Author: lfw3

Why pray everyday? and Why start the second book?

Posted by | Dec 11, 2017 | | 0 |

Why am I already working on a second book?  In short, because prayer time must be a habit. Book 1, Coloring Meditations, is not a one-time event.  To give an analogy, when you think about a parade, it seems like it is a one time, get it done event.  That is a deception.  For the part filmed for this blog, people prepared on a daily basis for spans of time ranging from their lives to weeks.  A prayer cannot be read the first time with the heart and belief with which the prayer in the video is read.  I happen to know that the prayer was said every single night in the Novena of Rosaries leading up to the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Prayer is not a one-time activity.  Finishing the coloring of your copy of Coloring Meditations will take numerous sessions, on a daily basis. Thankfully, prayer takes many forms, which makes it easier for us to pray daily.  In my humble opinion, our very human condition makes us seek out new things, and it makes us lack the discipline for doing the same thing over and over. For some people, using these coloring techniques to still their minds and listen to God as they absorb the wisdom of His saints will become a lifelong practice, because each coloring session surprises them with a new insight,...

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Advent Retreat . . .eliminate overwhelm, welcome Jesus!

Posted by | Dec 4, 2017 | | 0 |

No time to prepare my heart for Jesus . . . I’m overwhelmed.  Gotcha!  You are trapped! The Devil wants you to feel hopeless and time stressed.  And if you really feel stressed during Advent, it’s normal.  Society has placed so many traditions that ‘must’ be kept in this ‘holiday season’, that many of us who struggle with normal time duties become overwhelmed during the ‘holidays’.  True confession:  I’m one of those people.  So, I’ll offer this memory (embarrassing as it is! – one small consolation – it was years ago) to those who may be just like me, with the desire to spread hope.  I went to confession angry at my family for not helping me do the Christmas decorating.  When I confessed this, the wise priest asked me to answer two questions:  1) Why was I putting up Christmas decorations? 2) How was what I asked them to do preparing their hearts for Christmas?  Of course, I broke into tears because the answers were 1) Decorations are expected of me and 2) I hadn’t even thought about the responsibility of preparing hearts (justification:  I took them to Sunday school and they attended private school, wasn’t that sufficient?).  He gently asked if I could consider carefully what actions I might take to changes to help me be joyful and contribute to my family’s faith formation.  He made NO...

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More about materials and getting started suggestions – videos coming!

Posted by | Nov 28, 2017 | , | 0 |

You can color to fill in like the “H” above or try using designs.  Several benefits come from using designs.  Your hands, which may not be used to coloring or simply tired, can be spared by using designs to fill the letters on the coloring meditation pages. Designs challenge your brain more which will help you get into flow and become quiet. In the “O”, you see tiny circles made with a metallic gold pencil sharpened to a fine point.  They were made in alternating clockwise and counterclockwise directions.  Making them small and focusing on alternating directions helps you connect your eyes, hands and brain so that you cannot think about anything but what you are doing and the word holy.  A rest for your racing brain, especially if you are dedicating 5 minutes to coloring during a lunch break! Circles also remind us that God is outside time, eternal and all powerful.  Praise Him! The tiny whorls in the “L” are done in the same manner, alternating their direction to increase focus. Drawing them reminds me of a Nautilus shell or the tiny shape of an unfurled baby fern frond. Finally, the crosses in the “Y” reminded me of Christ who gave His life to help me be holy and give me the chance to choose eternal life. Some people would prefer to fill all the letters with...

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What types of coloring instruments will work?

Posted by | Nov 21, 2017 | , | 0 |

The paper chosen by Breeze Printing allows coloring with a wise range of markers and pens! Each person chooses according to personaIf precision is your goal, then use very sharp pencils. PaperMate Clearpoints come in 6 colors at .5 size to give mechanical pencil lovers, who like tiny lines, and dislike sharpening. Those of you using regular colored pencils need to know to always sharpen by hand. Mechanical sharpeners may twist the lead of the pencils since they are softer than than regular pencils, causing them to break, and then fall out later as you use up the pencil. Remember the rolling technique in the video on the Books page will help you keep the tip of a pencil sharper longer. Some sets of colored markers come in .3 tip width, which allows for brilliant color and precise application. For those who love boldness and broader strokes, choose .7 and 1.0 widths for the tips of pens and markers. Gel pens are generally found in these wider widths. Markers are also generally wider as you can see in the photo above. One type of marker that bleeds through and should not be used unless you put a couple of pieces of scrap paper or a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper under where you color is . . .you guessed it: Sharpies – even the fine tips! This...

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Where are St. Teresa’s famous quotes?

Posted by | Nov 13, 2017 | | 0 |

If you google St. Teresa of Avila (or St. Teresa of Jesus, another name for her), you will find many of her famous quotes.  Some readers of the Art2Pray book, Coloring Meditations for a Full Life have asked why more well known quotes don’t appear.  Here is are some answers – and an inside scoop on the process of writing and drawing. WHY these quotes?  At some point, we all will have a longing to understand another person well enough to benefit from his or her wisdom, despite any differences.  With regard to St. Teresa, three main differences might exist between you and her:  1) language 2) the almost 500 years separating us – society is totally different! 3) different vocations in life.  A student of Spanish language, and a reader of the English translations, can lessen the language barrier.  Those same studies could give enough information to lessen the barriers of time and societal changes, although those are almost impossible to eliminate.  A lay person has a different vocation than a member of a religious order, yet both are called to seek God and in Him, that barrier can be lessened, also.  A HUGE help to getting to understand someone is getting to know them by spending time with them, and learning about their daily patterns, who their other friends were, and how they spent time.  Reading St....

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