Blocks by God, the Universe, Etc.

I know you love when things are going good and really dislike when things aren’t going as good as you think you’d like. Trust me, I am so there with you!

Sometimes signs come in different ways and you may not realize about a particular sign until you notice a pattern happening. This is why keeping a journal is a good idea. It’s a great way to keep notes about your day (good, potholes, observances) so as to reflect on patterns you may notice.

Yesterday I got an interesting phone call early in the morning. In the process of my day, my truck became unsafe to drive and I think I had a panic attack (pains from nowhere, hard to breathe).

I looked back on my day and tried to figure out what happened, what was going on, and if there was something I missed. What I realized is that I’ve had either medical issues or truck issues each time I thought of a certain situation over the last few months. It’s like there’s a “block” happening saying that clearly isn’t a direction I’m to go in.

I believe in signs, but I also believe in health and care. However, this oddity has been happening in one way or another over the past few months, as I said, and therefore completely noticeable to me by now.

I don’t know what direction I’m to be going, really I don’t, but I do know there’s one direction that isn’t right for me. I’ll listen to these signs and blocks. They’re pointing me towards something better, even if I don’t know what that better is just now.

I’ll put my “trust” clothes on and keep a stepping.

Sin, okay. Shame, no.

We went to a Unity church for a time many years ago. On one particular day, the lady was explaining “sin”. She said, “Sin, by definition, means you missed the mark.” I could totally see how that makes sense. That explanation fit in a way nothing else had before. I could agree with that.

We’re not perfect, nor are we meant to be. I believe perfection is an illusion really and to strive for that is just unsettling to one’s soul. Nothing is ever really perfect and if it happens to be so, it isn’t going to stay that way forever.

New cars fall apart, relationships need tending to, children need raising, that perfect job may become obsolete, etc. Life ebbs and flows like water…there is no real constant except your existence in any given moment.

I don’t think there’s room for shame in life. We aren’t perfect. We may miss the mark. We’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got (emotional views, mental views, interactions, etc.). Shame is just someone else saying to you, “You should have been a better person.” You may even be shaming yourself. I think that’s just a way to put up walls, beat yourself up, and tear down your own self-esteem. It’s like knocking down the blocks you’re building in your life because you built a lego tower with red bricks in one corner instead of blue. So what? Are the red blocks doing their job? Do they contribute just like the blue blocks? Did you make a strong, sturdy tower? Don’t knock that thing down, keep building, keep sharing, keep moving forward.

Religion talks about sin and shame, treating a person as if they just can’t seem to get it right in God’s eyes. I don’t think God takes score like that.

I think God wants us to connect with one another. I think he wants us to help others build their towers, cheer them on, and encourage their individuality. I think he wants us to be our best as a sign to other people that it’s okay to do their best, even if it’s different than the norm.

I don’t think connecting with one another means getting a mate and having children to carry on the family line. I do think connecting means checking in on one another, writing a letter, calling someone on the phone, asking if they’re okay and listening to their feelings no matter what they are. I think it’s giving hugs, loving to the best of your ability, teaching what you know to someone else, having compassion for someone who’s going through a tough time of sorts, etc.

This, above all else, is an essential part of what we’re to be doing as human beings. Missing the mark, it happens. Helping one another on our journey, that’s a key right there.

Seeing God in a moment, Your 5 people

Yesterday I had an upset in my life, a pothole if you will. I was discouraged to say the least, cried a bit. However, I saw where God was at hand, helping me through it, to then work that problem out and get to the other side of it…all while still intact.

You may want to journal about your own “God moments”. There are moments in your life, and in mine, where there’s a clear feeling of being looked after. It’s a feeling of, “Okay, this has happened. What steps do I need to take to fix it?” Because of the action that happened, the co-ordinating reactions, and the attention brought to the situation that arose, things can be worked through.

Do you feel those moments? Do you trust them? Do you go through your life wanting something closer with God, but not really trusting in his presence/help? Until you get clear on who’s contributing to your life…God, partner, children, friends, etc….and who’s bringing value to it…you’ll wander around feeling lost and directionless.

You must decide in whom you’ll trust. You must decide who matters to you in your life and how best to live according to those factors, not other “usual” people.

I read the other day that a person is the sum of the 5 most people he hangs out with. What I thought about that is that I hang out with an odd assortment of people and it would make for an interesting take on my life. What I felt all of these people have in common is that I trust them. That’s the common denominator for me.

What I am realizing as I write this is, have I ever thought about God being one of those 5 people? I didn’t see that thinking until just now. We think of the 5 people as only the humans we see. What about the God factor? Can he be considered one of the 5? Looking at it right now, in this enlightened moment, I can definitely say God is in my circle of 5 people. This brings my perspective of my life into a deeper realization. Is this something you could ponder?

Going to confessional as a kid

I was raised Catholic. I remember going to confession one time as a kid of about eight or so. This particular priest preferred us to sit across from him at a table in the little room to the back of the church with the big glass window where one could still see the congregation and altar.

I know as being Catholic, we were supposed to confess our sins regularly to the priest. He’d hear our sins, bless us, then tell us how many prayers to go pray based on what we’d told him that day.

I was doing the proper thing by going to this priest, right? I was a kid who was fairly good though. As, I’m sitting there in confessional, I mention I talked back to my parents. He listens, gives me the reminder that we must listen to our parents as they know best, and tells me what prayers to say.

During Mass, there’s a point where the priest says anything that comes to mind to his congregation. On that particular day, he chose to speak about children needing to listen to one’s parents. He went on and on, but I don’t remember all he said.

What I remember is feeling completely let down by this priest. I was in confessional, an hour earlier, and this is the material he uses? He chooses to speak to his congregation about “my sin”? I don’t know. After that, I just didn’t feel right about confessing my sins to a priest.

In my childhood thinking, he was supposed to be helping me “stay right”, not putting me on “front page news”. He didn’t use my name at all, no. However, it made a huge difference to me and became a turning point I think.

My grandparents were Pentecostals. I loved going to Sunday church with them. The priest greeted the parishioners. He knew them by name. He asked how their family was. Their praying time was a little odd for me as a child, but the feel of care was always there. I liked that feeling.

While I wasn’t fulfilled completely in the Catholic religion, I wasn’t ready to ditch my jeans or not be allowed to cut my hair. So, I remained a Catholic, taught the religious classes for a couple of years, got married in the church.

I eventually left the church altogether. I’ve always felt God was there for me and simply started going to him directly. I figured if Jesus could do so, so could I. That’s where I am now.

How do you Pray?

Have you given this some thought? Are your prayers a bit “standard”? Do you plead in an “if only it were like this” type prayer? Do you pray as part of your daily routine? Do you feel you’re connecting to God?

Prayer, in my thinking, is definitely connecting to God, the Angels, and my own personal “look after me” Team. My own prayers vary based on the day and the needs that arise.

I try to pray at least once a day with, “God, I ask for your protection, love, and grace.” That, to me, covers all of the “bases”, like putting on spiritual clothing of sorts. I ask the Angels for assistance too as they are helpful when they’re asked. My own God given Team, they’re important to me also and I wonder if I am a tiresome person to keep charge of. I am at times brave and bold. At other times, I hide within my introverted self and stay there. I haven’t figured out my formula though.

Sometimes I will be saying prayers and feel a nudge to add other people under the “protection of prayer”. So, I’ll start with my usual bit, then start adding people by name. Sometimes the extra list is short, sometimes it encompasses everyone I know.

So, all of that said, what do you pray for? What do I pray for? Lately I’ve prayed for being on my divine path. I imagine God’s got something better for me in mind and I’d like to be steered in that direction. This is the basis of my thinking. What if I’m already on that path though? Nothing has shifted dramatically, so maybe I’m doing okay where I’m at and am walking in the right direction…via the scenic route.

I know I can’t pray for something like, “if only it were like this”, “if only he/she would see me and want me”, “if only I had more money”, “if only I lived closer to the city”. That’s praying based on thinking something you see has to shift in order for you to move forward or be happy. It’s thinking any of those “if onlys” are the road blocks to your forward movement.

You must pray as if there are no road blocks. You must pray in such a way that you’re trusting God to deliver before you what you need to be where you need to go or who you need to become. Suggestions would be, “God, I’d like to be of service to you. What did you have in mind?” “God, I know I have talents, help me to share them with those that need to receive my gifts.” “Today I am alive, what can I do in a positive way today?” Consider some prayers as requests for opportunities to have/become better in your life…to have something fuller in the space you feel lacking.

Pray as creation ahead and not the block of lack. With God, anything is possible. I’ve said before that God has more connections than I do; therefore, by asking him and trusting him, I become well connected. There isn’t anything he can’t create before me to give me a full life of grace and happiness. Maybe I am already there?

Meet in the Middle Zone

You may have grown into someone different than who you were raised to be. Something within you sparked a completely different path, one that is nothing like what was envisioned for you by your parents or relatives. It may even be a path you didn’t expect to find yourself on. Thinking on it in this moment, I fit all of the above.

I grew up in a small town, Catholic, a very ordinary childhood. I figure, probably like my parents, I’d find the right person, get married, and live a very ordinary adulthood. Somewhere in that vision, God had something else in mind entirely. I became the person doing all of the unconventional things, blazing new trails where none were blazed before…at all…in my family dynamics.

Through various life happenings, I became a gifted psychic, my faith in God stronger than ever before, and, somehow, a “mother hen” of sorts.

Your path may have grown in a way different than mine, but it definitely fits the “not how I pictured it” group. So what do I mean about the “meet in the middle” zone?

Sometimes we grow in such ways that are really different than how we grew up. Through our freedom of choice, discovering ourselves, and blazing these new trails, we become something that can never go back to the way things were. The people of our origin, our parents/family/caretakers, are still back there…in that space of what was.

Sometimes the gap is too wide to jump, sometimes there are ways to grow together, and sometimes…it is hopeful to find that space in the middle.

How do you find that space in the middle? In my thinking, you become crafty in your conversations. Maybe you could meet for lunch and only talk about neutral topics? Maybe you can write letters to each other, wording things carefully while still expressing your love for each other? The uppermost thought isn’t to convince the person WHY they must accept your new path, but to share the love that remains between you. Some subjects, no matter how real and alive they may be in your life or their life, have to become off limits. There is no room for understanding or support for them at this time. Maybe in the future? Maybe not? That has to be accepted.

I hope, if you’re reading this and can totally relate, that you find the middle ground you’re looking for with someone. There are situations where you must let go completely and that’s another topic for another post, but…for love…the middle ground is a zone worth exploring.

Helpful Angels and Spirits

I wanted to share something interesting that happened last week as an example of how we’re to notice we have extra helpers, either ones we’ve prayed for or just ones come along to help on something we may be working on.

Before our trip out of state last week, I prayed for help, protection, ease of the trip. I knew my prayers were answered and went about things accordingly.

Several times during the trip, I called one of the children by the wrong name. My husband did it too. After doing this a few times, I realized our prayer helper was clearly close at hand! It was such a reassuring sign for me and I laughed with joy at noticing it.

The name mix-up didn’t happen before that trip and hasn’t happened since we got back home. I said my thanks for this extra help too.

So, if you’ve prayed for some specific help for a task or for inspiration on a new direction, know that you have been heard. Also, if you notice something different about your life, a tiny little thing that seems like nothing, but it’s unusual for you, that’s the presence of your assistance.

I’ve had other signs of helpful presences like that over the years. For a short period of time, I wrote my number 4 different than I used to. I wrote one letter different while working on something else for a time. Once in awhile I’d say some new catchy phrase that seemed to just feel appropriate at that moment. Other little odd things like this happen from time to time. I don’t fear it as I sense it as the presence of helpfulness for my life.

Maybe you’ve experienced this? Maybe something small happened to you and you just laughed it off as something “odd”? Have you thought about this? Have you had a happening? How would you feel if you sensed your helper like this? It is a ponder.

Holding Dreams, too big, too bold?

I woke up this morning with the thought I get from time to time. One of teaching about God as Love. It sometimes overpowers me, this thought. To share with as many people as possible…sometimes I see an audience full of people, sometimes just one person face to face…that God simply wants to love you, help guide you, and keep you in his grace.

Then I think, “Who would listen to me? I wouldn’t be teaching from a Bible, but rather from a one-on-one connection as I personally live it. That’s a tall order and makes me feel I’m up against ‘the others’.”

I’ve lived a defensive life for a lot of different reasons at different times. Right now it’s because I do things differently and march to my own drummer. I’m definitely one to pave a new trail and encourage others to do the same. There are worlds to be discovered and a boldness waiting to be harnessed!!

I hesitate with this though. I make fear excuses because I just know someone is going to tell me what I’m doing wrong, especially being psychic too. Being prepared for the defensiveness can be easier and better than I thought though. Maybe I can respond with kindness and care, then let it be.

I am not out to convince the whole world of God’s love. I am simply a tool used by God to speak to those willing to listen. I’ve done it several times already, spoken to those who want a loving God and telling them it’s completely possible to have that. I have personally seen the look of relief and comfort on their faces. The change from thinking God is abandoning them for not sticking to the rules, to realizing it’s really all about love and possibilities and something better than it was before.

Every time this has happened, I’ve felt God so deeply and been so moved, that it really is beyond words. So, maybe this is just a random post about dreams so deep I’m scared to take them. Maybe this is a post about the dreams you hold so close too. Maybe, just maybe, it’s a post about declaring I’m willing to be available and not fearful for all of the awesome possibilities ahead in living that dream. Cheers!!!

Do you really trust God?

There are many people out there claiming to have faith in God; however, they’re not trusting in Him or themselves. They may go to church or read a bible, but they don’t take charge of their life in a way that shows they’re covered by grace or God’s love. Why is that? I can’t answer that for another person.

To my thinking, God is Love. God allows for free will because we do have the right to shape and create our lives as we choose. However, when we choose to add the extra dimension of Him and trust that He’s actively participating, life takes on a whole different vibe. It’s an “up-level of sorts”.

If I have faith, of which I do, how is there room for doubt of His care, grace, and love? There is only room for one decision on that. Do I have doubt, or do I have God? If I have God and I’m doing the best I can in every day, those are pretty good signs of a good life ahead…here and in the hereafter.

Are you participating in your life?

Most days I write a little daily uplifting or thinking phrase on my personal page to encourage myself and others to keep thinking and creating in life. This morning I posted, “Your life flows according to your participation. Show up, every day.” It’s a fabulous phrase and one to remember often. What do you think it means?

Well, it is reminding you that you can make choices, say “no” when you really don’t want to or have time for another project, start that hobby you’ve always wanted to, look for a job that brings you joy, be conscious of what you’re doing and why, checking in with yourself to see how you really feel about something, find ways to deepen your personal faith, and other things that encourage you to live a life filled with your truth.

I have used the analogy of being at a dance. Are you the person on the sidelines, sitting in a chair waiting for something to happen? Are you the person dancing in the middle of the floor having lots of wiggling fun? Are you the person making sure the snacks are taken care of? Are you being attentive to making sure the atmosphere of the environment is good and everyone is okay, no matter their own space in it all?

It is okay to be in any of those spaces. However, being in the space of sitting out on a dance you showed up to is not necessarily the best use of your time. Did you show up in the hope of a great time, but you’re also somewhat shy and aren’t sure just how to make it happen? You can be bolder in any number of ways…ask another person to dance or dance by yourself.

Participating means being active in your life. Being active doesn’t necessarily mean physically active all the time, but it does mean consciously taking the time to understand why you do what you do and make choices according to how you’d like to be living.