Dear Friends,
Have you ever had a “Push Through” day? There are those days where you wake up, and in spite of a morning spiritual practice, the day looks endless and all you want to do is sit or sleep. I have those days myself. I call them my
“push through” days. Just recently I had one of those. I was sitting in my chair after meditating and reading and I just didn’t want to get up to “get things done.” I said a silent, “Help me God through this day.” So I continued to sit… until all of a sudden I got up and began my first job, boil some eggs. It was if my legs, arms and body knew what to do and when to do it. After that I checked my computer, still feeling like I am pushing through. Then I made the bed, ate breakfast, still feeling like I am pushing through, wrote some letters of reference for friends, scheduled a couple zoom meetings, still feeling like I am pushing through, soothed some hurt feelings from an email, created agendas and updates for scheduled meetings, made some phone calls, bought some birthday gifts. and the day went on. At some point I showered and went out to do errands. Throughout the day, I continued to feel like I was pushing through. I realized by the end of the day, I had accomplished far more than I thought I would. I knew it was the simple prayer, “Help me God through this day.”
No matter what we are doing, where we are, or how we are feeling, God is within us doing the work. There are times we must consciously let God take over and push us through the day. I gave a simple example and I know there are many people going through very tough times right now in life. Pushing through isn’t as simple as I had it. However the simple prayer “Help me God through this day” still works. The more we rely on God to move us through the day, clear our path, open doors of opportunity, block what no longer serves us, and show us different perspectives, we gain energy, time and endurance to handle all types of challenges or inconveniences.

Remember, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us reJOYce in it!”

Letting God Push Me Through,
Abigail and Steve

Dear Friends,

“I bless and give thanks for teachers. Teachers change the world by opening the minds of their students, expanding their horizons and creating new paths of possibility and achievement. Teachers sow seeds of creativity that blossom into inspiring thoughts and kindled imaginations.” (August Daily Word)

This week I want to honor all teachers. Children, young adults and adults will be going back to school with many mixed emotions. They may be fearful due to the pandemic, joyful to see their friends, worried they are not up to grade level, and anxious to start a new school year.

I understand these feelings from both points of view, the teacher and the student. As a former Kindergarten and First grade teacher, I loved getting back into the classroom, setting up the bulletin boards, reconnecting with the other teachers, making lesson plans and reading up on all my students. Usually we had a “pre-opening,” where parents and students can come into the classroom, meet me, look around and become familiar with the rest of the children. Today, this is not the case. I have talked with several teachers and the opening of school is definitely not the same. Teachers will be teaching in the classroom again, as well as teaching students online. Some of my retired teacher friends have substituted doing the online teaching. Each one said it was difficult keeping the young children’s attention. Teaching in this manner is more stressful than normal and I know of one teacher in particular who said she may need to take an early retirement mid-year.

So I ask all those who are reading this newsletter to pray for ALL teachers, administrators, aides, custodians, bus drivers, knowing the Divine Wisdom
and Intelligence, Love and Joy of God/Spirit is within them, guiding, and directing their lessons, and interactions with all students, parents and colleagues. Teaching is a “Calling.” So we pray all teachers prepare themselves soulfully and spiritually.

Blessings, Abigail and Steve

Dear Friends,

“A father and son were walking on the beach and every so often the boy picked up stones and pebbles and put them in his pocket. Soon he found walking difficult and asked his dad to pick him up. His dad did but told him he needed to rid himself of the stones and pebbles.
As you and I go through life, we pick up stones along the way. When we turn to Spirit for help, It responds, ‘Put down the stones of disbelief, doubt, fear and resentment. Make your burden light. Move within and remember I Am always with you” (Science of Mind Magazine, August, Rev. Dr. Ron Fox)

This past week I was very much like that little boy. We had/have an Interfaith Awareness Week coming up and I was worried about the Opening Ceremony Program Sunday, August 8th . I wanted everything to be smooth as silk. The gentleman putting the Opening together seemed to not be responding to my emails or texts. He kept asking for videos of our speakers and music, which I had sent him many times previously. I was in a near panic thinking he may not be able to pull this off. After talking with him, I found out his computer was being fixed and he was using another computer which did not have all his info on it. He was also having other serious challenges in his life. Once knowing what he was going through, I felt more compassionate.

We finally had a “practice” run and he had everything in order. He only needed to work on his presentation in-between the speaker and music videos.
When we finished the run through, all I could do was let go of my worry, doubt, and anxiety pebbles. So Steve and I prayed !!!! Go figure!

“God is Greater than the burdens you are carrying. Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you.” Psalm 56:22

There are times we just have to cast the burden on the Lord and let go. I think that is one of the most difficult lessons to learn, because, if you are like me, I tend to blame myself when things go wrong even if I was not the one directly responsible for it. I felt responsible for the entire week, when in reality this is God’s week, not my week. God’s Will be done, not my will be done.

This experience taught to be compassionate, because we never know what people are going through, and to view life from different perspectives.
I continues to know all IS in Divine Order and Timing and God is in charge.

Letting Go of Heavy Pebbles,
Abigail and Steve

Dear Friends,

“TIME FOR A TUNE UP!”

The Universe is designed to grow, expand, and evolve in all ways. We as humans, in this universe, are also designed to grow, evolve and ever expand physically, emotionally and spiritually. We are all part of God’s Divine Design.
If we feel our lives are veering in a direction we do not wish to go, it is time to
STOP, PAUSE, and TUNE UP Ourselves.

There are 3 Ideas I would like to share with you today on PAUSING and TUNING UP.

1.Get support. If we want to grow, we must take time for a regular spiritual tune-up.
When we tune up our cars on a regular basis it improves the fuel economy, lowers emissions, improves engine performance and restores its pep and power.
When our back is “out of whack” we go to a chiropractor for an adjustment to realign our spine.
For our Spiritual support, we can go to a practitioner, minister or prayer partner to help us see the Truth of our being in times of crisis and challenges.
We also go to our faith tradition’s service, take spiritual education classes, workshops and webinars, to help tune up our mind and heart.
In order to grow and evolve we must find the time to get a spiritual tune up!

2.Evaluate when and where you would like improvement in your life and be teachable in those areas.
Be humble and honest with yourself. Stop making excuses. Look at any pain you may have caused another. Forgive yourself and ask for forgiveness from others. Being humble creates an inner freedom from having to protect those parts that we try to hide from ourselves and others. We begin to develop a quiet, understanding and compassionate heart.
Embrace your humanness. Our self-worth may plummet, however remember our self-worth is not attached to our human mistakes or failures. We are always the Beloved of God, worthy and blessed.
Try journaling to express your deepest thoughts. It will help reveal what you need to know, in order to grow, expand and tune up.
Keep a High Conscious watch for yourself. How others react or perceive your intentions is their business.

3.Let go of that which you don’t want and state the thing that you
do want!
Choose to let go of unhappiness, judgment and victim-mentality.
Flip an attitude of “poor me,” to “Yeah for me!”
Job loss? This is a blessing for God has a new and better job in mind with better salary, working conditions and colleagues. Vision and write down what you do want!
Health? No matter the circumstances or doctor’s prognosis, remember the truth of yourself. You are spirit, an eternal being, whole, perfect and complete. Vision God’s light flowing through every atom, cell and molecule of your body. Enlist a minister or practitioner to see and state the truth with you.
Friends? Consider everyone your friend because we are all one in God. Every person you meet in the store, at the bank, at work are friends. SEE them as such. State you have an abundance of friends! Then call someone to chat or make a date to have coffee.
Attitude? You can choose to be cranky or compassionate, sour or joyful.
State how you want to be in the world and BE IT!
Money? You do have enough. State it! Count all the blessings in your life. Give to where you are spiritually fed and invest in companies that align with your core values and spiritual principles.! Bless the money you give and watch how it blesses and returns to you in numerous ways.
PAUSE, and see where you need to Tune yourself up in life!

(This message is an excerpt from the Sunday lesson at the CSL Inland Empire, where Rev. Abigail was the guest speaker. Ideas for this lesson also came from writings of Abigail Schairer, CSL Seattle).

Pausing and Tuning up,
Abigail and Steve

No Prayer Goes Unheard!

I was thinking about “answered prayer” today, and realized that all my prayers have been answered, even in ways I could not imagine.
There is a song by the late Eric Hansen called, “Our Thoughts are Prayers.” I know this to be true. We live and breathe and have our being in the MIND of GOD. This Mind of God is my mind and your mind now. We continually think into it and there is nothing that goes unnoticed, unheard, or unanswered. All thoughts and prayers are acted upon.

I thought about my childhood and at age 8 I declared I was going to be a teacher, to my third grade teacher. I did get my BA in Education and even did some practice teaching in the same third grade class with my original third grade teacher!

As a child I wanted a horse and I remember looking up at the stars asking God for riding lessons. Low and behold in college the students were offered Saturday riding classes and so I signed up! Funny thing though, after some lessons and a horse that threw me, I decided maybe riding lessons were not for me. My prayer was answered, and I still had a choice (with my free will) to continue or not.

Steve and I were talking about our house and how it came to us in 2003.
Steve knew immediately this was the house for us. While walking around the house outside, Steve said, “God, show me a sign.” At that moment a grapefruit from the grapefruit tree on the property rolled right down to his feet.
Inside the house I had wanted a vaulted ceiling and when we closed on the house I was happy with everything and just dismissed the vaulted ceiling since the house had everything else we wanted. After we moved in, my eyes went up to the ceiling in the living room and low and behold we had a vaulted ceiling.
I had not noticed it previously on our visits to the house. Steve at age 13, in his electric shop classes in Jr. High, saw lighted light switches on the wall. He told himself, when he owned a house, he would install those same light switches. As we walked around the inside of our new house, we discovered it had them too!

Prayers also have a way of evolving. As a new minister in 2000 I kept thinking how wonderful it would be to have a Children’s Church. I was not sure how that would manifest until my mentor minister Dr. Juanella came to me and said she had a dream of me ministering in a child church. She asked, ” Do you want that?” I immediately said ‘YES’ and the doors opened up for me on that journey. At the Child Centered Church, Steve and I started teaching children and their parents the commonalities of religions which evolved into an Interfaith Service which evolved into founding the Poway (POINT) Interfaith Team, which evolved into being part of an Interfaith Movement and being a part of the North American Interfaith Network and Parliament of World Religions. We are still joyfully meeting people of all faiths, nationalities, cultures and countries.

All thoughts are prayers and they are always answered! God always says YES.
I like the second sentence in the quote above. If God appears to say NO, it just means there is something greater for you! There is always Divine timing for all requests. Keep your thoughts on the good and the purposeful, and as the song says, “Seek a higher consciousness” in your prayers and declarations, for they
will manifest for you. Negative thoughts will also manifest so be aware and mindful….
Just KNOW your prayer in Spirit has already been answered in the right way, at the right time and with the right people – destined just for you!!!!

Sit back and listen to this beautiful song
“Our Thoughts are Prayers”
by Eric Hansen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49aSAcIZs40

OUR THOUGHTS ARE PRAYERS

Our Thoughts are Prayers
And we are always praying
Our Thoughts are Prayers
Listen to what you’re saying
Seek a higher consciousness
A state of peacefulness
And know that God is always there
And every thought becomes a prayer
Our Thoughts are Prayers
The tools that we create with
Our Thoughts are Prayers
That Spirit resonates with
Seek a higher consciousness
A state of mindfulness
And know that God is always there
And every thought becomes a prayer

Prayerfully, Abigail and Steve

Dear Friends,

“Don’t Forget to Laugh Today!”
Steve sends me cute funnies everyday, and I love to see them on my computer. We have separate offices and he can hear me laughing at the funnies and comics he sends via email. They have boosted me so many times in the past few years with the pandemic and our government crisis happening. I have to give praise and gratitude for my husband for he is always lifting people’s spirits up. Even after going through shoulder surgery and some painful physical therapy he is bringing joy through pictures of yummy food to the therapists. They delight in taking part in the fun. Once in a while he will actually bring them goodies, the real deal! He is looking forward to bringing joy, support and encouragement once again as a volunteer at Palomar Hospital.

I remember years ago when I was teaching, I would always find some fun and joy during parent conferences. My principal(s) would comment saying,
“Every time I pass your room, there is laugher going on!” Laughter is a great way to ease worry and anxiety in any situation.

Last week I was babysitting my granddaughter Peyton and her other grandparents came in and then the third grandmother. Three sets of grandparents were taking delight in watching this little one play, laugh, crawl, stand, and clap with delight. It was pure joy being with her, holding her and kissing her. Grandma kisses everywhere. Why does she delight us so much?
Because her entire being is Pure Joy, the Sweet Essence of God. It is Love and Laughter in action. We all take part in her consciousness when we are with her.

Children at play remind us of the truth of our being. We are Pure Joy, the Sweet Essence of God. When we allow God to come through us, flow in us and be us, we become the ONE who brings joy and laughter to others, and ultimately bring it back to ourselves.

Laughter is the language of the soul.
Pablo Neruda

Laughter connects you with people.
It’s almost impossible to maintain any kind of distance or any sense of social hierarchy when you’re just howling with laughter.
Laughter is a force for democracy.
John Cleese

A day without laughter is a day wasted.
Charlie Chaplin

Remember to LAUGH Today and bring JOY to someone else!

Laughing and Smiling,
Abigail and Steve

Dear Friends,

I was reading in a local newspaper this past week about a 35 year old man who just became a priest. This young man had always wanted to serve people and previously was a fireman. At age 30 he felt restless, an urge within him to seek something else, and he wasn’t exactly sure what it was. He had a girlfriend and decided he was never going to marry her, so it was time to set her free so she could find the right person for her. He went through what we call in New Thought, “Divine Discontent.” Long story short, he surrendered to the Will of
God and asked that his path be made perfectly clear and eliminate any distractions and open only the God opportunities to him. So priesthood became an option and he followed his heart and his God given path.

We all have those moments, days, and time of Divine Discontent and perhaps we feel it more now that the pandemic is slowly moving out from our lives and experience. Our discontent may be that we don’t want to return to the old normal. We really want to move forward into a NEW way of being, working
and living our lives. Let us appreciate this Divine Discontent for we can anticipate a new soul calling and new spiritual purpose being made ready for us. It is here now, just waiting for us to OPEN the door and surrender to what is on the other side.

Opening the door will definitely be a change, possibly a pull in a direction that is so different than before our first reaction may be NO, can’t do it, don’t want to do it. At that point we need to PAUSE and stop looking at the new direction from a human point of view. Let us ask to look at it from God’s point of view.
It is a Higher Calling which always is meant to move us out of our comfort zone and expand into something greater than before. Life always moves us upward and onward.

Ernest Holmes said: “Nature will not let us stay in any one place for too long. She will let us stay just long enough to gather the experience necessary to the unfolding and advancement of the soul. This is a wise provision, for should
we stay there too long, we would become too set, too rigid, too inflexible. Nature demands change in order that we may advance.”

We have been in our pandemic cocoons for a long time. Now we are ready to come out, be the butterfly, blossom, expand and grow into a new calling and life.

Expanding in Life,
Abigail and Steve

What Kind of Life Wants Me?

I was reading Dr. David Alexander’s article in the July issue of the Science of Mind magazine. It was a wonderful reminder, that God’s Plan has ALL POSSIBILITIES for our life. We are in the midst of Unlimited GREATNESS, GOD.

We often use the spiritual tool of Visioning or Visualization. I use this often even in a small way. There are times I am tired when I start off on my morning walks so in order to ‘speed up the process’ I visualize myself a few blocks ahead.
When I get there, it seems like no time has passed. I continue doing this on my entire walk and before I know it I am home.

Both Steve and I have Visioned many things in our life, our home, our spiritual path and have always been amazed by the joyous journey God has provided us.

However the times I have been most amazed is when I released, let go and let God put the next step, next focus, next purpose in front of me. One of the biggest surprises was when I was steered into a completely different direction in my life. I went from teaching elementary school to becoming a minister.

Years ago I was fervently trying to find a church home, in the areas of mainstream churches. There was not a fit or match for the beliefs I embodied.
I loved church, but I could not in all good conscious become a member and say I believed what the church denomination believed. I was frustrated and mad when I told God ” I am done! If you want me to find a church home, You do it.
I am done looking!!!” I really thought I would just find my own path with the help of books. Needless to say, not even one week later, I got a card in the mail inviting me to a workshop on ‘Reincarnation,’ which I was extremely interested in. So I went! I loved the workshop, the people, and the metaphysical books in their book store. I told God, I would give this church a chance on Sunday!
I went to their services and the minister seemed to be talking just to me and I felt like I had come home. Needless to say this started my adventure with
New Thought, and The Science of Mind teaching! Over the next 10 years, I became a practitioner, an ordained minister and started my first church.
I also retired from teaching.
My releasing and letting go of what I thought I should do, allowed GOD to DIRECT ME in the LIFE Spirit wanted FOR me.

So, instead of asking God, Spirit, Mind, the Universe for something you think you want, Ask “What Kind of Life Wants Me?” What kind of life, purpose, journey does God have ready for me to step into? Release your ideas,
Relax into God’s Greater ideas. Watch the Universe unfold in your life and enjoy the journey!

“Realize you are God’s Masterpiece created to do things
that you can’t even yet imagine.”
Mark J. Musser

Releasing and Relaxing,
Abigail and Steve