Come Color With Me?

Today was a stressful kind of day.  It’s Sunday and I served at church today.  I know what you’re thinking.  How could that be stressful, right?  Well, the thing is my ex and I still go to the same church. Now, I love my church and my pastor is a gifted preacher, but I have thought a thousand times over about trying to find a different church in the past few months.  But my church is home.  They are my family.  Even with the ex who I don’t know how be around at this point.  I miss him so terribly much, but I don’t know what to say to him when we’re around other people.  I can’t say all the things I’m thinking, so it’s just awkward hellos.  Then we get home and it is WWIII trying to get my kids to clean their rooms.

So, after all that, what do I do?  I go get on one of my favorite pairs of fuzzy comfy pajama pants and I grab my coloring book, or pages I printed off, and the sharpies!  I know.  I know.  Coloring at my age?  Sometimes you just have to release your inner child and let them take over.

I know you’ve probably heard that coloring can help to reduce stress in adults.  I know it sounds a bit silly, but I love to color!  Coloring really can be calming.  As my focus shifts to concentrate on the page in front of me the stresses of the day starts to fade away for awhile.  The tensions in my muscles lessen as I focus on  trying to color inside the lines in all those tiny shapes.  I love the way the colors come alive as I pour them out onto the page.  And you’re left with the sense of accomplishment of having created something beautiful!  I sprinkled this page with a few of the coloring pages I’ve done lately.

Sometimes when I’m coloring the boys will come sit at the table with me and color too!  They love using my sharpies, which I only let them do when I’m with them.  Nothing says I’m a mommy like family coloring time!  LOL!  But I love that we can enjoy that together.

Where do I get adult coloring pages?  I have a few coloring books that I bought in stores.  You can find them in most any store really.  You can find tons of printable pages if you search adult coloring pages on Pinterest or just on the internet.  I have a file folder labeled “Mommy Coloring Pages” that I put the pages in as I print them offline.  That way I have them handy when I have a morning like this one.  Just today I learned about another source for adult coloring pages!  At church this morning one of my friends showed me an adult coloring app on her phone!  I never thought to look for an app on the phone.  I of course downloaded it as soon as I got home!  The phone app is fun, and easy if you’re out of the house and need something to center yourself.  But like with most things I prefer the paper version.

Tip: Don’t forget a piece of cardboard or something to put under your paper or you’ll be scrubbing marker off your table.

 

Godspeed,
Mollie <3

Only God can heal a broken heart, but there are things we can do to help foster self healing. This post is part of my series 31 Days of Self Healing. You can find the rest of the posts for this series here.