me on Substack. You don't need the Substack app to read my posts, but it's easy to use, and you can listen to any of the stories with the playback feature.
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