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.