Heartache

My heart aches as I watch the dignified transfer for the thirteen service members at Dover Airforce Base. Such a difficult day! This final journey home for those individuals brings pause for what they went through and now what their family and friends are experiencing; probably their most painful experience ever! So young, the oldest one being only 31 years old! 

Courtesy of Pixabay

Let us extend our deepest condolences to their family and friends as well as our prayers of support. Thank you to each one for their service to our country! A huge heartache for so many! God bless each of them and God bless the USA.

Music

I have been facilitating a caregivers support group at church for several months, and following the lead from the previous two facilitators I bring a topic of focus.  This month, however, my well was dry as to what  topic to focus on. 

Last night I woke up with a song in my head, "I will not leave you comfortless" by Jan Phillips.  This YouTube piece just melts my soul and connects me to a much higher plane every time I listen to it. For me it is mesmerizing.  It refreshes my spirit.

Morning came too soon, though.  Figuring I may as well get my handbooks together, at least I could peruse through them, just in case something struck my fancy.  Of course, these days before the group I do pray asking for inspiration and guidance from God; I'm hollow on my own.

OK, to the point!  I opened up the workbook and the topic was "Music" and how it can help us in the caregiver role!  Yes, I'm not kidding..."Music!"  Of all things!  I shared with the group this entire scenario, my struggles and what came this morning. 

Courtesy of Pixabay

"I will not leave you comfortless

I will not leave you alone.

I am the air you breathe in

I'm the light of every star and every dawn."

Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat!  

What a reassuring message for all of us!

A cat!

I am sitting here trying to catch up on paperwork, writing posts and quiet work that I easily procrastinate doing.  I would rather paint the broad side of a barn with a 12" paintbrush than do this kind of work!  And then in the middle of it, my ginger cat, Carmel, quietly crawls up on my lap, turns this way and that and now is snuggled on my lap as I type!!! He knows how to stop me in my tracks when I am ready to put the computer down and "run away!"

So, here I am typing another post!! I always hope you enjoy my posts and even share them with others. Some days I have no idea what to share but hope that everyday topics will connect with you in your journey of life. 

These everyday topics are what folks bring to spiritual direction, looking at any deeper awareness that comes to them.  I remember a comment my sister made to me one day after she read a post:  "Molly, when I see ducks walking across the street I only see ducks walking across the street but you can always make a story out of it...seeing a much deeper message in it all!"

Yes, spiritual direction, sitting with a spiritual director, helps us see a much deeper reality in what we bring into that time together. We often cannot see those perspectives alone and with someone (a trained spiritual director) trained in deep listening and reflection, doors in one's spirit open up.

Lapcat Carmel

Sometimes it opens with a gentle question or comment.  One thing I know is that with the help of the divine in this time together, there is a carryover of positive benefits we cannot even imagine until we experience it personally.  Try it! You might like it! An hour with a spiritual director, like a cat sitting on your lap, may be just the ticket your spirit needs! It's only a phone call away: 920.793.3530 

Traffic Lights

Courtesy of Pixabay

Just about every day I go to visit my husband at the facility he is a resident in. From here to there I encounter traffic lights, which are not necessarily anything too interesting to get excited about!  However, have you ever thought about how a message of "stop and go" can be a large part of our lives?

Think about it...How often do we get into a snit because things are not going our way...yet? There is a huge issue that has kept me in a "holding pattern" for many months until this week; finally a breakthrough came!  Sometimes we hesitate to get started on a project because all the details are not in place to our satisfaction. 

Well, what does all this have to do with these traffic lights.  This is my observation:  Have you ever counted the number of times the yellow flashing light blinks before the red light comes on?  At one intersection the yellow light flashes fourteen times, which from point A to that intersection gives me plenty of time to make it! 

Often, looking way down the block, the light may be red but with the appropriate speed, by the time I get to that intersection, the light turns green..."go". So, translate these yellow, red and green lights to life's circumstances!

We can sometimes get into a mindset that we are not even going to begin a project, or we give up before we have started because we are discouraged, thinking the worst in our mind. There are times we have to look ahead, change our speed but in reality, it may be best to continue on, even though we can't see that life will probably turn out just fine. 

See, it's not necessary to get into a frazzle that the stop lights of life have slowed us down or even stopped us once in awhile.  Maybe we will get through the intersection when we get to it after all; so what if we need to stop for a while.  It will still work out! It's all in the timing!!