I have always been sensitive to the presence of love in the form of angels watching over me. I don’t know why I have been so blessed, but it makes me happy to experience such a reality. Love in the form of angelic presences seems very beautiful and sacred, even an honor to my spirit, which in my innocence, I simply choose to accept and enjoy.

Sometimes the presence of angels is so real I sense the need to keep my beautiful music on and playing when I leave my house, as I feel my angels near, and I want them to stay and enjoy themselves while I am gone. I sense this makes them feel wanted and honored, appreciated and loved, which seems to allow them permission to remain and continue offering their blessings.

I have become aware of the availability of such heavenly help in many other ways. When I mail an important letter, I don’t simply drop it into a mailbox, but also into the hands of a spiritual courier, whom I ask to make sure it arrives safely and on time. It always does—no additional insurance required! I have learned to trust my spiritual courier with complete confidence.

When I leave my car full of packages sitting in a parking lot, I ask a spiritual presence to protect it in my absence. I don’t leave until I get the feeling that my guard is on duty. He’s always there when I ask—my spiritual butler. He does all kinds of errands for me—anywhere I need an angel to help.

Last night we parked our rental car on a side street in Tulum, Mexico, and I asked my spirit guardian, as always, to please keep it safe. This same presence had protected our keys and personal belongings at a public snorkeling site earlier in the day, and I had noticed that he wanted me to know that he would be there for me, even before I asked. As we walked away from the car last night, I decided to share with my husband a feeling that had come to me earlier in the day: I had realized this spiritual butler of mine, always willing and ready and able to serve me, looked and acted a lot like my Dad.

It was just a thought, but even the thought made me smile, as I knew my Dad would love such an assignment, if in fact that was his job from the other side.

As I went to sleep last night, lulled by the constant calming waves of the Caribbean waters on our private powdery white beach, I felt safe and loved, even grateful that I had felt the possible presence of my father during this particular day.

In the night, I awoke with an intense and vivid dream. I was with my father, and he was alive. I had chosen to care for him, even though he was crippled from a stroke. I loved being with him, sharing ideas and beliefs, and giving him the care I knew he deserved, which I only wished I could have given him in life. In this dream, I asked (God?) if I could keep him with me all of my life, and such a wish was granted. I delighted in carrying his frail body wherever he could not physically take it himself, showing him interesting things that made him happy, and being able to serve him made me very happy too. The joy of this loving service and connection to my father had awoken me from my sleep, so that I could capture all of the essence of its many messages. And then I returned to rest some more.

As I rose again a few hours later, looking out over the calm turquoise sea this breeze-less morning, I realized that if he were alive, today would be my father’s ninetieth birthday. He died eleven and a half years ago, and while I know his body is dead, I happen to believe his spirit is alive and busy, possibly serving from the other side. What a loving thing for one to be able to do when this life is over!

It’s no coincidence that my father would choose to keep me safe, if in fact he did have a choice in the matter of his heavenly assignment. Being safe was a big deal to him. I didn’t know why until years later, but my father was always locking up the house, telling his girls how to keep their purses from being stolen, and teaching us how to stay away from danger in every possible way and place. Sometimes it even made us laugh at his paranoia about safety, as we girls did not seem to share his depth of concern.

My father had served in the war, probably facing death every day for several years, but coming home for Christmas sometime in the mid-1940’s without a wound. As he traveled home with a buddy from St. Louis, he spent the night at his buddy’s home before continuing on to his in Knoxville. Several days after arriving home with his own family, he received the devastating word that on the night of Christmas Eve, someone had broken into the house of that same buddy, robbing them and then killing every one of them.

I had not heard this story until long after my father’s death, but I cannot imagine the terrible sadness it would have caused my father to bear, as well as a lifetime of fear of being hurt by a possible offender, completely outside of my father’s ability to control or prevent. Perhaps the war itself caused some of this same fear. As a child, innocent of the realities of war and crime, I could never have known the intensity of my father’s need to protect.

If I wanted someone to care for my things, to insure my deliveries, to keep me from harm in any way, who better to come to my aid than my own personal body guard from the other side. Who would lovingly serve me better than my own dear father? If there are opportunities to serve as angels when we get to heaven, this is exactly what he would have chosen. Such a gift is sweetened by my own recognition and acceptance of the possibility of his spiritual presence. My faith in such spiritual guidance allows me the courage to ask for any help I desire, as well as to enjoy the gifts such service brings in peaceful ways to bless my heart.

According to many spiritual sources, we are living in times of increasingly more difficulties—more troubles, more hardships, more trials, more deceivers, more of men’s hearts failing them. Never has there seemed to be a greater need to strengthen one’s heart—to build one’s faith and love. Daily time with the spirit is, in my opinion, no longer an option—it is essential. Now is the time to ask for guidance, to seek for truth, and to notice what comes in so many varied ways, even in the recognition of loving service from the other side. Thank you Daddy! I love you! And Happy 90th Birthday to you!

1970–hugging my Dad after winning Miss Teenage Contest

Please enjoy a walk with spirit today and begin strengthening your own spiritual heart sensitivities by listening to one of my guided meditation audios in the mediation section of this website. Sending my love from the Mayan Riviera!

I don’t think any words evoke more emotion for me than these: going home. At age eighteen I left home for college in another state and probably never got over the loss. I returned for the first two summers, then I moved away forever, going home to visit only rarely after that. Being married, having children, creating a new life, I moved on, but the place I knew as my original home still tugs deeply with cords to my heart.

To me, home means perfection: the place where I am supposed to be, safe while doing what I am supposed to be doing, with help and guidance from others who are here with the responsibility to help and guide me. This could be described as the state of belonging and purpose, maybe even like being peacefully pampered in a spa, and like all those nights snuggled into my bed as a child, knowing I was safe from all the troubles of the world. Home was the place where I could rest, knowing someone stronger and wiser was there to take care of everything.

My life at home as a child was not perfect–not in the least. We had all kinds of drama and trauma, just like the rest of you. But we were close, we cared, and we did our best. No matter how difficult or easy those experiences may seem, home is still the state of mind that reminds us we can curl up and safely settle in, knowing we are exactly where we belong.

As an adult, I have often felt a longing to go home, but home is no longer there. My parents have passed on, the house has been sold, and only memories and photos remain. I have sought to create a new home with the people I love, and to feel that all is well in that setting. But something inside me has always wanted more. And gratefully, I have found it.

I have discovered a home that is always warm and comforting, always near. After years of seeking, the place I now know as home is no longer a destination or a house or a family–it is the place in my heart where I feel God’s love for me and where I have learned to know and love myself! Being guided by the inspirations and closeness of God, as well as magnificently loving teachers on earth and in heaven, I have experienced the peaceful satisfying feeling of being home. I have spiritually traveled into my own heart space, and being there, near to heaven, I have literally seen myself through the eyes of God, which has made quite a difference in how I now experience the peaceful satisfaction of being home.

Have you ever considered the process salmon go through to swim upstream to lay their eggs–to go home? After spending up to five years feasting in the warm waters of the Pacific, the adult salmon return to the place of their own birthing in fresh-water streams as far away to the north as Russia, Alaska, and Japan. How they locate these birth places is still something of a mystery, though their accuracy is most impressive.

Many salmon will die on this journey, and those that make it often arrive battered and bruised. They must travel against the flow of water for the entire journey, and this includes climbing up waterfalls – a breathtaking sight to behold.

After spawning, their purpose fulfilled, they die where they were born. It is fascinating to consider such an amazing effort these creatures make to return to their original roots. That’s how important going home is to this and many other migratory species of wildlife. They give their lives to honor the inner longings to return home.

So how does the concept of migratory salmon tie into your life? Compare your own experience with the salmon’s determination: do you make such a complete sacrifice to get yourself to the place of your origin? Where is your origin? Heaven? Heavenly Father? Who are you, really, spiritually? Where are you really trying to get to when you consider going home?

As I work with people from all walks of life, with all kinds of experiences, I notice there is one thing in common: everyone is trying to go home. The problem is that they don’t know where to find it. People are looking outside of themselves, wanting others to complete them, wanting situations to make them whole.

Love for self cannot be found outside of ourselves. No one can ever give us enough to make us feel that satisfying feeling of being home—home with self. That is a job we each have to do for ourselves. Being one with our heavenly origins, our original family, is the only experience that will do.

I would like to assist you in traveling to the space of spirit where you may experience your heavenly connections, where you can take a look for yourself at the creation of beauty you live with twenty-four/seven–the real you! When you see yourself as you truly are–a worthy, perfect, and divine child of God–you will indeed finally know the constant, satisfying presence of being home.

This guided meditation is whispered from a connection with spirit, so find a quiet place where you can be alone for about thirty minutes. Before you begin the meditation, send a prayer heavenward, asking that you may find what you need at this time. With that clear intention stated, click on the recording, and travel home now to be with your own heavenly origins.

I wrote this article as a response to a dear friend who is struggling with important life-changing decisions. I advised him to go deep into his soul, and to honor the feelings he knows are true. My desire is that he not cave to pressures from the opinions of others or what might be the obvious survival-mode conclusions. As always this guidance states that spirit is constantly speaking truth, giving the best advise for every decision along your course.

Sometimes all the pieces of our lives are working together quite smoothly, like great teamwork. We feel happy, satisfied, and maybe even like we have everything figured out. We are wearing our Life Is Good shirt with pride.

And then out of nowhere, like a crack in the sidewalk, something comes along to knock us down. When that smooth ride hits the bump, we may land on the cement, in the gutter, or maybe even in the hospital.

So just how bad are these problems that throw us off course, and where do we go for help?

I want to share a few ideas that can make your ride easier, all of which have roots in the idea that to flow with life, we have to be deeply rooted, aligned, with truth—from spirit.

There is an energetic (spiritual) reality to your life, and there is a physical reality to your life. The blueprint of your life is already perfectly created, in the form of spirit (energy.) The things that you love, the things that make you happy, the things that light your fire, already exist as evidence of the real you. All that you love and feel good about is a living form of energy, like a hologram of your spirit. By focusing on what you already love, you honor what you came here to be, feel, and experience. This is why it feels so good to live from spirit–this is the reality of what is most real and true.

If what you are experiencing in the physical reality is different from this peaceful spiritual hologram, you may not living in alignment with truth. When you are out of alignment with truth, you feel dissatisfied with your life, and it can hurt.

I don’t mean to be insulting to anyone who flies off course unexpectedly. It happens to all of us, all the time. Some expect these bumps are the norm, but I see it differently. God said we are here to experience joy, and I take Him at His word. The bumpy, out of control, tripping everywhere stuff shows we are out of alignment with truth.

There is a better way. Life is Good can be the norm. There are tools to correct our bad driving. When we learn to live by the spirit of truth of who we are and what we came here to be, then the bumps may still come along, but they appear more as a joy ride than landing us in the hospital.

To share some powerful enlightenment for creating a smoother, more joyful daily ride through life, I have an assignment for you: I want you to make a list, starting right now.

This may take a little bit of introspection, so give it a few days to percolate and grow in clarity. The question you get to make a list about is this: What do you know is true about your life? What is it you feel great while doing? What recurring messages have come to you that may have a message?

Focus on the categories that mean something to you, like relationships, finances, home, career, social aspects, hobbies. This list is about feelings, not labels. What would it feel like if you actually were experiencing life as you always knew you should/could/would?

As you ponder these questions, keep your focus on what feels really good in your heart.

Your heart is your truth-a-meter. This is the location where all the information about your life and choices already resonates. Your job is to get familiar with those vibrations, to be comfortable there.

To do this, you have to acknowledge what is there, and honor those feelings. This exercise is your way of showing you are willing to finally listen to what your heart has been trying to tell you all along.

Listening to our inner knowing heart is a wonderful gift to self. Though rarely done enough, it is the one experience that always produces feelings of satisfaction. Your heart wants to know it can trust you with its most precious truths, so just be open and honest. Ask, then listen.

As you accept this assignment, I remind you to use no labels of people, places, or things. This exercise is entirely about feelings or impressions–how something feels or appears, according to a spiritual source of such information. As you ask, you will know.

You may have dreams. You may have already had recurring dreams. Don’t get hung up on the details. Just write down your impressions, and the information embedded there will reveal in due time. For now, just write what you remember feeling.

These feelings may manifest as longings and desires, the roots of which exist in a spiritual awareness that you need to become consciously aware of.

Sometimes people tell you things they see in you. If others repeatedly share the same impressions about you, write those down. Messages of truth come from our hearts, as well as from the angels among us.

Once your list is made, full of energetic descriptions of your truest feelings, I would ask you to spend some personal time studying the list. As you notice the energetic patterns or feelings created when pondering your list, your spiritual hologram will appear, as real as anything physical you ever thought of as self.

Your next job is to love this hologram (spirit creation of self) with all your heart. This is your truth. You may talk to this image as if it is alive—it is. You must develop a vital and loving relationship with the truth of who you are—energetically, spiritually.

This act of loving your spirit-self allows that entity to become larger than life. When such becomes a constant reality of who you are, you truly step into that hologram and live from such empowered energetic vibrations—creating a steady stream of beautiful, satisfying results in your day-to-day living. Yes, life is very good when aligned with truth. Why settle for anything less?

These are my six children, who have been with me in spirit since long before my child-bearing years began. This is the manifestation of a lifelong inner awareness of my path. And yes, this celebration of me behind them is from a heart full of gratitude that my spiritual hologram actually manifest into reality–a reality that brings me much joy!

When I say Trust Spirit Now, that’s exactly what I mean: NOW—not in a little while, when things get a little quieter, or when you can find a place alone to think. At the first realization that your life feels less than joyful, the time is now to go to spirit for help. That means stop everything, and at least be willing to ask, even experiment, as I did in a most interesting way.

It was about 1998, and I was listening to one of my favorite spiritual mentors, rewinding my car’s tape player, over and over, as I tried to understand the deep spiritual concepts she was sharing. My teacher was explaining that spirit was ready and waiting to talk to me, right then, wherever I was, to give me the guidance I was in need of, in that very moment. She challenged me to test her theories.

Ask for anything that’s on your mind, anything you need in this very moment, and then pay attention to the first thing that speaks to you. My mentor was suggesting I should expect some spiritual feedback within moments.

At the time, I had the road to myself, driving across I-84 in Idaho, with so much wide-open space and little traffic that I could have read a magazine and driven at the same time. There was not much out there I thought could answer the questions on my mind, but I was willing to give her suggestion a try.

It was a time of seemingly unquenchable thirst for truth, as I was healing from a quarter-century of trying to make my life work in a dysfunctional marriage. While I was well advised to stop trying to figure it out and to get on with creating a new life, my rational mind demanded more answers, and my heart wanted some much-deserved peace. So that’s what I asked for—peace. As I tested this spiritual teacher’s challenge, I immediately heard some numbers whispered in my mind.

Moments later a billboard stretched across the fields in front of me, with a large advertisement painted on it, including the very numbers I had just heard in my mind. My first reaction was to discount the possibility that I had actually heard or seen anything, or that either had a message for me. But I quieted that doubting voice, and decided to just see this test through.

I acknowledged and received the reality that both the whispered numbers and the billboard numbers might suggest a message. I ignored all suspicious thinking, and noticed that the very same numbers matched an upcoming exit number. I questioned that for a moment as well, but then turned off the freeway a few miles ahead at the exit.

There was only one way to turn, so I traveled in that direction for a while, watching but seeing nothing that would suggest a spiritual gift. When I finally saw any civilization, I had a flashback to another time when I had been at the exact same place.

Some years before, our family had stopped there for lunch, but that memory did not immediately give me any clues as to why I was being guided there again. I continued to ask for direction, wondering if possibly I was at this exact location to meet someone, to serve someone else, or if someone would show up with my much needed gift of peace.

But none of that happened. I sat there in the exact spot where I had been a few years prior, recalling the day when I had lunch with my family. As I allowed myself to think on that day for a few more instants, I immediately remembered the emotions I had at that previous visit.

Because I was a vegetarian at the time, and because there were few choices to eat vegetarian in the area where we were traveling, my husband had willingly driven about five miles out of his way to appease my food needs at this exact restaurant.

It was interesting to me that I had forgotten all about that little gift, until I returned to the location, even several years later. The memory of that previous visit brought with it some good vibes, reminding me of how sweet it was of him to oblige me without a word of argument, which had pleasantly surprised me. Remembering that about him, I heard a voice whispering, he did the best he could.

In that moment, my distraught emotions about being a single mom lifted, and peace entered my heart. So the spirit guided me miles off the freeway and into the parking lot of a restaurant in a little town in the middle of nowhere—to remind me that I did feel loved once. Wow.

It was as if the good things that happened there, many years before, were somehow still there, like a hologram of me and of that day, vibrating in the spirit space as if it was in present time. I literally drove all that way and into that energy field (the vibrations of my experience there) to find the love that was still there, to bless me as I had asked.

The requested peace came so simply. How had it worked? I trusted, I asked, and I paid attention to what showed up, then listened for the deeper messages of the apparent.

I could have discounted the numbers that voiced in my mind, the billboard that repeated them, and the coincidence of remembering a long ago day in that exact location. But I didn’t. I dismissed all doubt, and later these choices allowed my desired gift of peace to manifest.

That’s how easily messages from loving spirit communicate with us to bless us, by meeting our needs, exactly as we ask at any given moment in time. It is our intended nature to live with God’s spirit as our constant guide.

So you must know that the voice of spirit is here with you too, right now, ready to share with you all the answers to your life’s questions and needs. You can count on this! Spirit speaks in whatever voice you can receive, and especially if you are fine-tuned to your spiritual gifts.

The reality of spirit as a tangible presence is actually more real than those highways, billboards, buildings and crossroads I connected with in Idaho, so many years ago. While the buildings and roads will someday crumble and disappear, what happened to me will not.

In reality, every breath of my life, every interaction, every thought I’ve ever had, still exists—out there in all the places I have been, and in me, within my psyche. All those holograms that paint the picture of my life are still vibrating with energetic life, somewhere just beyond my physical senses, in the paradigm of a spiritual world.

The reality of spirit, again, is that all the abundance of the entire universe is simply waiting for you to ask. So do it, right now, and get ready to receive!

Original painting by Skye Judd.

It’s Christmas today, and I want to give one more gift before it’s over for another year. Recent events in my life have shown me how it feels to be in the state of charity, if even for just a little while. My last gift of the season is to testify about the glory and power of this love. My gift is to praise the gift, with gratitude.

Charity is the pure love of God, and to be found with it is said to be a very good thing. It is usually described in context with faith and hope, but my favorite description about charity is that it never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:8)

I like the power of that word never. And the reason I have written this article is because I absolutely know charity always works–to heal, to make all things beautiful, to live in the wonderful glorious protection of being one with the love of God–heaven on earth. The way is easy, and free. God gave us everything we need to succeed. We just need to understand how.

I have been studying spiritual healing for a lifetime, and writing about it for a while now. Lately, I have been practicing these concepts consistently, just to prove the truths to myself, always just one more time, and always satisfying myself that charity works to make everything feel better—in relationships, with work, in decision-making, everything.

I see life through the eyes of spirit, so allow me to use my perspective to describe how this looks and works. Just like most of the time people see everything tangibly, and describe it as such (apples, tables, water, etc.), there is another reality going on–the energetic reality of the intangibles (fear, pain, forgiveness, love, etc.). To me, these are just as real as the tangibles, even though they are forms of energy, with unique colors and essences of their own. They exist, whether you can see them or not. The first step to finding the state of charity is faith in this other reality, which includes God and our familial relationship to Him.

Step two is to get your story out. As I approach any situation, such as a conflict, or anything that is outside the energy of love, I begin by simply asking what energy is here–what is going on? To do that, we usually have to tell the story–what he did/said, she did/said. Bottom lining it is best, because we want to get out of the state of what that story is about and onto the path leading to the state of charity as soon as possible.

From your story, you can see that you have certain feelings, usually pretty intense ones. They can be everything from fear and anger to betrayal, rejection, and hopelessness. Note all of them. They are real. These feelings have caused certain beliefs, and as these feelings and beliefs surface, becoming obvious, you can look back at your life, and see that this is exactly what you have experienced, in every case. Step three is to document the actual beliefs that your experiences and feelings have caused you to accept as truth, (such as people always do such and such to me, or such and such always happens to me, or I believe such and such about life, or I am just such and such a way, etc.)

Step four is where you begin down the road to actually experiencing the state of charity, as you let go of all the darkness created by a lifetime of beliefs that do not serve you. All beliefs that cause you to remain out of love (with self, with others, with life, in any way)—all of that darkness has to go. I believe it is best to allow yourself to remember your very first and earliest encounter where your story caused you to choose this belief/judgment. Starting with the earliest memory makes letting go of all the rest so much easier.

Everything that has offended your loving innocent nature must be verbally forgiven, and again anytime you think of it, speak of it, or re-experience it, as doing so is to energetically re-open the wounds.

To forgive, you take it all right to the healer, Jesus Christ himself. It’s as if we remove it from our own souls and hand it all, physically, to Him. Even though we can’t actually see the energy of all of this stuff, we are literally transferring it out of ourselves and giving it to Him. That is the beauty of this holy gift, freely given, freely available, anywhere, anytime.

Christ taught that we must forgive, giving all to Him, for His care and His judgment, not ours. It does not serve us to carry any darkness, for that is what keeps us from the light. And light is our natural and true state of being—the place where we find charity. Giving all to Christ, through forgiveness, is the actual tool we each have at our fingertips, instantly, to return us to the state of charity.

Forgiveness has very little to do with the rights and wrongs of our experiences at the hands of others, and everything to do with taking care of our spiritual selves by returning to the presence of God, light–pure unconditional love. When you hold judgment of any kind in your soul, your spirit is broadcasting an energetic message of those injustices, which actually attracts more of such to you. Whatever negative energy your spirit is holding onto, it is sending out that message as a truth. This state of being will only bring you more of what is already not working for you! This is a state of trying to control life, taking you out of the state of love, and actually punishing yourself in the process, while doing nothing towards the justice you are probably inwardly seeking. Anytime you are in the energy of judgment (control), you are choosing to hold onto darkness, which automatically keeps you out of the state of charity!

Step four has many parts, including confession and forgiveness of self along with others. We must always admit the part we have contributed to any conflict. There is no conflict without two participants. Even though your part may have been done in ignorance, fear, desperation, or purely for survival, confession and forgiveness is an essential ingredient in the process of reaching the state of charity. Admitting your part can be as simple as realizing that you held in the negative energy for all this time, causing you to continue to attract more of it or to suffer longer. In step four, we spend as much time with our Savior as necessary to feel better. We drop our burdens at His feet, and leave them there. We let His love take it all from us, through all our body and all our time, completely.

Once cleaned by spending personal time alone with Christ, feeling His healing, where we lay down all darkness in us, we then move to step five. This is where we accept His compassion to fill the void. We receive the pure light of Christ flooding into our physical beings. We feel free, as if nothing negative has ever been with us. Love permeates our being, in a world where no judgment enters our thoughts. This is the state of love I call innocence. I recommend allowing this state of pure love to flow through you for as long as you can handle it. Your comfort level may resist at first, but soak it up anyway. This is the truth of who you are–a being of love, one with God. The longer you stay in this state, the more truth will flow into you. Go the distance.

In step five, as you enjoy this oneness with God, feeling that great love in and around you, notice that you have access to all truth, especially as it pertains to your life and purpose. This is where hope becomes your companion. As you hold onto a hope in all truth, perfect divine guidance flows into your soul, and charity is not far behind.

In the state of oneness with God, staying out of judgment in all its varieties (fear, doubt, anger—all forms of control), we live in the state of trusting God to not only teach us, guide us, and protect us, but to do whatever he will with us. We gave all our darkness to God,and now we are giving all our light to Him. We offer all to Him, asking where we should go, what we should do, what we should say, and sometimes how to do it, at least how to start, and usually the rest will come later. We have faith in Him, hope in the good things that come from Him, and know that as we go where that truthful guidance leads, all our needs will be met. In this state of being one with Him, having our answers, we follow those answers, serving others accordingly. When we do so, we feel inner peace, joy and happiness–and this is the state of charity! It is in the act of following divine guidance that the state of charity arrives.

These steps of recognizing, acknowledging, and forgiving bring us into the presence of God. We cannot get to this state without the personal cleansing of forgiveness. Every question is answered while in the state of being one with the pure love of God. When we follow those promptings, aligning our lives accordingly, acting as we are guided, we literally become the hands of God on earth. And that is the state of charity. It works every time.

This is the reason I teach to trust spirit, now. Every need can be met and understood when in the presence of love, and love is ready and waiting, anytime you are. Charity Never Fails! It’s a Merry Christmas indeed.

(Videos of forgiveness techniques are available in the video section of this website. If you could use further assistance in this practice, please contact me via your comments in the reply box below.)