dailydatewithgod

Sharing my experiences and understandings of the Great I AM.

Be From Vulnerability!

The letter of the V shape conveys the idea of openness to that which is above. It is about inviting it into the smallest space of who we are at our core.  Being open to the power of God to connect us to our core has the appearance of making us vulnerable.  It is however, the very thing that will enable us to operate from a place of power.  There are many powerful words that begin with V and the message contained in that beginning letter may simply depend upon which angle you are viewing.  Or, more accurately, it is the eyes through which we are seeing the power of the shape.  This tells us whether we are victorious or a victim.  Maybe they are all rolled into one.  When we see our victim experience and do not use it to close off our openness but instead extend our vulnerability, we are victorious.  It is a belief in the power of love to reach us.  In the pulling downward of our victim story we can begin to think that the only solution is to close off the opening above.  It is what I thought and felt for a long time.  The only problem was that my soul on some level could not deny my victorious nature.   In my willingness to stay open and vulnerable I am able to transform my victim story into a victory story one choice at a time.  We all experience these Vs in our lives and we are invited by God to choose vulnerability in love or try to hunker down into the smallest part of our existence.
My prayer for us is the courage to embrace the vulnerability of our victim experiences and take God’s hand as we choose to keep open the love that is ready to pour into us and make us victorious today.
Leave a comment »

Be From Then!

Why do we always think that when we get there, it will all be better?  How often have I told myself I would wait until then? Whenever or whatever then is, it seems more appealing because it provides some relief from now.  There is also the version of fearing what will happen then.  Those are the moments I want to stay where I am due to fear of what the future may hold.  Or I want to hold on to how it was then because I can’t imagine it being any better.  I clearly plan to use time for my particular purposes.  I forget that there is no time now or then where God is not.  If I am willing to pause for just a moment and believe or at least be willing to believe that God is greater than any experience I am or will have there is no need to focus on then.  If the then I am imagining is good, I can take on the characteristics of who I am going to be then, right now.
My prayer for us is the willingness to take what we perceive the then to have been or will be and integrate it into who we are now today.
Leave a comment »

Be From Depth!

When I first learned the distinctive way to take a deep breath my body seemed to fight it.  It felt uncomfortable to take my breath past my lungs into my belly and allow it to expand.  I realized I had spent a lot of time holding my breath.  It was a way of being less visible and when in a state of fear it happens naturally.  The relaxation of the body that occurs with deep breathing was unfamiliar to me.  I also recognize that I had a lot of judgment of how I breathed.  As a fat girl I judged myself and made myself wrong because I was more out of breath than the other kids after PE.  Even as a dancer I did not want to stand out as not being able to keep up so I would hold my breath.  This constriction of a natural process made less of life available to me.  But it allowed me to survive.  As I step day by day into living a fuller life, the depth of my breath increases as well.  I am mindful now of ways that I decrease the depth of living in my body out of fear.  God did not give me a body to be afraid of it, I experienced situations as a child that did that.  But I am no longer a child.  As I learn to breathe and live with greater depth, trusting in God’s vision for my life, each day is a little easier and a little more profound.
My prayer for us is the willingness to notice where we might be living on the surface of our lives and ask God for the courage to step into greater depth today.
Leave a comment »

Be From Gazing!

What is it about the things we see that touch us so much?  How is it possible to have a feeling based on a visual expression of love or art or nature?  I wonder if it is the association to the actual thing or experience or if our eyes in fact communicate to those other parts of our brain.  Perhaps the very act of gazing at something in wonder, astonishment or appreciation activates our heart center in such a way as to awaken to love and beauty.  One of the ways that I am able to still my soul and quiet my mind is to engage in gazing. It matters little at which I am gazing.  When the focus of attention goes to the element in front of my eyes after a time it begins to show its intricacies.  I gaze to know it deeper and cultivate a fascination where none existed before.  I shut out all things except the focus of my gaze and it is as though its energy comes alive.  I know that God gazes at us in wonder all the time.  God longs to share with us the beauty of our intricate natures and to share with us that when we are broken down into the most minute element we are love.  Our energy alive and well in the world is love. God would create nothing less.  I do not pretend to think that I could see so easily as God sees but by gazing in appreciation of something I slowly begin to remember the love energy in and through all things that is God.

My prayer for us is the curiosity to see if we can engage our awareness of love from gazing in appreciation of one thing today. 
Leave a comment »

Be From Nearness!

I learned a long time ago that in order to feel closer to God I had to invite God closer.  It started out as a simple conversation where I questioned whether God even cared what I was doing or going through.  I almost stated it as a challenge that if God really cared he would come in closer.  I am not shy about letting God know that I need him to be bigger and more obvious in my life.  The feeling of being alone in my soul is wretched.  It is in those moments of distance that I find myself willing to see the nearness of God as present in a way I had not considered. The courage to open my mouth and ask for what I need sparks the process of opening my eyes to another facet of God’s presence in my life.  I could not or would not see it unless all my usual ways were not working.  I try to focus on the desire to be near my Creator instead of the aching sense of separation.  Time and time again I am shown that the separation I feel is not real. I am only imagining it.  But instead of making myself wrong, when I remember to extend self-compassion, I see that I need only let my heart move through my eyes.  Then the nearness reappears and a whole new part of my spirit is given breath.  In our daily dates I show my commitment to our time together and have learned to be there even when it seems as though God is far away.  My sense of God’s nearness is still my sense of it and when pushed to max, I am opened to let go of my sense and take in some God sense.

My prayer for us is the willingness to focus on our desire to have love near and walk in the strength and power of the heart’s knowing of God’s nearness today.
Leave a comment »

Be From Watching!

People watching is such a marvelous experience.  Living in Los Angeles affords me the opportunity to be around all kinds of people all the time.  It is easy to be at a park and sit down on a bench for a little bit. People are fascinating.  The best is watching their faces when they interact with others or the things they do when they think no one is watching.  I sometimes wonder what God thinks as he watches his children.  What is God marveling about them?  What makes God’s heart swell when he sees the way they are being with each other?  On an even more subtle level is the opportunity to watch the body language displayed when they come across others it is clear they know versus those they do not.  It leads me to wonder how my body changes when I am around people I know versus don’t know, people I feel safe around versus those I do not.  My interest is in being a student of life and watching how love and opportunities to love present themselves in a multitude of opportunities.  God watches us to ensure that we have some experience of being safe enough to love and sends angels where we need a little help.
My prayer for us is the curiosity to watch ourselves and notice when we are able to hold a posture of being loved in our body and how that affects our interactions with others today. 
Leave a comment »

Be From Differently!

One of the simplest prayers that I find myself saying more and more is “God, help me to see _____ (this person, situation, idea, experience) differently.”  I am aware of how easily I go into thinking I know how it is.  I forget to be a learner in my own life.  I get it when it comes to reading a new book or listening to a speaker or taking a class.  But when I have conversations with friends or listen to public figures I have heard before or I find myself encountering a similar experience at work, I find myself operating from an “I have done this before” attitude.  It is a natural inclination of our brains to do this.  It simply takes less brain power to go from what has already been done.  I use less energy when I do and my brain knows that.  It makes sense for survival purposes.  However, the emotional energy can be greater when I have to back out of an assumption or a mis-perception   The love God calls us to live in is more than just survival.  If I am intending to live in the Creator’s universe which is based on the principles of learning and growing in love, I can request help.  In some small way I believe what I am asking for when I pray to see things differently is “help me to see the love in this person, situation, idea, or experience”.
My prayer for us is the courage to show our willingness to be open to learning more of love by asking God to see differently today.
Leave a comment »

Be From Ignition!

There is the defining moment in history when beings discovered fire. It was a powerful experience to bring light in a time of darkness and it still is.  Lighting up our lives from within is also a profound experience.  In our inner most core is the light of love from which we were created.  We can live our whole lives not aware of it but often as it begins to dim or dampen our spirit will call to us.  It wants to be ignited but this time it is a joint effort between the one who designed the flame and us the keepers of the flame.  Each day becomes a decision to draw closer to the light and fan the flame or let it go dim.  The ignition required is much simpler than we imagine.  It is a simple choice of attention and willingness.  Being attentive and believing in the power of the light to ignite our spirit will bring us to a place of peace and unity with ourselves and each other.  As we let our light grow and flame, we give others permission to do the same with theirs.

My prayer for us is the willingness to pay attention to the ideas and behaviors that fan the flame and ignite our lives today.
Leave a comment »

Be From Connection!

The Creator of All who designed all that is clearly has a wider bandwidth of possibility than we do.  We do like our own fixed ideas about things.  At least, I do.  It is humbling at times that my constant prayer is “God, help me to see this differently.”  I know when I am able to open my eyes to additional possibilities my heart opens up more.  And sometimes I need to go from the heart which is a God job.  “God, show me how my heart sees this experience, person, feeling, idea.”  Once my heart opens, my thinking perspective changes.  It is a continual dance to reconnect those two systems. When I look at physically where they are located it seems as though it should not be that big of a jump, yet it is.  So I surrender that as well.  “God help me to reach my heart from which I currently feel disconnected.”  “God, open the eyes in my head to the messages my heart is conveying to me at this moment.”  God knows we forget the fluidity of connection between our hearts and minds because we think it is one or the other.  God knows all is possible and does not separate the thought from the heart space.  God wants this connection to thrive as much as we do and is more than happy to help reestablish the connection.

My prayer for us is the willingness to humble ourselves and ask for help in restoring the connection between our heart and our mind today.
Leave a comment »

Be From Artistry!

Have you ever looked at a painting or sculpture and not gotten what is so fabulously artistic about it? Maybe it’s because you haven’t seen the eyes of the artist when they shared how they created it? Why do we marvel at the drawing of a small child who beams from ear to ear when they share their artistic creation with us?  What is it about knowing that someone has put all they have into what they have created? Sharing out artistry is about sharing the tender part of ourselves.  We all have our own unique style of how we show up in the world and I believe God created us all a little differently so we could be the multitude of expressions of love.  Yes, we are all similar and at our core we are the same.  But the outer expressions, give us a clue as to the magnitude of love’s possibilities.  It is in our shapes and sizes, our voice, our facial expressions, our words, our movement, our energy and most of all our presence.  Nothing is more humbling than just sitting and looking into the eyes of another human being for more than just a flash of a moment.  In a short amount of time we are given the chance to see the light of their soul.  When was the last time you looked into someone’s eyes for more than a moment?  When was the last time you looked into your own eyes long enough to see the light of your soul?  Did you know that is the place God sees you from every day?
My prayer for us is the willingness to be touched by the artistry of presence and know a little bit more of love’s possibilities today.
Leave a comment »