I am NOT an artist. I have artwork in my house that my grandmother and mother-in-law painted. My uncle and brother are both gifted with wood crafts. There are plenty of artistic genes in the family, but none in me. I have my own artistic outlets – like cross-stitching – but all I really have to do is follow directions. Anything that entails freestyle drawing is not going to end well if I’m holding the pencil.
Recently, however, I was inspired by one of Robin’s posts about her colorful Bible art journaling, and an idea struck. I can’t draw to save my life, but I can color if someone else supplies the lines. The adult coloring book fad is starting to fade, and I must admit that I ignored it for the most part. I just didn’t have time to sit and color. Yet, I remember all the talk about how relaxing it is, so after reading Robin’s post, it occurred to me that I could combine coloring with scripture meditation. I knew there were adult Christian coloring books out there with Bible verses, so I started investigating.
My first attempt at adult coloring. I decided to stick to a primary color scheme. Seemed appropriate for my kindergarten level.
My Facebook group, The Posse just happens to contain a lot of talented crafty people, and I thought it might be fun for us as a group to do one color sheet a week and meditate on the same scripture together, then share not only our pictures but what the Lord had been teaching us that week.
Well, not only did my Posse Peeps jump on the idea, but one of our very own members, Janette Foreman, just happens to design her own adult coloring pages! She offered to supply us with one coloring sheet a week for the spring and summer, complete with Bible verse. Perfect!
One of my favorite aspects of this project is seeing the wide varieties of personalization in the designs. Each one is unique, just like each of our members. Different colors, different effects, different thoughts on the verse. We’re only in week #3 and I’ve already been tremendously blessed.
Here are just a few of the designs other members submitted during week one:
Don’t you love the variety?
To the left is the design I colored last week. I ventured into a more spring-ish color palette. I’m slowly taking the training wheels off. I might even try some shading in the next one. Gasp!
The timing of the verse from Joshua 24:15 was perfect as well, as it came the week before Mother’s Day. The verse not only reminded me how thankful I was to have had godly parents who raised me to know the Lord in their house, but it made me ponder my own children. With one who just turned 20 and another turning 18 at the end of the month, my nest is emptying, and my parental influence is lessening. “Me and my house” will soon not include my children. They will have to decide for themselves whom they will serve and how they will establish their own houses. They all have made a personal commitment to Christ, but their choice of spouse will play a significant role in their house building. Brings this mama to her prayer knees on a regular basis.
If you would like to join us in this color/scripture meditation project, simply click here to join The Posse. You can find color sheets 1-3 in the files section of the group. Week #4 will be posted on Saturday if you want to jump in with that one. We plan to continue this for 16 weeks, going through the spring and summer.
We typically post our photos and thoughts on Friday, but you are welcome to post any time throughout the week as well. Whatever fits your schedule. It’s all for fun. No strict rules or guidelines.
- Have you done much adult coloring?
- What other creative outlets do you enjoy?
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While I haven’t colored the sheets yet, I have printed them off to color as I have a little more time. However, I have loved seeing the various ones posted on Facebook. They are lovely and a great way to meditate on Scripture!
A creative outlet I enjoy is cooking–nothing really fancy but healthy cooking. I also enjoy working jigsaw puzzles and reading. While I’m not the one creating the original with the puzzles and books, I’m enjoying someone else’s creation as I interact with it. That’s kind of like God’s creating the earth and all of us and our enjoying His creation.
Ooo – I like that analogy, Suzanne! Sharing in another’s creativity and interacting with it. Beautiful!
I have used some of my coloring time to pray. I have such a hard time being quiet, but I’ve found that I can focus on talking to God while I color. It’s not the only time I pray, but I’ve found it a good time to do so.
I enjoy weaving baskets and sewing, as well.
That’s lovely, Melissa. I, too, love to pray while I doing other things – coloring, driving, walking, doing the dishes, in the shower, etc. I’m not very good at sitting still when my to-do list is whispering to me, but I do like inviting the sacred into the everyday-ness of my life. 🙂
I relax by reading.
Coloring sheets make me nervous. I obsess over what color to use and then when I do it doesn’t look right.
Ha! I hear you about the obsession part. I’m a perfectionist, and I hate not being able to erase when I’m coloring. But it does teach me to be thoughtful in my approach. And something if I’m feeling really daring – I just grab a color and go for it! (That’s very rare, though. I’m too much of a control freak for that.)
I’ve heard coloring is relaxing and actually good for you, but haven’t done much. I enjoy cross-stitching and crocheting as creative outlets. I, like you, am good at following instructions to create something!
A fellow stitcher. Hooray! Those of us who like to stay between the lines can still be artistic, right? 😉
I love doing the coloring sheets.I work on them while I am listening to praise music. I Bible Journal which is similar, but I have to create the picture. I also quilt. One of the quilting groups I belong to, we quilt for the Veterans hospital her in Phoenix. Another is Quilts for Kids. I love using the gift God has given me to bless others. Love your books Karen.
How perfect, Sandra! I love that you quilt for enjoyment yet for a ministry as well. That’s the best of both worlds.
I’ve done that, too! I found that when my hands were occupied my mind didn’t try to wander so much from the scripture I wanted to meditate on. Now I go in spurts, doing it for a while, setting it aside for a while, but I really enjoy coloring and meditating on scripture together.