GRATITUDE is my attitude
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As I think about 2017 coming to an end, the word that stands out for me is GRATITUDE. Of course, what I am most grateful for is getting married to my best friend and soul mate, Larry. After waiting and praying for 15 years, I was ready to be in a committed relationship. It truly was the desire of my heart to be married, but I had surrendered my will to Spirit, as Larry didn’t want to get married again. He was quite happy with our relationship as it was and didn’t feel the need to get married, until Spirit put it on his heart to ask me to marry him one year ago. I am grateful that he listened and followed his heart.
I am very grateful for my “renewed heath” and opportunities for the past couple of months. It was a wake- up call to pay attention to my health and change my way of life. I continue to feel better every day.
I have been thinking about what “surrender” means to me. It is the opposite of how I operated much of my life, until I became conscious and awake. I attempted to control people, outcomes and situations and tried to make things happen the way I wanted them. Surrender is a process and it has taken me many years to learn how to surrender and live in peace.
When we tap into this relaxed energy of surrendering, we allow that what we desire to flow to us in miraculous ways. The job, the relationship or whatever we are envisioning and desiring for our lives is all on its way and when we surrender our plans for the timeline and the form in which we think it should arrive, we allow an even bigger and better outcome to take place. Many of us have heard, “We make plans, and God laughs.”
When we are not fighting the process and complaining, but accepting “what is,” we are able to say YES to limitless opportunities for love and joy to enter our lives. When we surrender to the natural flow of life, we can relax, trusting and knowing that everything is unfolding in perfect and divine timing and all we need to do is “show up” and get out of the way and let life happen.
Surrender occurs when we release our need to control things, and instead choose to place a higher level of trust and faith in the process of life. We choose Love rather than fear and worry because we know there is a Higher Power, Source, Love, God always GUIDING us.
As I thought about the word GUIDANCE, I remembered what it really meant. It means “God U and I Dance.” Simply put, God leads, I follow. It feels so much better when I am relaxed and willing to follow, rather than trying to lead and be in control. My ego wants me to believe that I am in control and that I know what’s best for me rather than to trust the Spirit within and surrender. My ego wants me to believe that I am separate from God, but the truth is that I am ONE with God. We are all connected and we are all ONE.
As I was thinking about GUIDANCE, I opened to a reading in “Jesus Calling.”
“Be willing to follow wherever I lead. Follow me wholeheartedly with glad anticipation quickening your pace. Though you don’t know what is ahead, I know and that is enough. Some of my richest blessings are just around the bend, out of sight, but nonetheless, very real. To receive these gifts, you must walk by faith-not by sight. This doesn’t mean closing your eyes to what is all around you. It means subordinating the visible world to the invisible shepherd of your soul.”
Love is all there is. Allow Love to guide you and give you peace. Surrender to “what is” and the process of life and you will experience miracles and limitless possibilities.
Manna from Heaven pours down
I love how God works in my life, especially when I look back and see how I am being guided. When I moved to Maui, I bought a “Maui Cruiser.” I am grateful for my green 1997 Toyota because it allowed me to get around town and where I wanted to go. Although I was grateful for the car, it never felt quite right because it looked old and dilapidated. For example, I couldn’t get the passenger seat window to open because the motor broke. A few weeks ago, I was driving home at night and my window wouldn’t go up. It appeared that the motor was broken and I had to cover it at night with a green garbage bag so the rain wouldn’t get in. It certainly didn’t feel like the “abundance” attitude that I felt inside of me.
I thought about selling the car rather than paying $250 to get the window fixed. I went back and forth and then decided I had too much on my plate with moving and not knowing where I was going to live. I decided to get the window fixed and wait until I moved to look for a new “used” car to buy.
About a week ago, I was driving with my friend, Jodene, and all of a sudden there was a very loud screeching noise when I turned the wheel. It was very disturbing because it seemed like the power steering was on the way out. I knew that would be expensive to fix and I certainly didn’t want to put any more money in my “Maui Cruiser” that appeared to be dying. I mentioned it to another friend that day and she suggested that I check with my mechanic, Andy, (whom I trusted) to see if I could trade my car in for a newer model.
I called Andy to tell him about the “screeching” noise and the problem I was having with the steering. He told me to bring the car in the next day and he would check it out. The next morning when I got in my car to bring it to Andy’s garage, the car was completely fine and no screeching. Just like when you go to your doctor and get there and the symptoms are gone.
Andy wasn’t sure what the problem was because the screeching noise was now gone. I asked him, “Andy, are you interested in buying my car or trading it in for something you have on your lot?” He said, “Yes, I will give you $1200 right now.” He just happened to be working in his garage on a 2002 Honda Civic that looked pretty nice. He then offered me $1500 to trade in my car, which seemed like a real deal. It was the fastest deal I have ever made. I picked up the car today and it definitely feels like I am moving up in the world.
Today is the anniversary of my grandmother’s death 35 years ago. I was very close to my grandmother and she nicknamed me her angel. I prayed in the morning and asked that I would feel her presence. When I got in my new car, I was led to check to see if there was anything in the CD player. I opened it, and sure enough, there was a CD in it. The first song was ANGEL and the second song was WITH YOU. I felt such gratitude as I felt my grandmother’s presence and love as I drove away in my new car. As I looked at the other titles, I realized that this CD was not a spiritual CD. In fact, one of the other songs was YOU DON’T HAVE TO LET GO. I sure do need to let go because my life is about “Letting Go and Letting God.” The license plate is MHW 118. I love to play with letters and I wanted to name the car. What came to mind was MAGNIFICENT HIGHER-POWERED WOMAN. I was talking to my friend, Kati, that night about the name and she came up with MIGHTY HOT WOMAN. Hmmm……. What do you like?
When I went to bed that night and pulled down the covers, I found a beautiful angel with LOVE written on it. Jodene had put it under my pillow. Another touch of love from heaven.
I have another funny story about my “old car.” I came out one morning and found a dollar bill folded up under the windshield wiper. Jodene and I just looked at one another wondering who put it there. Was someone feeling bad for me with my “Maui Cruiser and wanted to help out? Or was this manna from heaven? I liked manna from heaven better. A few days later, my neighbor passed by and said, “Did you find the dollar bill that I put under your windshield? I found it right outside your car door.” I am going to put that dollar in a place where I can SEE IT to remind me of manna from heaven that God is pouring out on me.
An update on my living situation: I am staying with my friend, Jodene, until March 14th and then going to another friend’s house until the end of the month. I will be moving into my new home on April 1. I found out today that my new street name which is Laniolu means HEAVENLY COMFORT.
As I was filling out the lease agreement on my computer, Jodene walked by and noticed the name on the right side of the computer. She said, “Oh my God, I think I know that person.” I answered, “What, are you kidding me?” She quickly looked in her “Maui file” and sure enough she had the name and phone number of my new landlord who lives is Rhode Island.
Jodene explained that she met my new landlord last year while sitting at Tommy Bahamas for happy hour. My landlord was only here for a few days to rent her home to my friends. Jodene immediately called her and told her that she not only knew me, but I was staying with her. What are the chances of this happening? Another synchronicity, God wink or God-Incident, that I refer to in my book, “Simply a Woman of Faith.”
Daily Word – I bravely surrender to God’s will in my life
“Bravery can mean acting boldly and fearlessly, but it can also mean trusting God’s will in my life even when I don’t know where that might lead. Like the skydiver who surrenders bravely to a free fall, as I trust in God, I am assured my parachute will open. If I feel inner resistance, I am not discouraged. I meditate on the truth of God’s love and have faith. Releasing my concern, I remember all the times I resisted a situation that later yielded good results. I audaciously surrender to the wisdom of God within. I know there may be a free-fall – a period of uncertainty – but as I let go and let God, I land safely in new territory.”
“When you Pray Big, you receive Big”
I spotted the “PRAY BIG” sign on the wall when I visited my friend Karen’s “Heaven on Earth” Healing Center on my trip to Rhode Island. I had to take a picture of it because it reminded me of what happened to my ex-husband and I over 35 years ago. We stepped out in faith because we heard God say to us,
“If you take big steps with me, I will take big steps with you.”
I believe that when I PRAY BIG, I will also RECEIVE BIG. I asked myself, “What does it mean to PRAY BIG?” First of all, I think it means that I need to know what I want and I must be willing to ask for it. It means to stop playing small and praying for just enough, whether that be enough money, clients, friends, happiness, peace, health or success. To ask for what I want, I must feel deserving and worthy to experience abundance in every area of my life. I must be willing to RECEIVE all that God wants to give me.
The tricky part of this is to be grateful, accept and love where I am and what I have in the present moment, while looking ahead to the future and what I want to manifest. It is important to know how to let go of the outcome and trust God for everything that is in my life now. I believe that the best is yet to come and Spirit wants us to expand to our fullest potential and grant us our heart’s desires.
Here is the chapter “The Sky God Speaks” from my book, Simply a Woman of Faith.
“My husband complained about his sales job for many years. He hated what he was doing. He felt stuck in a dead end job where there was no satisfaction or fulfillment. I could see the toll it was taking on him as his depression worsened. He didn’t want to do the things he used to enjoy and watched TV all the time.
Every weekend, he’d spend hours scouring the newspaper looking for jobs, but to no avail. He sent out resumes and had some interviews, but nothing ever panned out. I felt powerless to help, but listened and tried my best to be supportive, encouraging him not to give up. I knew something would come along if he kept trying. I wasn’t totally surprised when he asked to speak with me after dinner about something important.
“I’m thinking about going into business for myself,” he nervously blurted out. “Oh. What kind of business?” I asked God,I know he’s going to say a Christian bookstore. “I want to open a Christian bookstore.””I knew you were going to say that,” I answered.”How did you know? We’ve never talked about it before. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, but didn’t have the guts to bring it up to you. I didn’t think you would go for it.” “I don’t know how I knew, I just did.” “What do you think?” he asked. “I’m not sure. I’m not against it, but we don’t know anything about running a bookstore. Where would we get the money? Would you quit your job?” There were so many questions and my mind wouldn’t shut off.
| “I don’t know the answers yet, but I’ll do some research and see what I can find out,” he answered.”Okay, I’d like to pray about this and make sure it’s God’s will.”We agreed to pray and discuss it in another week or so. A week later, I could tell by the look in my husband’s eyes and the quivering in his voice that he had something to tell me. I waited anxiously until the children were tucked into bed and he was ready to talk. As we sat next to one another on the big sofa, he grabbed my hand and said, “We have to sell our house if we want to go into business.” It took me off guard and I gasped. “What? You must be kidding.” “No, I’m not. I went to the bank to see about a loan. We’re not eligible. The only way we can finance a business is to sell our house.”
“There must be another way,” I said as the tears rolled down my cheeks. The thought of selling our home and moving when I was pregnant with our fourth child seemed out of the question. I loved our home and that was the last thing I wanted to do.The pain and despair in his eyes prompted me to ask,”Where would we live if we sold our home?” “We would have to find a nice place to rent,” he answered. I wanted to be open and I desperately wanted my husband to be happy and fulfilled, but I didn’t want to move. Every time we broached the subject I kept repeating, “This is such a big step, we have to make sure it’s God.” I prayed about it daily, but no answers came until we attended our weekly prayer meeting at the church. After the singing and praise, the church got very quiet as we waited to hear the prophetic word. Directly in front of us sat a man we had never seen before. He spoke loud and clearly, “If you take big steps with me, I will take big steps with you. If you take small steps with me, I will take small steps with you.” My husband looked over at me as the tears streamed down my cheeks in disbelief. He gently squeezed my hand and smiled at me. We both knew God had spoken and answered our prayers. We couldn’t stop talking about it on our ride home from the prayer meeting. Although we weren’t ready to speak it aloud yet, we both knew deep down what we needed to do. The next day my husband called the real estate agent and we put our house up for sale. We didn’t know where we would live, but we trusted God would guide us as He promised in the prophecy. We wanted to find a townhouse to rent. I joked with my husband and said, “It wouldn’t surprise me if God was building brand new town houses nearby.” The next week as I read the newspaper, savoring my flavorful cup of chai, I spotted the full page ad in the middle section of the paper.”Joe, come quick,” I called out. “Look what I found in the newspaper. It looks perfect for us.” |
GRAND OPENING – TOWNHOUSES FOR RENT OR SALE
We packed the three children in the car and off we went to the neighboring town. As we drove up the long windy driveway, we couldn’t wait to see what the townhouses looked like. Dozens of people walked in and out of the model townhouses. “How may I help you?” asked the saleswoman who greeted us at the entrance of the model. She smiled as she noticed my obvious big belly and our three young children tagging behind us.
“We’re interested in renting a three bedroom townhouse,”my husband answered. “I’d be glad to show you around. We’ve already rented several of them today. Aren’t they beautiful?” the saleswoman commented.”Very,” I answered. I loved the large rooms and the patio. I imagined our children playing in the small back yard.”When will they be available to occupy?” I asked. “Some are ready now. We’re still building on the other side of the street and they’ll be completed in the Spring.”
My husband and I walked outside to discuss whether to put a deposit down on the townhouse. Even though we just put our house on the market the week before, we thought it would sell quickly and we needed a place to live when it did sell. The timing seemed perfect and we loved the townhouse. We could afford the monthly payment and it was close to everything. We put down a deposit that day with the understanding that when our house sold, we would move in.
As expected, our house sold quickly and amazingly we got almost to the penny what we needed to open the business. Everything ran on schedule and according to plan. Several months later, we moved into our new townhouse.”
As we follow God’s plan for our lives, miracles happen. When we PRAY BIG, we will RECEIVE BIG. Do you know what you want? Do you feel deserving to receive your heart’s desire?
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