I Knew Coloring Was Good For Me

Good morning, coffee company girls!

This morning I'm enjoying my homemade gingerbread latte in my to-go mug as I sit at my desk in my classroom- and since my classroom chairs are rather uncomfy, I'll just let you stay relaxed in what I hope is a comfy chair instead of inviting you "in." :)

I've always thought coloring was very therapeutic. In high school and college, I carried coloring books (Winnie-the-Pooh and Disney were my favs) and crayons in my bag and often pulled them out for a "color break" regardless of where I was. (I used to laugh because you would be surprised at the amount of college-aged boys who would want to sit and color, too.) And I happen to be a pretty good color-er, if I do say so myself. If could have a job as a person who colors things other people drew, I'd take it!

Over the last several years, I haven't really had as much of a chance to color, but I have been a doodle-r. I often have words and squiggles and shapes doodled around the corners of pages, or even whole sheets filled with nonsense. While this isn't necessarily artistic, it's quite fun.

But recently I found out that it's not just fun, it's GOOD for me!

For Christmas, my aunt gave me a book called Praying in Color. A woman named Sybil MacBeth stumbled upon the idea that some of us might find value in praying with doodles and scribbles and drawings and words and color. It can help you focus as you pray and the visual images stay with you in your mind. The idea is that you don't have to be artistic, but you can doodle, color, and pray.

What!?

This is perfect for me!

So.... keep in mind that I'm not an artist.... and these are just doodles (and not that well-colored).... but here are some of my heartfelt prayers.

For my college best friend's family.

for Husband and myself

about teaching

Next I'm going to borrow some thoughts from my new bloggie friend Southern Gal, who wrote and inspiring post about colors. You should check out her thoughts here.

Try it! It's pretty fun- you just need some paper and some markers, colored pencils, or other coloring utensil of your choice.

May YOUR day be very colorful!