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September 18, 2016 – The Art of Letting Go

by

Rev. Sheila Gautreaux, L.U.T.
“The Art of Letting Go”

A mountain climber was playing Pokemon Go when he fell off a cliff. He grabbed at a branch sticking out from the mountainside. It stopped his fall. He looked down. He looked up. He cried out, “God, please save me. I’ll do anything!” The clouds parted and he heard a deep voice. “Do you trust me?” “Yes! I’ll do anything!” God repeated, “Do you really trust me?” “Yes! Yes!” “If you trust me, then let go.” The man looks down, and then looks up. “Is there anyone else up there?”

We do that. Sometimes our guidance can be a stretch. We don’t trust it. If the mountain climber had let go there was a ledge just a few inches below his feet, but he couldn’t see it.

There is so much going on in the world now we get confused. Charles Fillmore, in “Dynamics For Living”, said that it is essential we learn to let go to learn something new; that there is a balance between receiving and giving. It’s important we learn to let go.

The scripture I quoted on your handout is from Isaiah 43, “Remember not the former things…” which are the things that no longer serve that we’ve carried from childhood and young adulthood. They have shaped our lives, but a hand closed on the old isn’t open to the new. In Isaiah, God says, “I am doing a new thing…I will make a way in the wilderness (our uncultivated errant thoughts) and rivers (the flow of our vitality) in the desert (those dead things we carry that no longer serve but take up energy in our spirit and body of affairs).” Take for example, an old relationship or job that is no longer fulfilling, yet we stay and are miserable.

My favorite instructor in ministerial school was Dr. Robert Brumet, “Finding Yourself In Transition.” He wrote that each transition in life begins with an ending. But before the new beginning we must first let go. That brings the next stage, the void. We wander until we get to the new beginning. Many transitions are happening in our world and we are called to let go of old judgments, old habits, patterns and prejudices. Many of you are experiencing transitions in your lives right now. Right here, our Rev. David is leaving. We want to hang on, but God is doing a new thing. We must let Rev. David move forward on his new path. If we don’t let go we will be left in “the desert”.

Rev. Denise is coming but can only take us to the door. The ministerial search team is finding our new minister; our new minister will go through the door with us. So we have to let go. We have to prepare for this new thing God is placing in our path.

How do we release? How do we let go? I suggest several steps in the handout.

In step 1, if you have only a little willingness, give it to the Holy Spirit, who will take the necessary steps for you, (ACIM). In step 2 remember to do your work; you don’t want to get more of the same thing you had before. Step 3, there is really nothing to forgive because, as spiritual beings we learn on our spiritual path, and therefore nothing wrong really ever happened. Everyone can find good in those things we need to forgive. Step 4 is the void. It’s ok. Step 5, is ok. Get your cry on, your mad on; beat a pillow. In step 7. Celebrate!

We must Let go; let God. Let go; let God. Let go; let God.

I see for all of us an amazing future! I believe that you and I have the power to create infinite possibilities out of the challenges we are facing. I trust you and I trust God!

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September 11, 2016 – A Jedi’s Guide to Growth in Consciousness

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09/11/16 Rev. David McArthur
“A Jedi’s Guide to Growth in Consciousness”

Our story tellers so often give us information about our spiritual growth, like what it takes to grow into a higher consciousness, to change from the 3rd dimension to the 4th, to move from power to love. As we grow into a greater consciousness it is time to understand the way of the Force.

In a galaxy far, far away, the desire to control others is shown when the storm troopers show up. The need to control comes from our fear. It’s like our thoughts are sent out to tell everyone we are right! You know you are “in” power when you want to control those around you. But when we move into greater consciousness we perceive ourselves as wanting to empower those around us.

In the latest Star Wars episode, when a storm trooper is shot another trooper responds with compassion and removes his own helmet, and we have a personal experience with him as he sees he has to free himself from the thought of control. The thought is the male aspect. In another place a young lady, a scavenger (which is the lowest of their society) responds with compassion to a droid. This is the feminine aspect, the feeling of stepping into a greater consciousness.

Emilie Cady was deeply rooted in her spiritual knowledge. But she had a situation she was unable to transform. Her father, although innocent, was isolated, condemned, and, it’s my guess, incarcerated for years. In all her work she wasn’t able to free him of this. She wrote,
“One day while sitting alone in my room, my hands busy with other things, my heart cried out, “O God, stretch forth Thy hand and deliver!” Instantly the answer came “I have no hands but human hands. Your hand is my hand; stretch it forth spiritually and give whatsoever you will to whomsoever you will, and I will establish it.” Unquestioningly I obeyed… Within a few days my dear father came home a free man, justified, exonerated…”

We have to grow up. The spiritual power is expressed through us, our thoughts and feelings. It’s different from control. It’s what love does.

Emilie Cady had a weak ankle. Her understanding was that any place where her body was not whole was a place of unknown spirituality. So she stepped up to the perception, “There is only God. All else is a lie,” withdrawing any power she had given to a lesser perception (“evil” or the 2nd force), “because God is all that there is.” She was healed.

There is only God; there is only love. Again, There is only God; there is only love. Again, There is only God; there is only love. …for any situation in your life…to live in a place where there is only love, infinite love everywhere present…infinite power everywhere present…for every need, in every situation. When that feeling exists there is silence. We were in the Silence a short time ago. From the Silence thoughts and feelings flow out in infinite love. It’s an amazing journey and we’re all on it. May the Force be with you!

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September 4, 2016 – Outrageous Gratitude

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09/04/16 Rev. David McArthur
“Outrageous Gratitude”

On awakening this morning, did you tell yourself, “I’m glad you woke up this morning!”? We take it for granted. At night you go somewhere else, experiencing and learning. Each morning you come back to the 3rd dimension. You are one with the infinite power of the universe that creates and sustains this universe and who knows what else.

Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He told them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed…the kingdom of God is within you.” It is a state of awareness of the presence of the divine within. Our beautiful capacity to be able to know this expands as we are more aware. Science has proven that this changes the body. We are then able to perceive a new consciousness through appreciation. It’s measurable, verifiable. Our capacity to see beauty expands. It’s a greater experience of seeing the presence of the divine. It lifts us. It literally raises the flow of spiritual energy in us. We become more sensitive, attuned to the guidance and wisdom with in us. So say I am grateful!

Most of us have been grateful after the beauty has been revealed. But there’s another place to have gratitude—before we see the goodness. That’s not just gratitude, it’s outrageous gratitude! I got to see this. Today we have with us Anastacia Jayet, who wrote the book “Shattered into Being”. She and I have a connection. We both were students at the University of New Mexico. We each had a happy family with a new baby. And we both lost our spouse suddenly and violently. Her life became a state of helplessness. Slowly she began to return. She says in her book, “I am being shown the way, a place of light, through gratitude.” Outrageous. So when your story is too heavy, I am grateful, and awaken to a greater awareness.

Richard Weinman was a man whose wife had Alzheimer’s. When she passed he was assessing the changes in his life, when a cement truck hit him head-on. He awoke three months later in a hospital bed. His body was held together with screws. He’d be bound to a wheel chair. And when he was placed in a care facility, every moment every day was regimented. He began to use a powerful thing. “I could weep over what I couldn’t do, or I could be grateful for what I could do. I was a writer and a professor. I could write again.” He wrote with a stick on a computer keyboard. He wrote a blog about his life. It became a book which is now given to caregivers in many states. He was invited to the White House to be on the council on aging. He didn’t decide to do that when he was in his hospital room where he couldn’t type, where he was in pain, controlled by others. There he only chose to be grateful. Outrageous.

You are a spiritual being and you made the choice to wake up this morning and come here, to show up because you have purpose. If you are in an experience, you have purpose and you have amazing power to choose to feel grateful. Bring that magnificent wisdom of your spiritual self to create the Kingdom, the state of consciousness where you are aware of that goodness, that love, and that purpose, by making a choice. I am grateful! I am grateful! I am grateful! –grateful for that amazing love there every moment, responding.

And for the amazing state of consciousness of your love and gratitude, I am grateful!

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August 21, 2016 – Outrageous Forgiveness

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08/21/16 Rev. David McArthur
“Outrageous Forgiveness”

Last week we spoke of outrageous generosity. The next step of our journey is when we see so much violence in our time, we recognize the invitation to step into an even greater consciousness. The higher level then, becomes outrageous forgiveness.

Spirit allows us to to see the turmoil and pain. It is no longer hidden in Shadow. We see it; it affects us and impels us to deal with it. We work on forgiveness all the time. What I’m talking about is outrageous forgiveness. I think of that moment when Nelson Mandela walked out of prison. He said of it that if he hadn’t left that pain and injustice behind, he would never be free, which is what he wanted for all. And apartheid fell. Outrageous forgiveness.

It’s when we want this in our lives and family and world that we can do it. But if you haven’t noticed, not everyone does.

In our families we have ones who act out their pain, and in their addictive behavior blame us. When we are hurt it is our assignment to heal the hurt within, and it is our assignment to say there is no place here in our family for this pain anymore. Outrageous forgiveness. Step into wholeness. We have to live these truths to bring this higher consciousness.

There is an abuse within many religions that has hurt too many. How many thousands of women have been told to forgive and go back into their abusive environment!!? Love says no, it has to end. Love also is true compassion. If we ask them to step up higher, the pain is no more. There is our freedom.

Some people in our own community were acting out their pain and projecting it on others until it became extreme. By the third time we had to say, “You can’t be here.” Our experience here with this took away our emotional safety, which is necessary for a community like ours. So some had to step away. But holding the forgiveness and the higher level, some returned to this place of affirmation and wholeness beyond the pain. This is the place of love, forgiveness, wholeness, of a commitment that this is a place of outrageous forgiveness. And then we know the beauty in others.

Join as we create a consciousness of forgiveness and love which holds the highest for those of family and community. I commit to outrageous forgiveness. This is not ordinary forgiveness; it is higher, more. I commit to outrageous forgiveness. When you see the violence on TV. I commit to outrageous forgiveness. When we look at the person in the family who has not found their wholeness. I commit to outrageous forgiveness. OK, that’s the easy part. How about self. Lift yourself up. I commit to outrageous forgiveness. Spirit made us outrageous anyway, how could you not?

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August 14, 2016 – Outrageous Generosity

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08/14/16 Rev. David McArthur
“Outrageous Generosity”

When we go into the deeper love, that which is not like that deeper love shows up to be healed. There is a secret: in dealing with this lower vibration which shows up to be healed, go to a higher vibration. Rise up to that level of consciousness which is the nature of the divine. Among those higher frequencies, higher vibrations, there is one which has meant more to me. It is generosity. It is the very nature of the divine, the expression of the divine.

Remember when we talked about tithing and the experiment of a Quaker church in the thirties. Testing biblical law, they took a quarter inch of wheat and sewed it, then tithed on what was harvested from that one crop. Every year they planted 9/10ths of the harvest that had originated from that quarter inch measure, tithing the rest. By the 6th year they reaped 57,000 bushels, 13 times what would have normally been reaped! When we bring in that higher vibration, that love, that infinite power of abundance, it flows! So say with me, I am generous! I am generous! I am generous!

When people let go they naturally step into their generosity. A 14 year old boy wanted to do something for his mother who had breast cancer. He thought of shaving his head to show his solidarity with her. He hoped to raise a hundred dollars by going about his neighborhood and let people shave a bit of his head for a donation. Knowing the neighborhood, his father didn’t think his son would raise a hundred dollars. The boy came home with $1223.00!  Do you feel the heart? That natural abundance? It is our nature to be generous. It isn’t a struggle; it is a flow.

Are you ready for the next level? OUTRAGEOUS generosity? A nurse saw a starving little girl take a single piece of bread (all she had to eat for the whole day) and break it and give her brother the larger piece. Can you feel that generous heart? The world is filled with it. A teacher got laid off. One of her former students sent a $1000 check for her rent! Outrageous generosity! Isn’t that what we’re about? We’re the recipients of that infinite flow. The universe brings this to us.

Lately, here, we’ve had more outflow than income, so myself and my wife and Rev. Sheila and many board members have decided to tithe 20%. We understand this is an invitation. I’ve got six weeks left in this position. In that six weeks will you join me in the financial health of this church? Know there is more than enough!

Dan, a 25 year old, liked to bike to work in Wales. He was hit by a car and paralyzed from the chest down. He heard of a new stem cell treatment in China. His friends raised $30,000 for it. Then Dan heard of a five year old boy also in Wales who had cerebral palsy from birth and had never walked. This little lad could get a healing treatment in St. Louis for $100,000, but his family could only raise half of that. Dan gave him his $30,000. Outrageous generosity!

Let’s change that. I am generous, outrageously generous! I am generous, outrageously generous! I am generous, outrageously generous! Feel it within. Generosity. Outrageous generosity. What a state of consciousness to live in! All of us are instruments through which this world is transformed. And it’s fun! We are here to step into this flow.

I am generous, outrageously generous! I am generous, outrageously generous! I am generous, outrageously generous! You are because God is! Bless you!

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August 7, 2016 – Treasures from the Shadow

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Rev. Sheila Gautreaux, L.U.T.
“Treasures From The Shadow”

From Debbie Ford, one of my teachers:
“The shadow contains all the parts of ourselves that we try to hide, deny or suppress… Most of us expend huge amounts of energy …to hide our bad qualities from those around us – even from ourselves.
The result of turning our backs on our dark side? A life that slips by only half lived. Dreams … never realized…lay buried… Until we make peace with our shadow we will continue to be at war with ourselves…What we resist persists …Until we take back our power and forgive ourselves for being human we will attract people who push our buttons… All we have to do is look at how the outer world treats us. If we’re not getting the respect, love and appreciation we desire from the outer world, it’s more than likely we aren’t giving these things to ourselves… The whole world is a mirror of our own consciousness, and when we make peace with the disowned aspects of ourselves, we make peace with the world.”

We are on the threshold of a quantum shift in consciousness. What comes up to be revealed comes up to be healed. 90% of our shadow is formed between the ages of 7 to 10 from what we heard or thought we heard. “Don’t be so selfish.” “That other kid is always so kind. He shares his toys.” We hear the difference and want to be unselfish and so we give our selfs away. There is resentment underneath. We are whole; there are times to give to others and times to give to self. The law of the universe is giving and receiving. This means loving our shadows. It gives us balance. It is not selfish but self-full. There is good buried within.

A young fellow told me he was 8 when he was introduced to violence. His life became violence and drugs until he got his teenage girlfriend pregnant. Then he knew he had to bring peace into his life. He found balance becoming a pro in martial arts. Another person this morning said she wakes up with her shadow every morning and pretty much goes through the day in it. It is a method of protection, but becomes so uncomfortable we project it on others. So remember, when you’re pointing you finger at someone, the other 3 fingers are pointing back at you. We have to own it, recognize it’s part of us. As we take ownership of what is expressed it disappears. In the 23rd psalm the Death in the Valley is that stuff. It does not want to be denied. It seeks recognition. But we can heal.

The steps for healing are IAAAFLC (not the Aflac duck; refer to the handout attached). I is for inventory of the stuff we’ve buried. A is assessment, where it came from; how it started. The next A is acceptance; then A for appreciate it, bring self care in. F for forgive. Forgive it, forgive yourself, your parents, siblings. They did the best that they could at the time. L: love. I can’t expect you to love me if I don’t. C is compassion for your shadow, your self, for the expression of it in today’s world. They’re doing the best they can with what they have. If they knew better they’d do better.

We are close to 1% of the world population being at the higher level (the critical mass). We are created in the image and likeness of that which created the world! We can do it!

I love and accept myself just the way I am in all my Power and Magnificence! I love and accept myself just the way I am in all my Power and Magnificence! I love and accept myself just the way I am in all my Power and Magnificence!

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July 31, 2016 – The Wisdom of the Heart

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07/31/16 Rev. Denese Shellink
“The Wisdom of the Heart”

I’m not always clear on what I should do, but I do pay attention and I listen to my heart. I’m reading “The Power of The Heart” by Baptist de Pape. He recounts how he had prepared for a career in law and was offered a position with a prestigious firm. But when it came time to sign the contract he couldn’t do it. He had a “broken open” heart experience where his heart told him not to sign. The heart is the portal to the divine. When God says, “Hello! You’re not moving in the path best for you,” it can be very painful before the joy comes through.

Did you know the heart produces the hormone oxytocin? It magnifies the love/connection we long for. We are here to love and be a non-anxious presence. We are here at Unity to awaken to who we came here to be. I don’t just want to learn about God, I want to KNOW God.

Baptist de Pape came out of his devastating change when he, fortunately, saw Eckhart Tolle and Oprah Winfrey’s series on The New Earth. At one level our world is in turmoil. We are at a paradigm shift of consciousness, hospicing the old and birthing the new. We live in both. We live in the place of unity, seeing the Christ in one another, and then we go out in the world, and we say, “Who are these people?”

Paradigm one has an air of fear, distrust, “I’m right; you’re wrong,” separation, miscommunication, win/lose. There’s the anxiousness: “you’ve done something to me.” We can believe it or rise above and shift our consciousness.
Paradigm two is one of cooperaton, of “enough”, of generosity, love, trust, acceptance. No one is against me. The entire universe is here for me. It is one of infinite possibilities. Abundance is here and now. What someone else thinks of me is none of my business. Yes!

The two paradigms are colliding. There’s upset. Our job is to hold the space between them. “Out beyond right and wrong I will meet you there.” (Rumi) That’s where we want to dance, where we honor all and everyone gets to come to the table. Learn to be that non-anxious presence. Heal. Embrace the human and express the spiritual. Know your shadow! If we can embrace what it is we can create a world for all. Then your gift comes easy.

Colonel Sanders retired when he was 65. His first monthly Social Security check was only $105! That’s when I believe his heart opened. He asked himself what was his gift, what could he do to have more? He knew that he made great chicken. He began by selling it to his neighbors and you know he soon made millions.

There’s a story about a pair of twins in the womb. They laugh and play and feel it’s great to be alive. “How great is our mother’s love that she shares her life with us!” “Maybe there’s life after birth.” They saw that others had been there before them, but none returned to tell if there was life after birth. Neither had actually seen their mom. Had they made her up? But at birth they cried for joy because she exceeded their dreams!

Be the presence of peace and create the new Earth. Thank you God for this day of awakening and remembering why we came, for this day of convergency of the 2 paradigms. Thank you for our incarnation. Thank you that our divine is expressing. Thank you God! So it is.

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July 24, 2016 – What Am I Contributing Now?

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07/24/16 Rev. David McArthur
“What Am I Contributing Now?”

Doc Childre has said he believes the soul and the true self are aspects of our being that vibrate at a higher frequency or consciousness than our everyday awareness, until our everyday self merges with it. My perception is that humanity’s purpose is to raise that vibration. What are you contributing to this upleveling? What is our part?

Every time you feel an uplevel, a harmony, you feel good, don’t you? But often we feel we’re in an uncomfortable place. It’s an inner compass. How do we transform that discomfort into wholeness? We do have programs, but in just ordinary time we’re just hanging out, feeling blah, whatever. Wouldn’t it be different if we made that ordinary time an extraordinary contribution?

Make this difference by stepping into 2 frequencies/feelings/energies: ease and appreciation. I find they flow together in an amazing way. When we’re resting in ease/appreciation, our hearts are open and the spiritual consciousness flows through us. It’s a core, foundational energy of the soul when harmony, divine order, is felt as natural. It’s simple, easy, to get there. Appreciation is one of the easiest ones to get to—there’s so much to appreciate!

Kathryn and I were backpacking in Wyoming when suddenly there were snowcapped mountains in front of us and at our feet this beautiful mountain meadow full of flowers. It was a moment when my head forgot to do anything. What ease and appreciation in that beauty! It was just “Wow!” A moment to see the world differently. Day in and day out we can choose, “I am easing into appreciation.” Spirit is moving through us. We’ve opened that door. We’ve invited it in.

I spoke last week of Evelyn who was orphaned at 16. She had been a 4.0 student, joined all the clubs and looked forward to going to a prestigious university. After her mother died she dropped out of the clubs, neglected her studies. She went to the local college. It was easier. Her older sister, who had become her guardian, insisted she enter the Miss Teen America pageant, and it was easier to go than to argue with her sister. But the says she felt a different energy there. Although she was eliminated in the first round, she and her sister stayed. She says she appreciated the girls’ poise. She remembered when she had felt that confidence. I believe the pressure was off and she entered into a state of ease. Spirit showed her how far her depression had taken her. She had been depressed for years. But this time she ‘got it’.

When we’re just hanging out in ease, Spirit shows up. One day, from our cabin in Montana I was gazing at the incredible beauty. I was not thinking about the legal practice I just started, or about my application to teach environmental law at the college. I was in ease. And I got the idea I should apply to Unity ministerial school—without any good reason why I should. In ease, you have a time when Spirit says, “Now that I have your attention…!”

Jesus told us in Matthew 11:28, “All you who are weary and burdened… Take my yoke upon you and …you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” That’s the experience of ease.

Say with me, I am easing into appreciation. I am easing into appreciation. I am easing into appreciation. Isn’t that a beautiful place to hang out? Journey each day easing into appreciation!

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July 17, 2016 – Spiritual Access Code

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07/17/16 Rev. David McArthur
“Spiritual Access Code”

With my wife’s murder and my suddenly finding myself a single parent, my consciousness was one of anger and pain and loss. I was in a state of emotional chaos. I went to the form of prayer I call desperation. I didn’t know anything else.

It was maybe a month later, as Lisa turned one, I put her on the floor in front of the couch and I sat down. Sitting there I went into a feeling of amazing, blissful love, loosing consciousness of what’s around me. As I returned from this feeling I saw Lisa playing quietly, happily, as she had with her mother. I realized my resentment and hatred were gone! I was at peace, a deep peace we call forgiveness. Wanting to know how deep this was, I met with “him” at the state mental facility. There was still pain and a great sense of loss, but it didn’t control me! Something had happened. The emotional turmoil was gone.

I wanted to know about this. I began this study. Not much of the spiritual or religious information helped me. I found more answers through science. HeartMath had found that when we connect with our heart we step into a different state of being. They measured it scientifically. But I saw the spiritual side. They had discovered the access code to stepping into a different state of consciousness.

I know we’ve all had great emotional experiences, and everyday ones. Are you willing to transform this week’s flavor of chaos? It’s a process you can easily learn. When I was on that couch, what happened right before I felt that blissful love? My daughter was playing as if she were with her mother, and my heart opened wide and then I felt the love (the access code).

It’s a simple way that has worked for me and many others again and again. HeartMath showed what happens physically when we remember when our heart was full—the access code. They said to remember a time like when you stood on a mountain top, or when you played with a puppy.

Much later, when our kids were in high school, our mantra every morning was “hurry before you miss the bus!” But one morning we did miss the bus! Now what? I new there was no good answer. If you’re like me, you check in your heart after nothing else has worked. What did I have to lose? So I went to my heart to remember a time when my heart was full. I remembered when Kathryn and I were in Hawaii and we took a ride on a raft out to see the whales. It was absolutely wonderful!

Well, my kids were all stressed out, too. But I realized I had been late for work before and the universe had gone on! So we put on some music and headed down the road in a different state of consciousness. I was looking forward to my day. I felt happy and was appreciating my kids. Moments before I was judgmental and stressed and setting up a stressful day. But I remembered when my heart was full! What a difference.

This week there might be some stress for you. When that comes up: I remember when my heart was full! I remember when my heart was full! I remember when my heart was full! Show up as who you really are!

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