Calendar

Finding Pennies, Finding Your beginning

In 2015, I was at a point in my life where I felt I needed something more.  You know, like all the Disney Princesses who realize that their lives just aren't fulfilling them in the ways they want, and they desire more, so they set off on an adventure to find something new.  Often, they find an animal friend, love, and sometimes marriage; or, more often, they discover the truth within themselves.  I was sitting at work one day, when I had a feeling to write down my thoughts.  I always kept a notepad and pen close by for the phone calls I took, so I took out a paper and pen and then paused and waited for inspiration to come.  A long silence, no phone rang, no co-worker passed by, nothing.  No thoughts even.  It was so strange.  My mind always had thoughts.  ALWAYS!  It was blank.  It felt as blank as the paper in front of me.  Then, just as I was about to put the pen down and give up, a question came to my mind.  Ask what the right question is.

I knew that I should ask, but I hesitated for a moment, thinking, "Do I actually want to know what the right question is?  Do I want to know what the answer to that is?"  After a long minute, curiosity got the best of me, and I asked God in my mind, "What is the question I need to ask?"  Another pause and blank mind, then with a strong feeling of desire, peace, and yearning came the answer.  "Do you want your Calling and Election made sure? Write this down:" So I wrote the question down on the paper.  I just stared at it.  I had absolutely no idea what that even was.  I had never heard of it, or if I did, I didn't pay any attention to what it meant or was.  I looked at it like it was a far-off foreign country no one had ever heard of.  I stared at this question for at least an hour.  Then, I decided that most likely the best option would be to ask what this was.  "God, what is that? What does that mean exactly?" I whispered.  No answer came.  I asked again, and this time was met with a feeling of curiosity and peace at the same time; a warmth started around my chest.

Then the thought came, "If you want what I want for you and for your life, this is where you will start your journey.  Seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you."  I knew that was God's answer.  Not mine.  But I also knew without a doubt that I would need to be willing to research and seek the answers as to what this was.  This is where it all started for me.  My spiritual journey started much younger, when I learned to listen to God talk to me, saw spirits in many forms, had visions and dreams, and had near-death experiences.  Yet my journey was just beginning?  What did all of this mean?  

In our journey through life, we often focus on the things we can see, hear, and touch.  We know that the sun will rise and the sun will set.  The stars come out at night, and the trees and animals provide things we need.  We have a relatively good idea of what tomorrow will look like, as we have established a routine and a schedule before the day has even begun.  But what so many people miss is that this is only a small fraction of what actually IS.  What if you could see all the spirits who have passed on whenever you wished?  What if you found a treasure of spiritual knowledge that no one else that you knew of could see?  What if there were more than just A-Z in the alphabet, and you suddenly realized that there was a whole world that seemed semi-familiar and yet no one else knew?  Would you search and discover?  Or would you tell a friend or family member, and when they looked at you with the eyes of disbelief, would you shut down your desire to learn, stretch, and grow, and go back to the life of what you KNEW?  God has so much to teach us, but he will only teach those who seek, knock, and find.  

A long, long time ago, when I was younger, we used to look for pennies with certain years on them.  We tried to collect pennies for each consecutive year within a decade.  It was a fun thing to get a penny back from a store and look for the year on it to see if we wanted to add it to our collection or to put it in with our change in our pockets.  As a family, we managed to collect a whole decade's worth of pennies.  I was so proud of us that day.  We had to seek the things we wanted in order to get those pennies.  We had to use patience in collecting them one by one, and then we had to add each one next to the other.  The same process is used when learning about spiritual things.  If you feel a desire within you to know more, to grow and learn, or a curiosity to understand something you haven't encountered before, then you are ready to start.  Tell God in your heart and mind that you want to seek, knock, and find.  Tell him today that you feel prepared for whatever he has in store for you.  Then, open your heart and mind, let it be blank, get out a paper and pen, and write down the question that comes into your mind.  Then write down the answer.  Let today be where your spiritual journey begins.