In the past month I've flown from Central Time to Pacific Time to Eastern Time to Central Time to Pacific Time to Central Time.... I've pretty much lost track of the date and the time. There must be a name for this circadian disorder. My 24-hour rhythms are all...
Lent 2026 Calendar Templates now available!
Blog
I have been writing the Praying in Color blog for over a dozen years. The entries include theological musings, memoir, reflections on life and Scripture, and hundreds of posts on ways to incorporate Praying in Color into your prayer and spiritual life. In the search bar you can type words like “Scripture, Advent, Lent, calendar templates, intercessory prayer, mourning, gratitude, forgiveness…” or other topics of interest to find related posts. I hope you enjoy exploring this site.
A Prayer for the Gulf
When I read articles about millions of barrels of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico and see pictures of oil-drenched birds and satellite images of an encroaching oil sheen, I can't help but pray the confessional and cleansing verses of Psalm 51 : 1 Have mercy on...
Persistence in Prayer
Below is a prayer drawing I have been using for a couple of weeks. As new prayer concerns came to mind and heart, I added doodles. The act of drawing focuses my prayers and my wandering mind. Every time I look at it, the resulting picture reminds me to pray. Sometimes...
Memorials and Memories
My mother and father are both deceased. For years they asked my husband and me the question, "Should we be buried or cremated and where?" We talked about the options. But it was not a question we could answer for them. Sometimes, however, I wish I had. They chose to...
Olives
The Bible mentions olives, olive trees, olive branches, olive oil, and the Mount of Olives in at least thirty books. Olives were part of the economic system and the food chain. A good crop meant prosperity; a bad crop was disaster. Analogies using olives abound in the...
Better, Batter, Butter….
"Meet my better half." How often I hear this statement when I'm introduced to someone's spouse or partner. It's usually intended as a compliment, a sweet comment about the esteem the person has for their loved one. A couple of days ago I ate breakfast with a group of...
Repairs
I'm tired of being a careless slob. A month ago I damaged a brand new orange purse by tossing a permanent black pen into it. The ink seeped through the lining and left a quarter-sized, unbudgeable blob on the leather. The same kind of black pen left a conspicuous mark...
Fearless Mothering?
My friend Cindy often creates a drawing in response to a word suggested each week on a website called Illustration Friday. The word for this week is "fearless." Here is Cindy's drawing and the words she wrote to accompany it on her blog Mostly Markers: I was wondering...
Black and White Centering Prayers
Centering Prayer, as I understand it, is a way to still the body and the mind and to deepen our relationship with Christ. It "facilitates the movement from more active modes of prayer — verbal, mental or affective prayer — into a receptive prayer of resting in God."...
Name Prayers
Here is a simple way to draw prayers for others. Take a colored marker and write or print the person's name. Take a dark pen and outline the name. If it's in script, outline the outsides and then the insides. Add other markings and doodles to the name---lines, dots,...