Recently, I saw these two paintings. I wasn’t looking for paintings, but they caught my attention, because I have two daughters. I thought they depicted their personalities.
The elephants when they are stressed. The giraffes when they are trying to decide what to do.
I find life amusing.
At any given moment in life, we can see, hear, smell something and a vision comes to us or we are transported back in time. For example, recently, I smelled some lilacs and I was brought back to my childhood when they were in bloom.
Have you had a recent memory come to you after seeing “something?”
If you have an IPhone, you probably have the feature where Apple shares a daily “memory” from your photos. Sometimes the photos are endearing, other times, I think, “WHAT, why haven’t I deleted that!”
Today, the memory was of New Year’s Eve. I’ve moved on from 2023, so why did Apple choose THAT memory. At the same time, I felt I needed to be respectful, as it was the Virgin Mary or my Guardian Angel who might have wanted me to have this nice memory.
On New Year’s Eve, I was visiting a friend. We needed exercise, went walking. At a long stop light, I happened to look up and I saw this gold dome with the Virgin Mary. Of course, I had to walk over.
I thought I would have a view of the golden dome in front of the church. Instead, I saw this Manger scene on the top of the building. This church had no grassy area, so they got creative.
I walked to the side of the building, again, I could not get a clear look of the Virgin Mary on the dome. Even on the back side, NOPE. Interesting design for this building. The Virgin Mary looks down into the church.
So, I’ll admit, I am smiling. Signs from Heaven come when we least expect them. Like today.
I have a 94 year old friend who is not doing well. I take this as a sign, a reminder, check in with her.
Have a wonderful day! I’m off to make that phone call! 💕
Years ago, I read The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. The book has been around since 2006, so most of you must have heard of it. Basically, the premise of the book is that you can have ANYTHING you want by just focusing your attention on it. I wish that was true for “everything,” but it is true for “some things.”
A few weeks ago, I wrote about wanting a pair of slippers. I really had slippers on my mind. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I knew I wanted a pair. I admit, I was FEELING that I would have a pair of slippers.
Now, The Secret does state that you have to passionately believe in what you want, so the vibrations go out to the Universe. If you wish for something, but in your heart, do not believe you will receive it — YOU WON’T! So, your wishes have to be strong and clear.
DEAR READERS – I have to THANK YOU for this favorable outcome. Your interesting comments, kept my slipper thoughts on HIGH – UNIVERSE – FREQUENCY!
GUESS WHAT, a miracle – A friend, who I rarely talk to, sent me a pair of slippers for Christmas!
An unexpected surprise gift! Kudos to Amazon for the nice gift wrap! Cozy, warm, fuzzy slippers that are machine washable! Laughing! Oh, and another miracle, the slippers were the right size.
I am so very grateful! I could not decide on what I wanted, the decision was made for me. PERFECT!
So, now I’m wondering if I can manifest something even bigger?
A boyfriend, a car, a trip… stay tuned! The Secret says there is nothing that is off limits! Dream BIG!
Recently, I had a strange experience. My daughter and I went on a walk. A lady was raking. I enjoy Fall and raking, so I kidded her that I wouldn’t mind helping.
We joked about this, which led to conversations about the Food Pantry. She volunteers and said they were in desperate need of help. I’ve seen the long lines at a local church, I know there is a need right now. My daughter volunteers. So, I said I would look into this too. We were about to continue our walk…
The lady said, “Oh, I don’t have a piece of paper.”
I took out my phone and said, “I can take your number.”
I texted her the next day. The standard message of “nice to meet you,” if you send me the number for the Food Pantry, I’ll see what help they need. I work during the week, so hope they need weekend help.
GUESS WHAT — She never wrote back. No message, nothing.
My daughter asked me too, “Hey, did you hear from the lady.”
My response, “No, not even a nice to meet you message.”
The reason this was so surprising was the fact that this lady was extremely friendly. Telling us about her neighbors, her kids, her grandkids, baking cookies, etc.
My daughter wanted to contact her, so asked for her number and wrote to her. The lady responded to my daughter, answering her question and saying, “I’ll get in touch with your Mom with the Food Pantry number.” The lady AGAIN re-iterated how desperate the Food Pantry was for help.
Isn’t this the silliest thing… Feels like High School. What is interesting is that I had not asked for HER number. She was the one who asked first.
So, I ask you… “What do you make of this?”
Recently, I stopped by church. During the week, they have a quick 30 minute mass in the morning. The school kids attend. It’s nice. The Priest will engage the children of all ages when he asks questions.
That day, he brought up the subject of kindness, meeting new people, etc. Wow, my ears perked up. How did he know I needed to hear this talk?!
He chose this subject to reach the children; however, it’s true even when we are older. Meaning, no matter what age, people can be superficial.
He talked about how our world has changed, especially since COVID. People want and need interaction, but because of the isolation we experienced during COVID, we have fallen into a dark hole. Everyone wants to remain anonymous. Our phones add to this, allowing us to hide behind them. We can talk to people on our phones, no “in person” interaction needed, we’ve grown comfortable with this.
The Priest made a case for showing kindness, helping others, putting the phones down, etc. EVEN HE needs to make more efforts. He said he got a new dog, which has opened the door to talking with people. If you walk your dog, other dog owners enjoy talking.
Anyhow…. PERFECT subject. I smiled, “Yes, we do like to be anonymous these days. Hide behind our phones/computers.”
This is why the coffee shops are engaging customers, knowing their names and what they order. Greeting them in the morning. In the end, people “do want” face-to-face human interaction. Good for repeat business.
A few months ago I wanted to trace a photo and paint it. I needed tracing paper, so I went to the art store. The sales clerk was doing a flyer for the store, and happened to be tracing an old flyer. He showed me how to do it and exactly what I needed.
He armed me with tracing paper, graphite paper and media paper for the painting part. I had all of this in a shopping bag. I went home ready for my project. Something came up and there sat my shopping bag. Over time, I kept moving that shopping bag to different places in my office.
Since I am not an artist, I was afraid if I took those supplies out of the bag, I would forget what he showed me and how to use them. I know, it’s a basic technique, easy peasy, but for a non-artist until I’ve done it once, it was going to be a challenge.
Fast forward to yesterday. A funny coincidence happened. I decided, “that’s it,” I’m tracing that photo!! I looked in my office and couldn’t find the shopping bag. I didn’t have time to do a thorough search, but I kept thinking ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT. Where could that shopping bag be?
Last night, I happened to need a blanket. It’s cold, snow again, so went to this storage container I have. As I lifted up the blanket, there was a surprise. My shopping bag with the art supplies was there. I smiled, because I would never have looked there for the shopping bag. I remembered vacuuming one day and moving the shopping bag into this storage container. A blanket ended up on top of it.
So, WHAT was at work here?
The Universe, St. Anthony or my Guardian Angel? I’m not sure, but when I saw that shopping bag I was overcome by feelings of “Wow – I can’t believe it. I would NEVER have checked in the storage container. Thank goodness it snowed, I got cold and needed the blanket!”
How about YOU, I’m sure something like this has happened to you too. Share your story.
The other day, I was heading out the door to walk. I picked up cell phone, keys and “last minute” decided I should bring a few dollars, just in case. The just in case scenario was for the “end of the walk.”
Inevitably, it always happens. I’m at the end of my walk, tired with NO $$ to stop at grocery store or get a coffee. Better yet, get a $2 Lottery Ticket, never know when LUCK might strike, right. I have Apple Wallet, but have not found a grocery store that accepts it.
As I took a few dollar bills, I SAW this one with a Psalm on it. I’m Catholic, the guilt set in, this is a spiritual message, I was meant to see it — STOP — look up the Psalm. If I merely put the $1 in my pocket without looking up the Psalm, my entire walk would be ruined. Why, because in the back of my mind, I’d be thinking what could the Psalm be about, why was I meant to see it?
As you can see, a powerful Psalm indeed!
Imagine me on my walk. I was thinking/wondering — WHO wrote that Psalm, WHY did they choose that one, and WHY did they write it on the dollar bill? So many scenarios.
The Psalm brought back painful memories of when I was laid off two different jobs within seven years. YES, I went through tough times. I did stop by church, I never begged God; however, I did ask, “WHY” and “WHAT was my direction?” In early 50s, it was hard to find a job. NOW, employers are begging for employees. What a difference a few years makes, COVID changed everything.
So, I share this with you.
If you received this Psalm, what would you immediately think?
COVID continues to rage on and as it does, people are getting sick and seclusion / mental illness is at an all time high. As this is happening, we need to remember to “reach out” to people, check on them.
I say this, because we had four family members die in the past two years, three from COVID. It happened suddenly. As we are getting older, when passings happen, we reflect on our own lives.
The reason I visited St. Jude this week was because of two SURPRISE phone calls.
The FIRST phone call was from a lady whom I talk to off and on. She called to tell me she was at doctor, had blood work done, her breast cancer might be back. OH NO! Time to pray, for this we need St. Jude!
The SECOND phone call was from an older woman, 93, that I’ve known for 35 years. Right before COVID lockdown, her husband died. Suddenly, she sold her house and moved into an Assisted Living place. Imagine that – your husband dies, your world is turned upside down, in your grief COVID strikes and in a new facility you’re told to quarantine to your room. Being elderly, you don’t know what is going on.
Back to the phone call. In November, I tried getting a hold of this lady for Thanksgiving. She wasn’t answering her phone. The Receptionist kept giving me the runaround. Always an excuse on why she was not in room, could not take call and so on. So, I gave up. I’m a friend, not a relative, so no rights. In December, I tried again, wanting to wish her a Merry Christmas — same issues.
Well – the other night she called me. She was a bit incoherent, but gave me the number of another person. Told me to call the person, that person would explain HER situation. Turns out she has been diagnosed with slight dementia and was in the Hospital for a urinary tract infection.
So… the Universe had her reach out to me. Interesting, right!
At least I know her status. I’ve tried calling, again, impossible to get a hold of her, but THIS time her answering machine was on, so I left a message.
So, I went to visit St. Jude. It’s always spiritual to do that. I pass this on to YOU, because another person out there might feel the need for higher prayer. I wish you all well.
NOVENA PRAYERS TO ST. JUDE SHOULD YOU NEED THEM….
I also lit a candle, if you need any special prayers, the candle is lit.
Life is amusing. I was at the Home Depot for a lightbulb. I enjoy seeing their Holiday decorations. I don’t have a Christmas tree this year. FEELING LAZY, but I do miss it. So, I decided to see what “small” trees they had. I like these quirky looking ones.
I looked at their TOP branch, to see which tree had the TALLEST and STRAIGHTEST branch. Some had crooked top branches. That was an immediate – NO GO! On further inspection, I noticed two tall branches next to each other. WHAT?? Were my eyes deceiving me? Was there an actual tree with two tall branches?
By golly there was!! I immediately thought of my TWIN brother. THIS was a PERFECT tree for TWINS. I looked to see if there were any shiny gold or silver stars around. No, but one tree had these red bulbs on it. So, for fun, I put the two red bulbs on MY TWIN TREE. To make my twin brother smile, I put his bulb a little higher than mine. AT FIRST, I admit, I had the bulbs side by side, which is how it SHOULD BE. Somehow though, from a design perspective, it looked goofy. So, I lowered one of the bulbs.
Laughing — NOW, if you look at the bulbs, they look like EYES. This is a TREE MONSTER coming after me. I sent the photo to my twin, he liked it!
As I kept looking around, I saw these fantastic colored cactus. Wow, I’m not a cactus person, but I do love the bright colors. They are amazing. I should have read how long they bloom.
How about a Cactus built into an ornament. Had not seen that before!
Oh, an older lady asked me what I was doing when I was taking photos. I showed her. She said she lives alone, no children, doesn’t care about Christmas anymore.
HOWEVER, a BIG HOWEVER, when I showed her the pictures I had taken, how I was moving trees/plants around to get my photos — THIS made her SMILE.
Suddenly, she was HAPPY! She said I opened her eyes, she had not SEEN the things I had seen as she walked by. She was going to take pictures to send to her nephews/nieces.
So — I feel like I was someone’s ANGEL!
It’s a good feeling! We CAN spread JOY this holiday!
Sometimes we realize we have signs from Heaven! When I was in Rhode Island, I kept finding Lucky Pennies, then two quarters. I have not found lucky pennies in a long time. I found it strange to keep finding money like this in the oddest of places.
THEN I realized, signs from my cousin in Heaven. She died this summer of illness / COVID. What’s important here, is that she went to Rhode Island School of Design. Here I was in Rhode Island walking where she walked for four years. Once I realized this, my HEART grew so big. When I would find another coin, I would think, “OK, YES, I’m looking at your beautiful city.”
I always have this blue pouch in my purse with my Angel, so I kept adding the coins I found to the blue pouch.
Another strange thing happened. The day I was leaving, I found two lucky pennies in the airport. One was RIGH UNDER the seat where I was sitting. My cousin saying, “Good Bye.”
Stranger… the next day, I found out her father passed away while I was at the airport.
Life is interesting — signs, coincidences?
I don’t know, but I do feel a sense of comfort at this moment. Might be silly to some, but to me, it’s a loving sign!
Be open to signs that might come to you for whatever reason or purpose! They do come!
Last weekend, as I was driving, I saw a sign for a RUMMAGE SALE at a church. Why not, I thought, stop in and see what they might have. As you can envision, it was an auditorium FULL of junk. I don’t mean that disrespectfully, it’s just that on FIRST inspection it’s piles and piles of STUFF. You really have to “look” for those hidden gems. Luckily, they did have everything nicely organized.
I always like to look for small tea pots, so I went to the glassware/china section. Imagine my surprise when hidden in the back of the glasses, I saw these two ANGELS. They must be meant for Xmas, because you can put a candle in the back of them. After the past year and a half with COVID, world in turmoil, I SMILED and thought — I want those Angels for Xmas, price: $2.50 each. We need HOPE!
Another GREAT find, as I looked down was this pearl bracelet. I wasn’t interested in jewelry, but I do like pearls. As I looked at it, I realized it was REAL fresh water pearls, only $2. So, into my basket.
At this point, I was having fun! On to the china, they had different things, not much of interest for me, but I did see this cute little tea cup. It was so small, was it for espresso or maybe it was from a child’s tea set – you know, when they “pretend” to have tea. Anyhow, it was $1, into my basket.
And… we can never leave a Rummage Sale without looking at the books. I love looking through to see what they have. I found one really OLD book of The Hardy Boys. I did buy that, it’s from my childhood, but I thought you might like this book – The Spell Binder’s Gift by Og Mandino.
I had never heard of this author: Og Mandino, turns out he is an Italian. He flew planes in WWII with Jimmy Stewart, the actor. I flipped through the pages, it reads nicely, it’s about his life and miracles that happened. When I say miracles, it seems like he had fallen on sad times, when our life’s direction changes and not for the better.
While he was contemplating life for a year or so, suddenly miracles started happening or coincidences that started to show him his direction in life. I LIKED that. I had a period of my life where in 7 years, I was laid off 2 jobs. It was NOT a happy time. Like Mandino, I needed a SIGN, finally I found a good job, but it was not without heartache and turmoil. SAME happened for him, life circumstances helped him RE-INVENT himself. If we have FAITH / KEEP TRYING, miracles do come – not on our timing, but they come.
I SMILE — I was in a CHURCH, so it was fitting that I should find Angels and books on Miracles, RIGHT!
COVID has been TOUGH, continues to challenge us.
Little SIGNS like this, that warm our hearts, give us HOPE, remind us to BELIEVE in God and that GOOD THINGS will start happening. We need to see the SIGNS! Our direction and path will become clearer!
Brilliant Viewpoint 