dailydatewithgod

There is a Hebrew scripture that describes God as knowing who we are before we were formed in the womb.  When I stop to think about that I realize that we were once an idea in the mind of the creator.  We were most likely also an idea in the minds of our parents.  If an idea, an imagination is what helped bring about our very life, what is possible with what we create in our minds today.  For good or bad, everything begins with an idea.  We create what we envision.  If we set our mind to be aligned with the Creator of all Creation the possibilities are endless.  This doesn’t mean we stay in fantasy and only dreaming.  We need to set a course of action to make the dreams a reality but we first must envision them.  We all have creative imaginative powers that some of us have forgotten how to use since we were children.  But we also need to be child-like in continuing to dream.  Without dreams and vision we will perish.  Our dreams provide motivation, inspiration, and drive to keep moving forward even when we are thwarted.  Just because we dream it doesn’t mean we won’t have to work towards its creation.  It is like a recipe–a little bit of vision, a little bit of effort, a lot of trusting and letting go that in the end it will turn out even greater than we could have imagined.  Together those elements create a life worth living.  And in the midst of participating in imagining, we are one with the Great Creator.  We experience the fullness of life by engaging in the very practice and taking the journey.  My prayer for us today is that we take some time to imagine–stop, listen to our hearts and ask what would you have me create today?  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Are you in it?  Are you playing the game?  Do you have your game face on?  Are you focused?  I am not sure how much of a sportswoman I would be considered but I did my share in grade school on soccer teams and gymnastics.  Any discipline requires focus though and I learned that through my many years as a dancer.  If my mind is somewhere else when I am practicing or performing it is hard for my body to stay on track.  Where my mind goes, my body follows. There is something beautiful that happens when you are completely focused on what is happening at that moment.  Have you ever noticed that time slips away and you lose yourself.  It is very freeing.  What if more of life could be that on a day-to-day basis.  What if we were to be completely in whatever it was that we are doing at that moment?  I think we have come to a time in life when there are so many things grasping for our attention from moment to moment that it requires more discipline to stay focused on the task at hand.  But more than that it requires making a decision to be in whatever we are in at the moment.  I often think that I am not supposed to be where I am so I am not interested in being in it.  Just take traffic for instance.  I cannot remember a time when I thought–yep, this is exactly where I am supposed to be.  I am usually putting up with it and hoping it passes soon so I can get on to what I am really here for.  Hmm, how might it be different if I asked God to show me why being where I am in that moment is the best thing for me?  My prayer for us today is that we have the courage to do just that–ask God how being in where we are in the moment we least want to be in is a gift.  You up for the challenge?  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Within our own personal realm of presence and experience exists a whole world of communication that our spirit longs for us to pay attention to.   Every cell in our bodies has its own intelligence that allows it to function with or without our input.  In fact the network of communication in our bodies is like an intricately designed fine piece of ornate jewelry with grooves, colors, tiny beads, and gems all placed in the perfect place to bring out exquisite beauty.  Our minds then bring interpretation to the signals that our bodies create.  Again, life is 10% what happens to us and 90% what we make it mean.  We have the power to decide what to do with the indications and promptings of our body.  Our emotions are a result of our thoughts about what our body is experiencing.  For example, the body experiences fear and excitement in the same physical manner.  But if I decide that I am scared of a situation I am going to feel that fear.  If I decide that it means I am excited then I will look forward to a situation.  Of course, we think it can’t possibly be that simple.  But why not?  Why wouldn’t we have been created with the opportunity to choose our experience? Why wouldn’t God want us to make the most of this life?  Why would we be created to share love with the world in the only way that we can without being able to create a love connection with all of our own personal experiences as well?  My journey in my relationship with my body has been threaded with a lot of pain, most of which was self-inflicted.  But that was because of a decision I had made at a young age that my body had betrayed me.  It was the best decision I could make as a youngster to make sense of my experience.  Now as a grown-up, I can see that it is not true. So much of my day-to-day relationship is restoring that friendship so that I am able to work in partnership with my body.  It has meant a letting go of a lot of old ideas that are well-worn grooves in my brain about what I am experiencing in my body.  And when not paying attention, it is easy for me to slip into old thinking and ideas and all of a sudden find myself in emotional pain over what my body is experiencing.  I believe that this is part of my journey in this lifetime.  I have a choice then to approach my experience by asking, “Isn’t this done with yet? Haven’t I already dealt with this?”. Or I can choose to see it is an opportunity to grow further in my connection to my body and grow in love.  My spirit knows that I am more than just my body but it is the vessel that I have been given to take care of in this lifetime. So each day I do my best to take care of it as I would a trusted friend.  I am grateful that my body is so forgiving and patient with my mind and my heart and it is willing to work with me to create a fuller life experience on all levels.  My prayer for us today is that we pay attention to one of the promptings of our body or our emotions and have the courage to ask God how it will lead us to love more today?  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

We are given many gifts in the course of our lives.  What we do with those gifts that are entrusted to us shapes our character.  Those gifts come in many different forms–relationships, possessions, ideas, experiences, talents, etc.  If we view each one as a gift and use it to its full potential then we open the door to receive more.  When we focus on the fear of losing the gift and hold on to it, we have already proven ourselves unworthy of the gift because we have misunderstood it as something that we own.  Gifts are freely given and are meant to be freely given back to the world.  God knows that only we can share what he has given us in our own special way.  If we do not develop that gift or share that gift with others in some way then it goes to waste.  Sometimes it is hard to believe or trust that we have been given a gift because we do not know how to use it.  But in our making an effort to use and share the gift we are living its purpose and proving ourselves to be trustworthy of the gift.  Its like being on the field of life–we might get out there and make a few fouls, but at least we are playing.  Standing on the sidelines of our own lives serves no one.  We are here to serve one another, to show love to the world through our gifts. God knows what he is doing when he gifts us.  Who else would know better what we can bring to the world than the one who created our every cell?  The first step in showing our trustworthiness of a gift is to turn to the Giver of the gift, say thank you .  Next we ask, “how do you want me to use this?”  From the very start we are called to be vulnerable with the source of all Creation.  Thank God it is a loving and patience Source.  My prayer for us today is that we have the willingness to move in the direction of trustworthiness with one of our gifts by thanking God and asking “how can I use this gift to show Your love to the world today?”  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

All the things that occur in our lives are gifts. “What?!” I know that is what my head used to scream at that thought.  How could that be true?  How could being betrayed by a loved one be a gift?  How could being in a car accident be a gift?  How could losing my job be a gift?  How could yet another relationship ending be a gift?  (Okay, so the last one sometimes was easy to believe 😉 )  Yes, everything is a gift.  Where we get lost is when we expect a gift to always be a “good” thing.  Gifts come in all shapes and sizes. Some take more time to unwrap.  Some don’t seem like gifts at first but over time and with hindsight we see how some of the very things that we wanted nothing to do with ended up being our greatest gifts.  It is through adversity that we grow. We face our vulnerability and see what we are made of.  And perhaps most importantly we are given an opportunity to reach out to God and to others because we recognize we cannot do it alone.  It is okay my child, we were not meant to do it alone.  When I look at the world and all the people in it, I realize that if I were meant to do it alone I would not be here.  God shows up everywhere.  When I am willing to re-see the situations in my life, it means I am willing to look at them through God’s eyes.  God’s eyes provide the lens of love and acceptance that allow me to see the gifts.  Left to my own devices even the gifts that look like gifts at the get-go will turn out to be the opposite because the eyes through which I see things is always looking for the flaw or in fear of when the gift will go away.  If I start out with a recognition that everything is a gift and I get to see how I will use it and in what way it will enrich my life and the lives of others, then I can do no wrong.  Life is 10 percent what happens and 90 percent how I react to it.  What will you do with all the gifts you are given today?  My prayer for us today is that we have the courage to see one of the things that we least recognize as a gift and ask God–how do you want me to see this today?  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Putting one foot in front of the other.  Such a simple yet profound experience to be present to the fact that if we just do the next indicated step in our lives, we can experience God in a profound way.  Yes the grand gestures can alter our lives but it is the accumulation of the little things that create the grand experiences. So we think it is the big things that cause great shifts but the day-to-day movements are what transform our lives.  Taking the next indicated step keeps us present in the moment.  My prayer for us today is that we have the courage to not focus on the 29th step ahead, but the first one in front of us and take it. Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

There is a reason why passion drives so many things in life. Love is love.  Whether it is expressed in compassion, kindness, helpfulness, passion, or purpose.  It is who we are.  We were created out of love and we are meant for love and connection with God, ourselves and with others.  As I go through the day, I find it helpful to stop every once in a while and ask, “What would love do?”  Then, I pause to listen for the answer.  Being that Love is greater than anything I can conjure up, I have to be open to the answer not being what I imagine it to be.  Love’s expression in my life may not look like it does in your life from moment to moment.  There will be similarities but for today, maybe love will express itself in a new way. My prayer for us today is that our eyes be opened to love where we have not yet seen it.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

The moments we have happen now.  There is no such thing as experiencing this moment later.  We cannot save it up and use it later.  We can capture it in our minds and bring it up in memory, but we have to be present in the moment to do so.  When I find myself not wanting to be present in the moment, it is because I am making negative meaning out of what is happening.  I lose trust that where I am right now is exactly where I am supposed to be.  If the intensity is high enough–good or bad, I can take on this old story that I can’t handle it and I need to get out of it.  I find it kind of funny that being fully alive body and soul in the present moment is almost more than I can bear sometimes.  But thankfully, I do not have to do it alone.  Since I have stopped running from my life and been willing to be uncomfortable (i.e.–be present to the moment that I don’t think is going the way I think it should be going), I have experienced more moments of gifts than I ever thought possible.  Good or bad, right or wrong, when I live in acceptance of the present moment with my breath, I am alive.  And the more I experience it, the more I want to risk it again and again.  Like anything, it takes practice and a willingness to risk that I don’t have it all figured out and maybe my perception of how things “really should be” is limiting.  My prayer for us today is that we have the courage to ask for help to be present in the moments of our day that we most want to not be present to so we can experience their gifts.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

WOW!  How awesome that you were given one more day!  The fact that you are reading this means that you have started your day with the greatest gift of all– an opportunity to choose life.  Each day that we are granted breath means that we have a choice.  We can choose to make the most by beginning with the first step anticipating how life will be happening “for” us.  Or we can wait for life to happen “to” us.  It is always our decision. Sometimes we can be daunted by the uncertainty of new beginnings but it does not have to overcome us.  We can trust that the Creator of all Creation has the confidence in us to face this new day, whatever it may bring, and that is why we were given the day.  My prayer for us today is that we may be willing to trust that something greater than us knew what it was doing by giving us the gift of a new beginning.  Now go make of it something that will leave the mark of you on the world.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen

Have you ever noticed that when you have all the answers and are sure of an outcome that you have already moved on to the next thing?  We do that, once we “know” that everything is going as planned and we look to what comes next.  As though it is something we have checked off a to do list.  I know I have to watch my inclination to do that.  I believe that life is about the present moment, not about a bunch of tasks that need to be accomplished before I die.  Besides, if it is a to do list, I am pretty certain that I am behind.  When I am less certain about something and am in the throes of discovering I ask questions, I look for different possibilities, I interact with people to get their insights, and I am actively engaged in seeking God’s perspective.  On the outside, it looks like I am lost and can’t find my way.  But what if the journey is the destination?  What if being lost is the experience of life?  What if when I am lost I am attentive to the moment?  Yes, there is the beginning moments of panic and fear that I won’t find my way and I will be lost forever.  But when I remember that God’s got my back and I can only live in this moment, not the future,  I can put one foot in front of the other.  Being lost moves us into active engagement in our lives.  My prayer for us is that we have the courage to explore, question, engage, and connect with God on this destination journey called today. Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen