Praycation: A Spiritual Journey

PRAYcation:
A Spiritual Journey

 

A vacation offers the ultimate getaway and “staycation” is the new word for downsized escapes centering ‘round hearth and home, but have you ever taken a praycation?

Sometimes the greatest journey you can embark upon begins with placing your hands together in prayer and asking God to help navigate the map of your soul. Often you discover uncharted territory, insights off the beaten path and an endless landscape of love opens up before you.

Occasionally interior travels find you exploring rough terrain, bumpy roads of regret and the empty spaces where your path has strayed. When you pray too hard for personal pedestrian wishes and dreams to come true but neglect sending God gratitude or praying for others, you lose your way. Instead of saying, “I want to go here God” or “I want you to bring me this God” consider asking, “Where do you want to put me so that I may best be of service?” or “Holy Spirit, today I ask nothing but to be filled with the divine light of your purpose.” Rather than trying to plan the whole trip yourself, wander a bit knowing that God will be your compass.  

Pack light for your praycation (lightening your heart is all that’s required), know that the longest journey begins with a single step (or kneel) and return from your travels refreshed with God’s purpose for your life. The Little Chapel cannot provide you with definitive directions to your place of personal joy, but we can promise that bowing your head in humility and pressing the right palm to the left will activate God’s GPS, always bringing you back to the home in your heart.  

Who Is Running Your Business?

God’s Strategic Plan

There are a million models for business planning that teach us the latest techniques for building thriving enterprises destined for success, but have you considered God’s Strategic Plan?

The Lord’s resume is one of creative talents and global leadership capabilities. In fact, God is such a great Founder and CEO that the tools necessary for you to manage your personal and professional life are at your fingertips.

The Employee Handbook: All corporations have guidebooks to structure daily operations and God has put key concepts in religious texts, such as the bible. Have you read the Ten Top Tricks of the Trade? (hint: they’re commandments and they work really well!) Review God’s essential rules for conduct and see if these best practices don’t make the business of work and life ten times better.

God’s Boardroom: God is always available on conference call and the solution to so many day-to-day questions can be found in prayer. Stop fighting systems, wrestling with colleagues and working against your spirit. God is one of those leaders with an open-door policy and a willingness to listen to your heart.

Your Strategic Plan: God has a divine purpose for you. It is a plan that takes you on an incredible journey with many learning experiences to ensure that you have the life experience to carry out your mission to the fullest. It is a job no recession can strip away, an industry that remains thriving, there is a great emotional benefits package and a retirement plan that probably beats your current 401K: eternal salvation.



A Return to Spirit

A Return to Spirit

April and the Easter season evoke thoughts of resurrection and renewal of the spirit. When we internalize lessons of peace and personal growth, we bring scripture to life in our hearts and souls.

This is an ideal time of year to review where we have been, places in our lives that have ceased to thrive and ways in which we can reinvigorate our spirits to soar. The journey begins with an honest internal assessment. Ask yourself these questions:

Am I living my personal truth?

Where are the blockages that keep me from broadening my beliefs?

Do I feel fulfilled?

Is there balance in my life?

Am I putting God first?

Your personal truth evolves from your faith and continued dialogue with God. It requires you to open your heart and mind to the messages God sends you through signs and experiences. Blockages to this exploration come in the form of self-doubt, addiction, acting outside of integrity and dwelling on negative thoughts.

Fulfillment is the process of interpreting and committing to your personal truth and using it to guide you towards definitive life decisions that add peace, joy and harmony to your own existence and the lives of those around you. Balance is the blending of responsibility and happiness into a state of reliable contentment.

In all pursuits of personal betterment, resurrection and renewal, you must put God first and let the Holy Spirit be your guide. When you accept each earthly action as part of God’s divine plan, you emerge wiser and more serene. The image of the dove offers a glimpse of what is possible with God in your heart. The key to resurrecting your spirit is knowing when to be peaceful and when to spread your wings and fly.

Cheryl Ladd Praises Miracle Healing: God's Call

Iconic actress and philanthropist Cheryl Ladd endorses Miracle Healing: God's Call with kind words of inspiration:

"As a vessel of God's healing power, Sara O'Meara has spent a lifetime sharing her gift of grace and spreading her message of hope."

                                                                                                         -Cheryl Ladd 

Resolutions and Miracles

Have you broken any New Year’s resolutions yet? As time progresses, ambitious aims seem to falter and this can make us feel like we are not living up to our true potential. Our lists and initiatives are not always part of God’s plan. Sometimes we create lofty success strategies that have very little to do with the true spiritual growth necessary in our lives.

I have often said, when you look for a miracle, keep in mind that God awaits your invitation and desire to have the Holy Spirit enter your life. It’s not that God isn’t doing phenomenal things; it’s that we have allowed ourselves to react negatively to life’s problems to the point where we no longer spot miracles that are happening all around us. Just because a blessing wasn’t on your list of New Year’s resolutions doesn’t mean that God is not guiding you towards betterment and self-improvement.

What we want and what God wants for us can be two different things. God will never deny your destiny but sometimes delays it so that you can learn important lessons along the way. Rather than say, “I have broken my resolution” consider saying, “I need God to direct me towards accomplishing my goals. I got off track because I am learning about myself and the process is not easy. I will open my heart and ask God to guide me back to the road of resolve.”

God is not punishing you when things do not go your way; God is preparing you for the beautiful day when they do!

God’s Gift to You

God’s Gift to You

This is the season of trust, faith, love, joy and peace. It is a time when we gather with those we care for deeply and share from our souls. As enriching as our exchanges with family and friends can be during the holidays, it is important to set aside time to initiate a deeper dialogue with God.

I urge friends of the Little Chapel to commit quality quiet time to your spiritual development during which you talk to God. Intimacy makes it possible to hear God’s wishes and divine plan for our individual lives. Only in still times will one hear the guidance of the Holy Spirit. God’s wishes are not shouted. It takes a sensitive heart and a sensitive ear to hear God’s personal message for your unique path and that voice comes to you in your sanctuary at still times.

God offers us the true key to life; the answers and solutions to living with kindness of heart, a trusting spirit, faithful belief that we deserve blessings, and an existence of caring love. Trust, faith, love, joy and peace are the strongest words in the human language.

Trust and have faith that you will find love in your conversation with God and you will experience joy in releasing your life to God’s perfect plan. As for peace, when we answer God’s call, peace begins within each one of us and radiates outward like the brilliant rays of the sun. That is God’s gift to you.

The Solace of Gratitude

The Solace of Gratitude

In times of bounty and ease, gratitude springs effortlessly from our hearts. But what do we give thanks for during difficult days when our tables are less plentiful and our hard work has not yielded the harvest we had dreamed of? This year I ask you to take a personal inventory of your soul and seek thankfulness in a unique gift of God that is stronger than any struggle and emerges in the toughest of times to help us persevere: Hope.

 

 

A good way to look at HOPE is as an acronym for (H)ealing, (O)pportunity, (P)ersonal growth, and (E)nlightenment.

 

 

HEALING: Without hardships we never have the chance to test our strength, resilience and individual power. The recent crushing recession has brought many to their knees, but while in that position of surrender, those who began praying have released their hearts to God’s healing grace.

 

 

OPPORTUNITY: They key word in opportunity is “unity” and when we emerge from sorrow and start making connections with our community, new doors begin to open in our lives. Pray for guidance in giving when it seems you have nothing to contribute. God will put you to work and help you discover your passion in life.

 

 

PERSONAL GROWTH: Recessions literally reduce life to its essential elements and allow us to understand the difference between what we want and what we need. This is the space where we can explore who we truly are, stripped of artifice, and who we want to become.

 

 

ENLIGHTENMENT: A rare sunny day during a bleak winter brings everyone out of their homes and breaks all routines. Never do we strive towards light more than when the days are dark and dreary. If we use this period of recovery as a time to heal, give so that we may receive opportunity, grow and seek solace in something larger than ourselves, we will enlighten our spirits to shine with the gratitude of God’s love.