Why Heavenly Nudges are Necessary

“Who cares if I can play the organ?”

This was the cranky attitude I had after this stubborn nagging thought returned to me yet, again:

“You need to learn to play the organ.”

My head landed dramatically on the keys of our piano with a bang.

“Seriously?”

Learning the organ meant a possibility of having to play the organ in front of people. Because let’s be real. Who would learn the organ only for the sheer joy of playing for an audience of one, alone at home? Okay. Maybe Bach. But I never met the man.

Having ignored my own share of “nudges” in the past and having witnessed the less-than-perfect consequences of doing so, I chose to humble myself and act. 

I reluctantly called a friend to show me the basics. 

Three weeks later . . . let me be clear . . . we’re only talking about twenty-one days . . . I was called in to meet with my ecclesiastical leader. He asked . . . Yes. You guessed it. If I would be willing to play the organ each week for church. That meant in front of people. Like a whole congregation of people.

AHHHH!

But I did it. And now, more than a decade later, I have played the organ on and off, adding up to approximately six years of service. 

The dumb thing is that I would have been better prepared if I had acted on the very first nudge to learn. I am reminded of this now and then when new terrifying “nudges” show up in my life. 

Recently my husband took up canning, and he actually thinks it’s fun. He does it for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is to encourage us to make healthier choices than processed or fast food when we’re on the run. Another is to be more self-sufficient, and lastly, to prepare us for a rainy day. (Like former seasons of unemployment we have endured.)

The canning process teaches some really cool principles — so stay with me for just a minute. 

In order to can chicken (which is all he has done so far - twice), my husband has to prepare the jars. He sterilizes them and organizes the lids. He then cuts up the chicken (which is not necessary - but certainly convenient on the other end.) He adds salt, sets the lids, and puts the jars in a pressure cooker. Finally, heat and pressure are applied, and the chicken is sealed up and prepared for a future need. The chicken is good in that state for 3-10 years. Isn’t it interesting that he could prepare for a future event so long in advance? I’m sure even longer in some cases.

But let me tell you what happened. 

The very next day after his first canning adventure, I had an emergency arise. I had a friend who was struggling, and I wanted to bring her dinner. I made some soup, and I thought I had plenty of time to cook some chicken to add to her family’s dinner. I unexpectedly had to take the soup much earlier than planned, and the chicken hadn’t even thawed yet. Yipes. 

But, hooray. I was in luck. I opened a jar of my husband’s newly sealed chicken, and moments later I was on my way to deliver the meal. His preparation paid off.

So what does this have to do with anything? Well. Seasons of loss, sadness and mourning come to all of us. Times of change, stress, and overwhelm. Burdens to lift. Hearts to heal. Lives to touch, and challenges to overcome. Each of us has a need for sterilizing, preparation, intense heat, and a bit of pressure over the years, and they are here for a purpose — to preserve us as instruments in God’s hands. Sometimes the opportunities for Him to use us comes more quickly than we would have imagined - like with me learning the organ only three weeks before the call came and my urgent need for cooked chicken less than twenty-four hours after it was prepared.

Each little “nudge” helps us prepare for those times, so it’s worth paying attention when they come. And let’s be honest. Heavenly “nudges” are God’s way of refining and preserving us to do His divine work.

Your turn. What struggles and/or nudges have you felt recently? What does God want you to do with them? Perhaps you’ll notice that your preparation will be just in time as well, and when you do, I’d love to read your story in the comments below.

Would you like some support as you practice listening to those heavenly nudges? I’d love to help.

A Single Eyelash: Remove the Misery

A single eyelash. 

Pointy, sharp-edged, and almost transparent. 

As I sat in a church meeting with my precious eighteen-month-old daughter, I noticed this pesky eyelash standing like a thorn in the corner of her eye. Experience had taught me that if the little lash moved even the tiniest fraction of a centimeter, it would land in the sensitive area of her eye and cause real pain.

Resting in my arms with sleepy and trusting eyes, she allowed me to fish for the little lash. That stubborn, rotten lash seemed to evade my every attempt to remove it. 

It felt like an hour, but it probably only took five minutes for me to come out the victor. I was so proud of myself. I defeated the enemy and protected my sweet little one.  

I leaned over her, held out the little token of my love for her on my fingertip, and whispered, “Look what was in your eye.”

She focused all her attention on that itsybitsy lash of hers, and with a wave of indignation she snatched it from my finger and shoved it back in her eye. Into the same exact place I so painstakingly removed it from seconds before. 

No joke.

I look back on that day and laugh. I mean . . . what are the odds that a toddler could put her little challenge right back into the precarious spot it began?

But then I think . . . how often do we do just that? How many times do we struggle with some sort of problem, while answers are all around us . . . yet we become offended at the truth and choose misery instead? 

Natural laws cannot be changed. They are simple truths. And we know dozens of them.

And yet . . .  

Even though we already know we need to eat more vegetables, decrease our sugar intake, and exercise to be healthy, we keep going back to quick-fix fad diets to lose weight.

And then . . .  

We have been taught to live on a budget and save money for a rainy day, but we still choose instant gratification, spending every last dollar garnished with a little bit of panic until our next paycheck comes. 

And even more . . . 

We know that “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” but we consistently find reasons to keep our eyes open for just a few more minutes (and ultimately a few more hours) and wonder why we are dragging all day. 

It’s all just a little ridiculous. There have certainly been times I have looked at myself and my choices with the same sense of, “what the heck?” in my eyes as I viewed my daughter’s obstinate reaction so many years ago.

I know better. You know better. We all know better. And I believe we can do better. 

What proverbial eyelashes do you want to permanently remove from your eyes? 

As we fish them out . . . here’s something we might consider. Truth and Misery will come knocking at our doors on a daily basis. It’s part of our human experience. But when they do . . . we actually have a choice. What if we invite Truth in to unpack her bags and stay awhile, but leave Misery outside in the cold? It would just be better that way.

But how do we invite Truth in? Especially when we’ve habitually entertained Misery for years?

I was chatting with my son-in-law this morning who essentially said this: “Truth leads you to your real purpose.” Let me tell you why I love this.

I had an “eyelash” stuck in my eye for decades. Rollercoaster weight. Or . . . we could call it  . . .  the Eyelash of Despair. Just sayin’. It was pretty awful.

Here’s the thing. The number on my bathroom scale went up twenty pounds and down twenty pounds almost every year since I was eleven years old. I chronically chose misery again and again. You and I talked earlier about the truths that surround a healthy weight. I’ve always known them. But, each year when I’d “had enough,” I chose a new extreme diet. 

I recently had a huge breakthrough, though. I invited Truth to live at my house. Hallelujah.

In other words . . . I considered my real purpose. My real purpose for wanting a lower number on the scale is my health. Honest. It isn’t to fit into a particular dress for a child’s wedding or to look socially acceptable at the swimming pool. (Though those are nice benefits.) What I want most is energy, endurance, flexibility, and to feel young enough to keep up with my adorable grandchildren. 

As I have held this purpose . . . or truth . . . at the forefront of my mind, it has been so much easier to make good choices. To exercise, eat more vegetables, and lower my sugar intake. And though the numbers on the scale have lowered more slowly, this time they are decreasing for health.

So . . . when Truth and Misery demand that I choose between them, I ask questions like, 

“Is this really hunger?” 

“Do these French fries honor my body today?” 

“Do I even want a donut?”

“Is this a physical issue, or do I have an emotional need that could be met?” 

“What’s really going on here?”

Just an interesting side — I discovered a tendency I have to go for a snack when transitioning  from one activity to the next during the day. I’m not even hungry! I think I feel a little unbalanced when I’m unsure of my next step, so I eat something. Pretty useful information for sure. 

But let’s get back to the point. 

We want to get those prickly eyelashes out of our eyes? Right?

Here’s the deal. 

First, see the eyelash for what it is — a threat.

Next, clearly define what you really want — health; financial freedom; more energy from a good night’s sleep. Ask, “What is the real purpose of my goal?”

Then, stay grounded in that Truth — setting up whatever reminders work best.

Finally, when Misery comes knocking again, see him for what he is, ask questions to invite Truth in, throw out the dang eyelash, and SLAM THE DOOR. 

For help removing those pesky lashes, ask yourself if you are ready to work with a personal coach. I’m here to help.

How I Lost $40 to a New Genius Idea

For whatever deranged reason, my youngest son has been seriously excited about getting braces. The orthodontist dropped a bomb when he announced that all his baby teeth had to come out first. Because he’d had a terrible time getting his previous teeth out, he was super bummed. The dentist has pulled three of them out for various reasons.

One of his teeth was especially stubborn and caused him a lot of pain. Trying to avoid another $100 extraction at the dentist, I told my son-in-law I’d pay him $50 if he could get the tooth out instead. The two of them attempted it for a couple of days, and they finally worked the tooth out. (I think my son was closer to passing out than I had realized. Yipes.) But the pulled tooth held a lot of answers for us. The root was fully intact, and it had a jagged spike out the side that was catching on the gum line.

Ouch. 

Well . . . my son has slowly been able to get all but one of his remaining teeth out since the beginning of the year. But there is one unyielding tooth that has been a real challenge. He has been working on it now for almost four months. 

At my own dental appointment I asked the doctor about my son. Since the insurance offers better coverage for his braces at the beginning of the year, the dentist pointed out that we have time for him to keep working on loosening his tooth. If it remains steadfast, then the dentist said he would pull it in time for the braces. 

Then I had a brilliant idea. Since our out-of-pocket cost for an extraction is about $70, I made my son a proposal. “You work on getting your tooth out over the next three months, and if you pull it, I’ll pay you $40.” This way we both win. He wasn’t delighted because he just wanted it out, but he could see that I wasn’t going to pay $70 to do it sooner. 

Let me tell you the inspiring events that came next. 

Apparently he went to bed that night bothered about the tooth. He didn’t want to wait for another three and a half months to get it out, so he imagined how it would feel if it was gone. He felt grateful, as if it was already out. Mindset is everything.

He woke up the next morning with a thought . . . what if this tooth has the same weird shape as the last one? It was almost like he saw in his mind what his tooth could possibly look like above the gum line. With that idea in his head, he visualized how to “unhook” the tooth. He started twisting it a bit and felt it give. He was so excited that he jumped out of bed and ran in to look in the mirror. With just a tiny little twist, and a bit of a painful tug, it was out! 

Isn’t it amazing how quickly he reached his goal once his mindset changed? 

He went from believing the dentist was his one and only option to searching for a new solution. He “saw” it done, and he felt the relief he would feel, as if the tooth was already out. Then he felt gratitude. 

This shifted everything. Now he was open and prepared to receive an inspired idea that essentially solved his problem. 

Over the last couple of years since I have learned about the laws of thought, I have experienced similar situations many times. Here are some examples:

• Moments when I’ve said something wrong and offended someone. I’ve seen (in my imagination) our misunderstanding resolved. And then I’ve had inspired ideas come that have smoothed things over.

• Times when I’ve worked on a project that has caused me grief. I have imagined it completed, and the missing piece comes to me.

• Experiences when I have needed someone’s heart softened at a company to allow for an opportunity or a refund or something contingent on their kindness. After feeling grateful — as if it’s already taken care of — I just happen to talk to the right person, and they are super accommodating.

• Instances writing when it seems the creative juices have ceased to flow. Suddenly new thoughts and stories have come to my mind after I’ve visualized the outcome I want and have been grateful for the answer I expect will come.

So let’s return to my son. As long as he felt frustrated and helpless about his tooth, he was stuck. He had no answers. Remember? It had been four months that he felt he was beating his head against a wall. But the idea came and the tooth was out hours after he chose to create a new story.

The answers can come that quickly. This wasn’t just random luck for my son or for our family. These are principles we can trust.

What solutions are you seeking? 

This can work for you, too. Simply “see” the outcome you want and feel gratitude. 

But now that you know the secret . . . I’m not making any more $40 wagers. Just sayin’.

Are you ready to get “unstuck?” I’m here to help.

What Decaying Situations Do You Need Removed?

“Oh boy. That’s not good.” 

I uncomfortably watched the blood drain out of his face. 

This is not what you want to hear and see from your dentist. Ever. 

My dentist suspected a fractured tooth that had a root canal when I was a teenager. He told me I needed to go to a specialist to be sure. 

That was about three years ago.

My husband was out of work at the time, and we had no dental insurance. Therefore, I couldn’t do anything about it. At least that was the excuse I offered whenever that sick feeling in my gut returned. 

The real reason I wouldn’t go in was very different from the one I held onto . . . I was simply scared out of my wits.  

So two years passed. No dental insurance. No dentist telling me I had issues. If you ignore your brokenness, it’ll go away, right? 

We wish.

But then a miracle happened in our family. My husband got a job with really good insurance. I quickly got the whole family appointments to the eye doctor. I got my boy’s wisdom teeth out. We got braces on my daughter. We sent my husband in for a sleep study and took care of his sleep apnea. And I dutifully set up appointments for each of my children to visit the dentist. 

I was terribly sad when my schedule didn’t mesh with the family dental appointment . . . Not. 

I made up some excuse as to why I couldn’t come in with them, and I ignored their email reminders that came a month or so later. 

I knew I had a problem. I knew it needed to be addressed. A part of me was damaged, and my choice was to pretend it away.

Another year passed. For real. 

And then . . . I began to get a jolt every time I flossed near the crown of that tooth. That was painful. I certainly didn’t want to stop flossing and cause more problems. I tried to baby it. It had to be a cavity in the tooth next to the crown. Or so I thought. 

Yet I still put it off. 

A couple of times I pretended I would go. Appointments were set . . . and postponed. Any potential conflict I could find with the appointment was quickly embraced, and I re-scheduled once again. 

And then . . . there were no more excuses. It was time to stop being such a hypocrite. I knew exactly how to coach someone else through an experience like this, but I was actively hiding from those uncomfortable solutions.

I saw in my mind coming home from my appointment and telling my husband that it was really easy. That there was no pain involved. That it was silly that I had waited so long. And I felt grateful for that outcome. 

And . . . I went. 

Guess what? It was true. It was probably the most gentle cleaning I’ve ever had at the dentist. It was enjoyable to visit with the dental hygienist, and everything went well. 

That’s the good news. 

The not-so-good news? 

The root on my tooth had broken off (which was somehow pinching a nerve, causing the pain while I flossed), and there is no way to save the tooth. It’s abscessed, and it needs to be extracted. I can go for a bridge or an implant - and while that isn’t the answer anyone hopes for at the dentist, it is going to solve the problem. No longer is there an unknown to taunt me and cause further anxiety. I can get rid of this abscess that has wreaked havoc on my emotional and oral health for three years. 

Here’s the really ridiculous part . . . I could have had this resolved three years ago. 

Have you ever noticed that our anticipation of removing the abscesses in our life causes far more anxiety than the actual removal?

Would you be open to listening to the one that just did it completely wrong? Please. Consider learning from my mistakes.

I would wholeheartedly recommend that we extract every abscess in our Iives. Today. 

A bad habit. 

An unhealthy work environment. 

Destructive entertainment choices.

A toxic relationship. 

Harmful music.

Decaying morals. 

Rotten self-talk.

Injurious social media.

We don’t need to suffer any longer by putting it off. You know it’s time to make the change. You’ve stuffed it, ignored it, made excuses. And you’ve dreaded facing it. We all have.

It’s hard. I know. And there’s some pain involved. 

But. 

Let it go. Seriously. You don’t have to hang on to those nasty, toxic parts of your life. 

And I promise you . . . you’ll find relief and peace on the other side. 

It is so worth it. 

If you are ready to let go of the gunk, I’m here to help you create something better.

What You Want WANTS You

The craziest thing happened today. One of my pregnant daughters and I have been preparing a Winnie-the-Pooh baby shower for my other daughter (who is also expecting). Looking to Pinterest Land for inspiration, we discovered original game prompts, One-Hundred-Acre Wood-themed food ideas, and even a Pooh Bear sign-in sheet that gathers guest autographs for a balloon bouquet.  

After we spent weeks in the planning phase, computer hours designing our exact Pooh Bear needs, and a whole day with my talented mother to embellish our offerings, we just needed one more thing. A centerpiece. And it couldn’t be just any centerpiece. But who has a centerpiece with Pooh? (Just a side . . . Pooh anything makes me laugh. Did you know there is a cookbook called, Cooking with Pooh? I mean . . . gross.) 

We gathered some flowers that we thought might do the job, but we were really just grasping for straws. In that very moment — and I’m not exaggerating — Mom’s doorbell rang. She went upstairs to answer, and immediately called down to me, laughing. I walked up the stairs and saw one of my mom’s older neighbors dressed in a Winnie-the-Pooh shirt. We started giggling at the “coincidence,” and Mom explained why we were laughing.

Suddenly her neighbor enthusiastically began telling us all about her Winnie-the-Pooh collection. She was so excited that we were doing a baby shower themed around such a “silly old bear.” And then she said . . . “Is there anything you would like to borrow to decorate for the shower?” 

Seriously? 

We were dumbfounded. I had never even met her. She couldn’t have known we were doing this shower. She just happened to be wearing her Pooh shirt on the day she decided to appear at Mom’s door. I still don’t know why she even came. 

We abandoned our make-shift centerpiece and accompanied her back to her home. Winnie-the-Pooh books, ceramic “hunny” pots with “Bit-o-Honey” candy, stuffed tributes to Pooh Bear’s friends, and a large Pooh Bear greeted us there. And then, to our great amazement, she unveiled a Hundred-Acre-Woods ceramic tree. One animal was perched on each branch, and we immediately fell in love with it. Our baby shower decor just went up a few notches, and we didn’t even go seeking after it. We used what we had, did the best we could, and felt grateful along the way, and a miracle happened. 

So it’s a cute story and all, but why I am I sharing this today? 

Honestly - because of this . . . 

I really do believe that things we think, say and do create a new vibration. And if you’ve ever watched a tuning fork sound, you’ll notice that its vibration starts others in the room to sound as well. Why? Because they tune into the same vibration. 

I feel like this is what happened today. Our thoughts, actions, and words have all been focused on Winnie-the-Pooh. I believe we have created a strong vibration with four of us having been working on this project. Like attracts like, and the rest is history. 

But who cares? Why does it even matter? 

It’s just one more reminder that what we send out into the world comes back to us. That we can choose our words, our thoughts, and our actions more deliberately to create what we actually want to come into our lives. That we can send out more positive and faith-filled vibes to brighten others’ lives. And . . . that what we want, wants us.

And who wouldn’t want just a little more Pooh?

What would your life be like if you understood and applied the Laws of Thought properly? I’d love to help you find out.