Posts Tagged ‘faith’
“Faith is believing
before receiving.”
~ Alfred A Montapert
As a holiday present to my daughter and son-in-law I am watching Jeffrey, my grandson, and Charlie a 100 pound Lab for a week.
Yesterday morning started out very calmly and got ready to leave for school. One of the things we do before leaving for school is walk Charlie. Let me correct myself, Charlie walks us.
The walk was a bit of a struggle and we arrived home a little tired. Jeffrey removed Charlie’s leash and before we knew it the dog ran away. Both of us started running after Charlie and had no luck capturing him.
At one point we were very close to him and before we could grab him he took off again. At that point I lost sight of Jeffrey and Charlie.
Franticly I started running around the blocks yelling for Jeffrey and Charlie. While yelling I was asking God to help me.
I turned a corner and there was Jeffrey walking with a woman who had Charlie on a tight leash. My heart stopped for a moment and relief flooded my body.
When I regained my composure, I could not thank her enough for bringing Jeffrey and Charlie home. We brought Charlie into the house and put him into his cage where he slept for most of the day.
Jeffrey and I were a total mess. We sat and thanked God for sending us an Angel.
The important lessons we learned were to always close the garage door before taking Charlie’s leash off and how to walk Charlie so we are in control not him.
During this experience I looked fear in the face and kept moving forward. If for a second I let the fear take over I would not have been able to keep my hope alive.
Praying is a form of meditation that clams you down and restores your faith that things will work out.
What experiences have you had in which prayers restored your faith that things will work out for the best.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Helen
“Appreciation is like an insurance policy.
It has to be renewed every now and then.”
Dave McIntyre
When acknowledged it is hard to enjoy the compliments and we usually brush them off with a quick thank you. On the other hand, if criticized in anyway the thoughts run through are heads constantly. Why do we always focus on the criticism instead of the compliment?
That is a good question! The reason being we feel uncomfortable, embarrassed and sometimes think now I have to be that shinning star all the time. That would be hard work.
Patrice was one of 50 people laid-off from the bank she was working for. In her mind she was the only one who lost her job. She felt like a failure and was ashamed to talk to anyone about what was happening. Her sister insisted that she contact me.
Our first couple of sessions, I was her sounding board and listened to the story over and over again. She was not open to making any changes. Until one day I asked her to name the special talents she had while working?
Patrice’s voice changed and she started rattling off more than 20 talents within a matter of seconds. When she took a deep breath, I asked if she still had these talents. Her immediate reply was, “YES.”
This started a new path for Patrice. Her exercise for the next week was to write down her special traits everyday. Then she had to say them out loud while looking in the mirror.
Within a matter of weeks her attitude changed, she started revising her resume and looking for jobs on-line. Using this technique was renewing her insurance policy for believing in herself.
Patrice was giving herself a beautiful gift. With this new attitude, one day while food shopping Patrice ran into a neighbor. After catching-up for awhile she found out about a new company that was looking for IT Managers. She researched the company, contacted them, had an interview and within a few months Patrice was working again.
Please renew your Belief In Yourself Insurance Policy by sharing with us your special talents. Working together as a community we will support ourselves and each other while trudging down the Unemployment Journey.
I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Remember you have a choice either to dwell on your unhappiness or your special talents.
Helen
JEFFREY’S GOD STORY
By Helen J. Burton
Jeffrey, my 6 year old grandson, couldn’t find his DS Gameboy (DS). He and his parents for days searched the house, car and any place they could think of where the DS could possibly be located. No luck! After the second day, Jeffrey became very upset and started to cry because his mother would not buy him another DS. Mindi my daughter suggested that he ask G-d for help because sometimes after praying he could receive an answer of where the DS was located. So Jeffrey tried this new idea and went into his bedroom to ask G-d for help. After awhile he came out and told his mother that he did not get any answers. They then had a discussion about how sometimes it takes time before receiving any answers. He then watched television for awhile and went to bed.
While Mindi was on the computer checking her emails, she received an email from the babysitter with pictures she took while watching Jeffrey on Saturday. In one of the pictures was a picture of Jeffrey holding his DS. Mindi emailed the sitter and asked if she knew were the DS was located. The sitter sent back an email saying the DS was in the garage. She checked and sure enough the DS was there. The next morning when Jeffrey came down for breakfast sitting on the kitchen table was his DS. Mindi, told him what happened and Jeffrey said, “See how G-d helped me find my DS.”
After hearing this encouraging story, it makes me stop and think about all the miracles
G-d has given me and how I simply take them for granted. Some of the miracles I have received from G-d are as follows:
· Having a loving relationship with my husband, family and friends.
· Watched my granddaughter play the flute last night in the School’s Spring Concert. There were 7 family members watching her.
· Having an opportunity tomorrow to attend the play, Bill Wilson and Dr Bob Story” in New York City with 40 other people.
· Watching the trees and flowers start to blossom.
· Blogging and connecting with others.
What revelations did you get out of reading Jeffrey’s God story, I would love to know.
Last Friday night I went to an Overeaters Retreat for the weekend and getting there was a nightmare. My friend and I left around 6:30pm and planned to arrive at our destination in about 45 minutes.
I have a GPS System; we put in the address and entered all the required information. The final step had a different address and neither one of us thought there would be a problem. So off we went following the directions. The GPS lead us onto a dirt road that had the same Street name we were looking for. We were commenting how easy it was to find the Camp. After riding for quite awhile in a wooded area at night in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey; we realized we were on the wrong road. All of a sudden the GPS System announced we arrived at our destination on the left. As we looked to the left we saw a tree. I never felt such panic!
We called 911, told the police our location, how scared we were and to please help us find the Camp. The Policewoman told us not to worry; she stayed on the phone with us and led us to our destination. If ever I thought there was someone watching over us it was that night. Now as I am thinking and writing about our journey, I can laugh.
What I learned from this experience:
• Never use the GPS System if it does not give you the right address.
• Have back-up directions.
• It is OK to ask for help.
• Trust that things will work out.
Once we arrived at our destination and listened to the keynote speaker, I felt relaxed. Then I got into bed and my fears went wild. I could not stop thinking about what could have happened instead of being grateful for the miracle of arriving safely. The next day I started journaling and speaking to many people about my fear based thinking. Nothing made a difference.
I made a decision, if I wanted to enjoy the retreat I would have to start thinking positively. A miracle happened, I was asked to lead a workshop on “Fears and How They Stop Us.” It was a great opportunity for me to explore my fears and learn what other tools people use to feel safe.
Some of the tools that were suggested are as follows:
• When having a fearful thought give yourself a big hug and say, “I am safe.”
• Journal or discuss your fears with another person.
• Remember that FEAR is “False Evidence Appearing Real.”
What tools do you use when you feel fearful, I would love to know.
