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.