God created our eyes and minds to see and interpret color. He uses color to warn us, invite us, and promise us. Even in nature, color tells a story.
I did a little research on the psychology of color and this is what I learned.
Red is often used as a color to remind us of power, indicating danger or giving warning. Because of the strong emotional response that creation has towards the color red, it often evokes passion and energy. Likewise, it can tell us to steer clear, like in the case of blood and war.
Orange is a bright color that gives humans pause to either take a breath and enjoy the world around them or reconsider the action they’re about to take. Orange subconsciously evokes fun and frolic while also providing a mild warning of moderation.
Yellow often indicates youth and cheeriness. As the brightest color that the human eye can see, yellow is often used to bring attention to things like road signs and traffic lights. We see yellow as a signal to slow down before our lives are suddenly endangered when things turn red!
Green is the color of creation. It tells us when the world around us is alive and thriving! Often associated with health, safety, and growth, Green is one of the most relaxing colors that the human eye can see.
Likewise, Blue is a particularly calming color. As seen in the sea and the sky, it reminds us of the expanse of creation and is often a color that inspires creativity itself. In any shade, blue brings peace to a scene and allows the mind to relax.
Purple, a color long associated with royalty and majesty, combines the warning of power found in the color red with the stately and peaceful nature of blue. Therefore, it evokes a sense of wonder and mystery in humanity.
The way that color stirs our hearts to act, or refrain from acting, is a divine blessing that was established when the world was spoken into being! How amazing is that?
When we put together our TLV Seedtime Planner, we wanted to use color very carefully to give people the tools that they would need to follow a Biblical day, a Biblical week, a Biblical month, and a Biblical year – all while integrating with the standard Gregorian calendar that we all commonly use. Sounds complicated, right?
Well, it’s really not! We gave each week a color so that anyone can easily identify which week of the Gregorian month they would be able to freely give of themselves to God’s house! And instead of bright colors that could seem overwhelming, we used pastels to gently remind that there is an ongoing pattern to our days: six days of work and a Shabbat. So, by counting the Shabbats, we can maintain a schedule that is Godly, productive, restful, and in sync with His calendar.
So think of it this way: you generally have four Shabbats each month.
The week leading up to the first Shabbat is Pink Week. The week leading up to the second Shabbat is Yellow Week. The week leading up to the third Shabbat is Green Week. The week leading up to the fourth Shabbat is Blue Week.
And the occasional week leading to a fifth Shabbat is a Gray Week because it’s an extra!
There’s only so much that you can pack into a month, much less a week. So when trying to decide when to plan your monthly book club or date night, you can glance at your calendar and know immediately what week is the most open. Because if you’re volunteering at your local church or congregation on Pink Week and the monthly ladies luncheon happens on Green Week, then Yellow or Blue weeks would be a great time to schedule something new!
Hear the story of how we came up with colored Shabbats!
The truth is that no one can do every single thing, every single week. And if you try to, you’ll burn out very quickly. Try giving yourself some grace and commit to things once a month instead. There are more than enough things to “do” between Seedtime and Harvest, so try not to fill your days so full that there isn’t space for God to speak with you and show you new things! Which is why Seedtime is purple! It reminds us of the wonder and mystery that comes when He is at work, growing things around and inside us. Meanwhile, Harvest-time is colored orange, to remind us to slow down and thank God for His provision.
While color coding your calendar might seem trivial or even silly, it can prove to be a wonderful asset to living your life inside God’s timeframe – where He can stretch and shrink time as He likes for your benefit. Just because He loves you!
2019 TLV Seedtime Planner Testimony
Now, I don’t know about you, but EVERY woman’s conference I ever go to, and in every Women’s panel I’ve seen, a young woman in the audience will ask a keynote speaker “How do you manage work-life balance” and, while I think a lot of women in leadership respond in the best way they can, (without teaching a three day seminar) they only have about thirty seconds to a minute to sum up their lifetime of trial and error that has lead to their success, I usually leave thinking “Will someone please actually give us some practical advice?” because I know full-well that someday soon, that young, tired, working-mom will be me. In my time assisting and working closely with Daniah, I noticed she had all these printable productivity sheets for keeping track of her appointments, and that she used them to great effect in managing her organization, their Congregation, and keeping her family appointments. It was groundbreaking for me, breaking into an office setting for the first time (I grew up working as a professional Musician touring with the Music Ministry Zemer Levav) One day I just asked her “Where did you get all of these?” and she told me she created them, then she proceeded to show me a box filled with YEARS worth of these work/life balance journals that she created herself, because she couldn’t find anything to help her “live her Bible”. I don’t think she really understood the value of her humble little journals, and what her practical tools could mean to people outside of the TLV Bible Society, but after several of us bothering her about it for a WHOLE YEAR, she finally relented and she began putting together an updated version of some of her most powerful organizational tools. And that effort produced the TLV SeedTime planner! I’ve personally used these tools for the past four years of my professional life, not only as Daniah’s assistant, but also in my work as a congregational worship leader, congregational Admin, and now as a project manager for the TLV Bible App. These tools WORK because she creates a boundary and a space, and you fill in the blanks with your life. Don’t forget to check out the new video Daniah just released about using the TLV SeedTime planner, to learn more about it, and how to use it! Get a TLV SeedTime planner, believe me, it’s life-changing, and DOWNLOAD the free TLV Bible App for Apple or Android to keep up with us as we develop and release more of her organizational tools! Kerah Oliveira, TLV Bible App Manager
This Week’s Featured Product: TLV Mothers of Israel Bible and the 2019 TLV Seedtime Planner
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