Answers in the Silence (Part II)

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Last week I talked about the scan I was having done to see if my medical condition had worsened or if a recent episode was just a fluke. I asked God and my guides for some insight so that I wouldn’t have to stress about the scan or the results, but I got no responses.

They were/are testing my faith. Faith is not a noun, guys, it’s a verb. It is something you do, not just something you talk about, and, like a muscle, it needs to be worked and maintained and strengthened. God is the ultimate personal trainer.

I posted all of this before the results as a gesture of faith that God wouldn’t let me down and that, one way or another, I would be okay. And I did it before the results came in so that I couldn’t dress the story up to look more miraculous than it would be.

This week, I have the answer. It isn’t ground breaking (I didn’t kiss a vile of dried blood and turn it to liquid), but it’s answer enough and it all comes down to four words:

Results consistent with condition.

Bam.

Answers in the Silence (Part I)

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Yep. We’re doing a two-parter this time around, because the story that I’m telling hasn’t come to a conclusion yet–and that’s part of the point that I’ll be making.

So many people talk about praying and getting no response. That does happen. I’m not going to deny that. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and sometimes those ways are really frustrating. I’ve spent my fair share of time throwing sarcasm at the ceiling.

With my gifts, I’m usually able to hear answers to my prayers pretty quickly and clearly. Most recently, though, I was in the silent treatment boat. I’ve got a neurological situation that leaves about half my brain with very little circulation. No worries–I’m totally fine, regardless of medical expectations. That’s a long, separate story.

I needed another MRI recently to check on a few concerns that my doctor had. Naturally, one of my reactions was to ask the source directly about whether or not I’d be okay. So I prayed like I normally do…and I got nothing. I was surprised, and it stung a little, but after all these years I know one thing…

Have you ever given someone the silent treatment because you wanted them to figure something out or draw a conclusion without you having to spell it out? Maybe you wanted them to just be quiet and trust you for a second?

The silence wasn’t God ignoring me. It was God challenging me. “Just be quiet and trust me.” If you want a more biblical interpretation, “Be still and know that I am God.”

I don’t have the MRI results yet, but I know that they’ll either be normal, or I’ll be able to handle whatever comes from them. I’m going out on a limb to tell you all this now so that you can hold me accountable for the results later.

I’ll tell you one thing, though. With this peace of mind…I’m not nervous or stressed about hearing the results. Heck, I even forget that they’re coming and that something might be off.

You know what that’s called? It comes with a little practice, but it’s called faith. And it works.

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A Gift and a Curse

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A lot of us spend more time than we’d like focused on our faults. Go ahead and make a short mental list of some of the faults that bug you.

Now list your strengths. That feels a bit better, doesn’t it?

Here’s the crazy thing: our faults are often just extreme versions of our strengths.

For instance, one of my strengths is that I give 110% in everything I do. Conversely, one of my faults is that I give 110% in everything I do, no matter how small or trivial. I get tunnel vision and small things become unnecessarily important to me until someone chills me out.

I get things done without procrastination. I’m also incredibly impatient with things, especially things that are out of my control.

I can be very organized and on top of things. I can also be single-minded in how things should be done.

See how that works? Can you draw connections between your strengths and weaknesses? Then let me ask you this: are your weaknesses really so horrible? Or are they just your strengths gone a bit out of control? If you love the good things about yourself, then, to a certain degree, you value the less good things.

Additionally, if the bad things come from the good things, that means they can be tamed if you find a way to step back and realize what’s happening.

When it’s all brought together, you might realize that, for better or worse, who you are is totally okay. You wouldn’t sacrifice your strengths to rid yourself of weakness, would you? And how boring would life be then? If we have nothing to learn, we have nothing to do.

Can we get rid of our weaknesses? Probably not. They’re part of us. Can we be more conscious so that we catch our weaknesses before they get out of control? Absolutely.

Love your strengths and your faults. Love yourself. It’s who you are and who you were meant to be.

And appreciate the same fact in others while you’re at it. The world would get along a lot easier that way.

I’m not saying it’s easy, I’m just saying we’re all worth the effort.

Get Out of Your Head

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This is one that I never realized was so important, and it may be a rather quick post. We like to say that there are two types of people in this world: introverts and extroverts.

This is for the introverts.

Some of the best and most treasured people in my life are introverts. One raised me, and the other is the man I plan to marry. I could go on for days about things I love and the amazing qualities of introverts. This is not a post about why you shouldn’t be introverted. If you’re an introvert, thank you. If you’re an extrovert, you can probably think of the introverts in your life that keep you grounded and keep you sane. Thank them.

One thing about introverts, in my experience, is that they are generally rather selfless. They’ll keep quiet about what’s important to them in a lot of cases. They’ll go without and never complain. If they have a problem or something is stressing them, they won’t burden others with it. That belies a deep sense of strength, but there’s one thing that my guides have showed me recently that I think introverts need to know:

Just because you enjoy the quiet doesn’t mean you should be an island.

If my biggest learn in life is patience–and I struggle to learn it over and over–many introverts need to learn to share their thoughts with someone, anyone that they can trust.

God created so many of us because we support and help each other. We are put here to impact each other. We are God’s resources for each other. Every person in your life is a gift to you from God who will teach you something, support you, make you better in some way. Don’t keep your stresses and thoughts to yourself when God gave you a world full of people to connect with.

If you pray to God and wonder why you’re not getting answers, I suggest you look at the people around you. So many times I’ve done readings for people and tell them, “There’s someone in your life–a girl/guy–with such and such personality, right?” The answer has always been, “yes,” and that person is brought up because they are the resource that God gave to the person I’m reading.

You are the way you are because God made you that way. As long as you care about others and follow Him, you are doing it right and you’ll continue to learn. There’s not a thing wrong with being an introvert, but it is a disservice to yourself to live as though you have to struggle through things alone. Even if it doesn’t feel like a big deal, you’re sharing will be a gift to those around you who love you and want to know your thoughts and feelings.

Introverts are unique and special people who deserve to have as much love and support as they so continuously give. You rock, introverts.

Something you can’t handle?

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There is a saying: God won’t give you anything that you can’t handle. It comes from 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says, “He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure” (NLT). It’s in the Bible, so it must be true, right? Sure. But that doesn’t mean that we find countless reasons to doubt it over and over–because sometimes life is just hard, and even if you make it through the tough time you end up wondering why in the world you were forced to endure it. I’ve even seen an article that counts this phrase as a “lie you hear in church.”

Hit the brakes there, please and thank you.

First of all, not every church may have been 100% correct in the things they preach–or in this case, how they interpret and preach what the Bible says, but that is not a reflection on how God moves in your life and how He helps you grow.

I was talking to a friend recently who is going through a hard time in life. It’s a period of growth that has just started and the end feels like it’ll never be in sight, and I know we’ve all been there. Go ahead and think of a personal example.

I was reading for my friend and the best and truest translation of 1 Corinthians 10:13 was given to me. Stop saying it like, “God will never give you something you can’t handle, so suck it up and keep on trucking through.” The reality is, we have breaking points–and God looks for those breaking points. I’d go so far as to say that He sometimes targets them.

But don’t blame Him for it. Congratulate yourself for it.

Go ahead and scoff, but this is what I know: God sometimes gives us challenges that we can barely handle, and He chooses to do this at times when we have come through enough to have mastered the last lesson He taught us. You passed. You had a period of cementing the lesson, and now it’s time to learn again.

Summer vacation is over, so to speak. Time to get back to work. It’s cheesy, but you truly are a masterpiece, particularly a sculpture of God. And what do we do to sculptures to make them perfect? We brutally hammer and chisel away at them until they are smooth and refined and even more beautiful than they were.

God won’t give you a challenge you can’t handle. If something in life pushes you to your breaking point, good for you (truly!) because it means you have come to a point where you are ready for new challenges and growth, so God throws it at you. God doesn’t give up on us and our potential. We can all be great, and He gives us the opportunity to be.

What great person have you ever heard of that got there by skating through life in their comfort zone?

Life is hard, but if you want to achieve your dreams and goals, then you shouldn’t want it any other way. That doesn’t mean that you have to be particularly perky in the tough times, but it does mean that you should remember to take a step back and appreciate the fact that you are strong enough to need a tougher challenge to mold you into perfection.

Thank God for that!

We all need somebody to lean on…

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I few years ago, I read a book called The Secret, which was all about the law of attraction. I liked that book. It served a purpose for me at that time in my life, and I think it was really helpful. What I didn’t like was that it followed that trend of referring to God as “The Universe”.

Let me get this short rant out of the way really quickly: The energy source that influences our lives for the better, that “something bigger than us” that people talk about–It’s not “The Universe”. Yes, the universe is full of energy and it could be argued that the energy is what influences us, the push and pull of planets and all that. I won’t argue the possibility. But do you think that the law of attraction is really made complete by the “Universe”? The universe doesn’t think or feel or know you personally. It’s just there to hold the stars and the planets up (scientists are ready to tear into me right now. I’m not talking science here, I’m talking faith and metaphysics. I mean no offense. Bear with me). In my opinion, God created the universe and all of the wonderful things it does and includes. And God is the one who responds to the thoughts you put out into the law of attraction.

End rant.

With that in mind, I do believe in the law of attraction, but I have a different way of describing it: Prayer. Absolutely. If you make a list of things and put it out to “The Universe” to bring to you, you are actually putting it out for God. If you decide to change an attitude and say, “Okay, The Universe, from now on I’m going to be an optimist!” You’d better beieve it’s God who just heard you say that. Might as well call Him by name.

So if you’ve ever been conflicted on the law of attraction, think of it that way–and then start using it! Tell God what you’ve decided to do, because you’ll have just given Him an invitation to help you become it, and He’s probably been waiting for you.

You may have heard this put in other words: Let go and let God.

Did that blow your mind? Because it did mine when I realized it for the first time.

When you’re putting something out the “The Universe,” you’re saying, “I want this and now I’m leaving it up to ‘The Universe’ to give it to me. Now, that’s tad off-base, but it’s a great place to start.

Rephrase it this way: I want this and now I’m putting my faith in God to provide me the opportunities to make it happen.”

I choose not to stress: “I trust that God will help me remain calm in times of stress.”

I choose to be happy: “I trust that God will bring me the opportunities to find fulfillment, and I will not let my worries get in the way of Him helping me.”

Or, a little deeper. “I choose to release myself from the stress of over-worrying about a family member with [insert illness or other uncontrollable issue here], and I trust that God will work in our lives to bring about the best outcome for everyone.”

You have just given up the responsibility of worrying over something that you can’t control. You’ve given it to God–who actually does have influence in how it all works out, and by doing that, you’ve invited Him to act. And He will.

This isn’t new, either. There’s another really good book out there that explains how this all works. There are a ton of helpful verses in it, but a short and simple one can be found in Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

There’s a plan. For you and for the people you love. You just have to relax, trust, and go with the flow.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

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Not everyone is psychic, and that’s good. If everyone were psychic, we wouldn’t need psychics–and we would need an awful lot of other things. But there are a few psychic things that everyone can do, in fact, there are a few that everyone should do.

One thing, and this is a basis for thing number two, is meditation. Now, meditation doesn’t have to be a psychic practice at all. It’s just a great de-stressing practice, and it helps clear your mind when your thoughts are too buzzy to organize. Even just a few deep breaths with clear thoughts will do amazing things for you.

Thing number two–the most important thing ever–hearing God. You do not have to be psychic to hear God. God speaks every language–even one that is only spoken between you and Him. And just because you don’t hear words or see symbols like a psychic person might, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have the resources within you to communicate with Him.

And this is where I recommend meditation in the form as something as small as a quiet moment in your day. Take a few deep breaths until you are calm and your mind is settled. If you can feel that your face is relaxed, you’re doing great. Keep taking deep breaths (in with the good, out with the bad), and take a few breaths to list things you’re thankful for. You’ll get perspective, and it will help to keep you distracted from what’s stressing you.

One you feel calm and content after realizing all of the things that are wonderful in your life, hold on to that feeling and just ask in whatever way you want to. It can be out loud or just in your head, whatever makes you feel comfortable–because that’s the point.

Once you’ve asked the question, all you have to do is wait. Thoughts may start popping into your head, even in the form of “what if you tried this?” and you may even start a dialogue with your own thoughts.

Or are they?

Before long, you’ve had a bit of an epiphany. Either you have an idea of a solution or something about your situation and how it is helping you grow or why it’s happening makes a lot more sense.

You have just heard from God.

Or maybe you have an instantaneous decision to make: “Should I give this person with the cardboard sign a dollar?” And a voice from somewhere inside you says either yes or no.

You’ve just heard from God.

It’s a bold statement, I know, but I can assure you that if you are focused on being open to communicating with God, He will be the one you’ve heard from. He will use your own thoughts to speak to you, because for a lot of us, our own voice is the one we can trust the most.

Not everyone is psychic. That’s a talent you’re born with, just like singing, sports, and everything else, but just because you don’t “see dead people” or hear etherial voices, doesn’t mean you aren’t capable of connecting to the one metaphysical source that truly matters.

You can speak to God–but best of all, you can listen to Him, too. I hope you give it a shot and, with time, become fluent in the language that you share with Him.

Pixie Dust Is The Easy Part…

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All you need is faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust!

Trusting is hard.

Even if you’re naive, gullible, or any form of a naturally trusting person, trusting that everything will work out because God is looking out for you is a tough thought to keep.

I am a control freak. I’m all over the place trying to make sure that things go the way they should for everyone I can think of, and when things are important I’m even more invested–200%, and that’s a problem. It makes me efficient, but it also makes me forgetful.

Now that things are settling down in my life again, I’ve been getting back into meditating regularly, and my guides have had plenty to fill me in on, namely that I’ve been so wrapped up in life that I’ve lost sight of the true reality: that there is a heck of a lot more going on than what is happening right in front of me.

I’m at a sharp turn in my life, and I’m sure everyone can relate to that. I’m trying to keep myself accountable as I learn something new and in all of the buzzing around, I forgot to fall back on the fact that God is not going to let me fail as long as I have good and right intentions. And this extends to everyone. In addition to panicking about myself, I was being neurotic about my boyfriend, since our lives are now so intertwined (we live together). I want us both to achieve our goals, and there are a lot of them, but in the place we’re at I feel like we’re just spinning in circles, doing a lot of work to not get very far. I worry that the things I want from life won’t happen when I hope they will. I worry that I’m going to miss the boat on the various goals and dreams that are so important to me.

I forget that absolutely none of that is ultimately in my control. I can’t help that he’s in school for another year an a half. I can’t help that we live where we do (because I’m certainly not going to leave him). I can’t help that our means are what they are. I have what I have, and this is where the only option I have is to fall back on faith and trust.

I may not be able to control things in my boyfriend’s life–but God can help my boyfriend where I can’t. I can’t control that we have what we have–even though we’re working toward improvements–but God can carry me across the tightrope until things get a bit more stable.

It is not my responsibility to fix everything. It is my job to be looking for opportunities that God gives me, and to skip on those stones of opportunity to the other side of the lake, where my ultimate goals lie.

This one is short and sweet, but so important to remember, folks:

You may not be in control, but you also don’t have to be. If you want things that are out of your hands, remember whose hands their in and trust Him to work things out. Every little thing is gonna be all right.

Who’s Provoking Who?

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I hate scary movies. Hate them. With a passion that burns hotter than the place that all those scary demons and stuff come from. You know where I mean. My boyfriend loves scary movies. They’re his favorite genre.

And God has a sense of humor.

And, of course, there’s been a run of scary movies based on paranormal incidents lately. Tons of them. So many that I don’t have to reference any because I know you can probably list ten on your own. And my boyfriend loves them.

Here’s why I don’t like scary movies: I am very in tune with energy. I see it in the air, for crying out loud. So when I watch a scary movie, one that is all too real to me, not only does it creep me out, but it gives negative entities material to goad me with.

And yet, somehow I just can’t stop challenging myself to beat scary movies. So I told my boyfriend that I would watch a scary movie with him–because I knew he would appreciate it–but only early in the day. And we settled on Paranormal Activity. I’ve actually seen Paranormal Activity 2, thanks to my best friend who also loves scary movies. I’m surrounded by them.

We put the movie on and I was able to handle it really well until the possession really kicked in. In fact, I handled it so well that I was criticizing the way the couple in the movie chose to handle the haunting.

First of all: If weird stuff has been happening to you since you were a tiny kid, you bring that up with your boyfriend–not out of the blue or whatever, but if you love each other you talk about almost everything, and why wouldn’t something like that come up somehow eventually? My boyfriend knew I was psychic before we even started dating because he mentioned something about paranormal stuff and the conversation led smoothly into an opportunity for me to share it with him.

Second: That guy is an idiot, which brings me to the title of this post.

We hear a lot on paranormal reality TV shows about the “investigators” (because, some of them have no right to call themselves that, though they are funny to watch) “provoke” the spirits.

Short version: If Quijia boards are bad because you’re inviting a spirit to mess with you, what to you think provoking is?

If you get mad at a negative or demonic entity, you just played straight into its invisible hands. Anger is a mask for fear, in whatever form the fear originates (defensiveness, self-consciousness, what have you). Anger is a fear response. And if you get angry, you are no longer in complete control of yourself.

To be truly safe from a demonic entity, you don’t need talismans or smudge sticks or beads–they are psychological tools that help you achieve what you do need: solid faith. I’ve mentioned this before, but let me summarize quickly for you. If you are absolutely certain of something, it takes a heck of a lot to dissuade you, if it’s possible to do it at all.

Negative entities want to mess with your head first and foremost, because once they conquer your mind, the rest of you tends to crumble after it. We see this with hypochondriacs as well. They believe they are ill so fully that they become ill in some way. If someone tells you you’re ugly consistently enough to wear down your resolve, no matter how much of a bombshell you are, you’ll start seeing a wart-ridden hag in the mirror, because your mind has accepted it.

So what the demon in Paranormal Activity did was provoke the guy. It made him angry. It wanted him to challenge it, because as soon as you say, “I can take you on,” you’ve said, “Try me–I’ll allow it.”

Game over. That thing will mess with everything around you until you are so helpless–angry or not–that your mind is weak enough and open to its influence–possibly possession, dramatic as that sounds.

Who’s provoking who, guys? Keep it in mind when dabbling with the paranormal. And here’s some common sense for you: Don’t mess with negative entities. Just don’t. Ever. Unless you have a calling from God, for which He will have equipped you, just don’t do it.

Speaking of God, I’d be a terrible person if I didn’t give you the best way to protect yourself from demons. That’s right, firm faith. And faith is never better placed than when it is placed in God. God is so epic that he actually uses demons who are trying to manipulate you in order to strengthen your faith in Him. If you’re being plagued by something and you’re wondering why God allows it to happen, stop wondering and start asking God to defend you.

Your first instinct in a situation–as soon as they saw that door move on its own in that movie–they should have prayed. If you want to shout something at the entity, tell it, “You can’t hurt me because I am defended by God, who is greater than you.”

Read the Bible. I had a negative entity nagging at me for a while and one night I was just done. I sat up in bed while it was messing with me and opened the Bible app on my phone to a random passage. I read from there and my head started feeling so much pressure like a bunch of sand bags were slowly stacking on top of it. I could almost hear the thing yelling at me to stop, but I kept reading, even out loud to get through to myself even more. Eventually, I started feeling safer because I was calling to God for help.

And the pressure and the badgering ended there.

It still happens occasionally, but I just do the same thing. I consider it practice–keeping me on track to call on God first. Negativity, in any form can’t beat me, because I am defended by the strongest force ever.

Victory achieved.

Body, Mind, and Soul

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How many times have we heard that one and pictured a frail guru in a loin cloth sitting in the lotus position spouting wisdom that is way too far above our heads for us to care?

…or is that image just me?

Either way, we hear it a lot, and it’s often just another one of those things that is just too far out to mean something to us. But it hit me last night that it’s really not so out there, and that we do it pretty naturally.

In the past year, I’ve gotten pretty into fitness (message or comment if you’d like me to be your Beachbody coach!), and one of my motivations that got me resolved enough to start came from Sherry Givens (http://apsychic.net), a talented psychic/medium who really helped me get myself off the ground. She told me to start eating more organic foods because it would help my energy–which is something that I, ironically, need improvement in controlling. I heard this again from another psychic I visited on a whim a few years later: “You have to start eating healthier foods for your energy.”

So that’s a body and soul connection, but the mind was the hardest obstacle to overcome. I was adamant that I would never count calories and there was no way I was going to work out every day for the rest of my life. I hated working out–because why would I want to make myself tired all the time, and for what?

As a true Taurus, it took a challenge to get my determination going, and I plunged in head-first and became a bit obsessive with it–as is my way in many things, I won’t deny it. A friend said something, and I felt challenged, and so I dove into a workout program and downloaded a calorie counting app in October 2013. Since then I lost 35 pounds and eat really healthy. I haven’t been sick in ages, and I feel so good about myself that my mind no longer gets in the way of my efforts to achieve my goals.

And my energy, though I still need to meditate more often, has improved as well. I’ve even found that my readings are getting more detailed. I had a reading a few weeks ago where I picked up the phone, said hello, gave the impressions that I got in my meditation, and the caller had nothing to add. She said I covered everything she was hoping to hear without her even saying a word.

I definitely thanked God after that one.

How funny is it that the mind–the thing we have the most active control over, is the greatest hurdle in our spiritual journey to allow God to guide our lives more closely? Think about it: your soul is the closest part of you to God, so it’s all in from the start. You’re body just needs to be taken care of so it can function and serve God’s purpose well while we’re here, but your mind…no, the mind needs convincing over and over again, and it’ll put a screeching halt to everything if you don’t tame it.

And that is where meditation comes in. My guides are poking me at this very moment to say these things and learn from them myself. I wasn’t even planning on talking about meditation today, but here it is from them:

“Meditation is how you learn–not to control your your mind–but how to open it enough to allow God in. Effectively, surrendering your mind to God so that he can inspire your actions and help you be your best so that you can live happily and be helpful to others on their journeys. It’s all about paying it forward. You learn so that you can teach. That’s why you’re here. And everyone gets to learn and teach different things–and that makes the world beautifully diverse. From there, if you connect with others who have different strengths, you become an unstoppable force for God. What could be more exciting than that?”

So there it is. Be more aware of the fluid connection between your mind, body, and soul. Let it become instinct, learn form it, and fine-tune it until you can be used to teach other–and you don’t have to be done learning to be able to teach. Also, embrace and celebrate the strengths of others, because if you work together, your strengths become theirs, and theirs become yours, and you’re unstoppable.

I believe that’s very similar to a quote in the Kingdom Hearts games. “My friends are my strength, and I am theirs.”

Yet again, Disney (and Square Enix) hits the nail on the head.

If you need help with meditation, I can give you very easy ways to get started and develop. Just ask!