The church I serve is pretty non-traditional, but we do have some traditions. One of them is that the children are invited to color the bulletins every Easter. We have a potluck breakfast before worship, and when the kids finish eating they can gather around a table with a stack of bulletins and assorted crayons, markers, and colored pencils. Our Easter cover image is something in outline–this year a cross with flowers wrapped around it–and the kids color away.

This year, an interesting thing happened. A mom started coloring with her daughter. Then another mom. Then another member walked by the table and said, “Oh, can I color too?” And another sat down with a smile on her face saying, “I haven’t colored in ages.” And soon there were more grown-ups than kids coloring in the crosses and flowers. (Our bulletins looked fantastic!)

I was reminded of the soothing joy of applying color to paper, and that grown-ups sometimes need an excuse to color. So this morning I got out my Colored Pencil Prayers book because I knew that whatever my prayer time would be, it needed to involve coloring. Flipping through, I found “Offering & Receiving Prompt 3: Offering Indecision.” Bingo!

My husband and I are currently looking at a home in the country. Wanting to move. Worried about moving. Wondering about money and the future and what might or might not happen with family situations and me having a little retreat center and him wanting to be a kind-of farmer. I’ve been going back and forth between excited and apprehensive, certain and doubtful. My usual intuitive discernment methods are all off kilter because I’m still in deep mourning for my dad.

“Great!” I thought, “I’ll color my way to an answer.” Which, of course, didn’t happen. Because I still have to wait and listen and talk and crunch numbers (ack!). But the prayer let me rest for awhile in my desire to be faithful and re-reminded me of God’s presence and faithfulness in every cranny of my life.

So today I commend to you the spiritual practice of coloring–whatever form that might take for you.

And blessings to you on this first week of the Easter season!