Prayer

I am beginning a new adventure. I am beginning to lead prayer retreats/classes. As a part of the class, I will teaching different forms of non-traditional prayer types of prayer that are more hands-on, kinetic. I am calling the retreat, "Praying Outside the Box". This idea came out of my own experience with prayer. I would try to pray and find myself instead thinking about my grocery list or about what was ahead for the day or worse yet, falling asleep. As I began exploring other ways of praying, labyrinths, prayer beads, breath prayers, drawing prayers, I discovered a whole new depth to my prayer life and a much more fulfilling connection to my Lord.

In this journey that I am on of rediscovering who God has created me to be and looking for where God is going to take me next, I have also really connected with the creative side of me. I have begun to make multimedia art (one example is in the background of a picture of my studio. And there are several examples throughout the blog. The act of creating is another avenue of connection for me, as my work is in many cases based on scripture.

This new adventure of mine is a combination of both for me. Not only will I teach different forms of prayer, but during the course of the retreat I will have the students building their own prayer journal. It will include pages to journal on, blank pages for drawing, descriptions of the different forms of prayer, a finger labyrinth, prayer beads, all created by the participant. Not only will they create these items, they will experience these forms of prayer during our time together. No creativity needed - everything is designed so that anyone can do it. If you can rip paper, you can make this journal. I will do these retreats in a couple of different formats; a weekend retreat, a day retreat, or a series of classes, each one focusing on one particular prayer experience.









My first retreat is a day retreat next weekend. Keep me and the participants in your prayers as I begin this new adventure.

By the way, if you would like me to make the journal for you, go to http://carolelundell.etsy.com. You can order one there.

Daily Bread

My prayer each day comes out of the Lords Prayer. It is the line, "Give us this day our daily bread". Walt Wangerin explained once that this line isn't just about food. It is about everything that we need from day to day. It is about asking God to help us focus on what we need to do for today. If we do what we need to do for this day, tomorrow will be taken care of. So I pray each day Give me this day my daily bread, give me the wisdom, and the courage and the strength to do what I need to do for today. Help me trust that this will take care of tomorrow.

On another note, check out my newest creation.

That's all for now

My Creative Space

I thought that since this blog is about my journey and creativity is such a big part of this, I would share my creative space. Mind you, this space is not normally this neat. Although I to clean it up after each project is completed.

My creative space is a 4 season porch and one of my favorite rooms in the house. The above picture is on the immediate right as you come through the door. This is a bakers rack and a plant stand that I use for storage. Above the plant stand with the sewing basket is a bulletin board that I use to hang inpiration, someof my kids art work, and shopping lists.

This is the queen of the creative space on her throne. She allows us to share her throne fairly regularly. It is a great space for the kids to be when they feel like sharing my space.

This is my main work table, built for me by my dad. On the white shelves next to the table is an old coke bottle carrier ( a personal fav) great for organizing those odds and ends that you like to have on hand.

This is an old library card catalog. It is great for storing all kinds of different tools. The lower level is great for storing a lot of different tools that don't fit elsewhere.

This is my cutting table and secondary work table. The picture on the table is a work in progress. Of course, there is the necessary TV for movies.

These last two pictures are the book shelves that I repurposed for storage plus my little red table that hold my cricut.

Well this is my space. It isn't all that big, but I love it.

I continue to be inspired by listening to Pastor John and the other preachers at my new (how ever temporary it may be) church home. However, time in my studio to create seems to be surprisingly hard to find. That being said, I did finish the book that I began (and is pictured in my earlier post) The next step that I took is to open an on line shop in which to sell these creations. It can be found at carolelundell.etsy.com. There is a link on the left side of the page. You can also see a little more of my work there as well. I am anxious to see what God will do with this bit of inspiration. My hope is that it will be used to bless someone elses journey.

Inspiration

Inspiration has a lot of different definitions and comes from a lot of different places. The inspiration that I am talking about here is actually two different kinds of inspiration. First there is the kind of inspiration that goes right to the heart. As I continue on this journey to find where it is that God wants me next, I have been attending a local church with my parents. The pastor there preached a great sermon on the words "Seek Ye First". His point was that the world draws us away from what God would want. And it happens pretty insidiously. We don't even notice that it is happening a lot of times. We just kind of drift . . . thoughts like, this is pretty harmless, or just this once, let us continue on down that slippery slope. So "Seek Ye First" becomes critical so that we remember to look to God first in all things. It reminds me that vigilence and prayerful awareness are so important. Since that Sunday those words have hung with me.

The second kind of inspiration is more of the creative, hands on kind. I am a book maker, the legal kind in that I make books, memory books, guest books, and journals of all shapes and sizes. Pastor John's sermon inspired a journal cover. It's made from a picture out of my own garden, beeswax, and paper (of course). It was my first attempt to work with beeswax and by all means it will not be my last.

Thank you Pastor John. I look forward to future inspiration.

JUMP! (an introduction)

I did it. I jumped. I left my current call as a pastor. Threw my whole life open to God and jumped. I had been hanging on in a job that I really loved in so many ways, but the stress of it all was just too much - to the point where I was having panic attacks, on a rather high dose of anti-depressants, and crabby all the time. Needless to say it wasn't good so I finally closed my eyes and jumped. I ended up with 3 months severence and some time to finally catch up with myself.

I've been through a lot in the past few years. My now ex-husband is an alcoholic. Our family lived in that awful chaos for 6 years. Finally in 2008 I jumped out of that situation as well. My divorce was final November 25th. I have sole custody of our two children and at the moment anyway, he is not in their lives at all. This break in my work life has given me an opportunity to really focus on my kids, as well as med. It has given me the opportunity to catch up on some things around the house. And it has given me the opportunity to really think about what God and I want to do with the next half of my life.

By the way, I suppose I should explain my reason for calling the leaving that I have done "jumping". When I was a little kid, I was afraid of deep water. In swimming lessons I would have to go to the end of the diving board and jump off and then swim to the side of the pool. I would walk to the end of the diving board and stand there scared to death to jump into the water. I'd stand there as long as I could get away with, and then finally jump in. It was never as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it sure scared me. Fast forward about 25 years - I was in my then spiritual directors office for a session. We were in prayer when the image of me standing at the edge of the diving board came back to me (the first time I had thought about it in many years). It was at a time where I was again at a crossroads in my life, trying to figure out what was next. The image made so much senseat that time. And I have kept that image with me ever since. It is especially strong when I do something that is difficult. You can imagine how strong it has been lately.

So that's where I'm at now. Looking for God to lead me to the place where my day to day life, my art, and my calling all come together. Join me on the journey.