Faith and Flashlights

And we know that all things work together to those who love God, Who are called according to his purpose Romans 8:28

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Companion Meditation Song: Flashlight By: Jessi J

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I am going to begin with an excerpt from a book that has become very close to my heart, one that offers some great guidance in a unique way.

Dear One, how you loved to sit and play by yourself when you were small. From time to time, you would suddenly stop playing and look around the room as if someone was there, You would even stare into space, waiting for something to appear. Nothing did but you sensed that you were not alone in the room. You were not frightened, just curious. Then, as if it was your imagination, you would return to your play.

I am here to tell you, Dear One, it was not your imagination. You have never been alone. From the moment you came into this world, you have been surrounded by three invisible beings that have NEVER left your side. They are your Spirit Guides. Unbeknownst to you, the child who suddenly stopped playing and stared into space was intuitively feeling the presence of her best friends.

After I made my choices of karma and soul growth for this lifetime, I knew there was one decision that was NOT going to be mine to make, and that was who was coming with me. I was assigned three incredible Guides for this journey. These spirit guides have been with me since birth and will escort me home safely when this lifetime is over. They will never leave my side and they are here to assist no one else but me.

They are mine for life, here to support and serve me in the plan I have set forth. As I speak, one is standing behind me and the others are on either side of me, watching and reveling in the magnificent process. If you could feel them the way I do, they would seem like old friends coming back into your life. Excerpt Taken from the Dear One Letters Vol 1

We are never alone, even when we are in the darkness. It is at this time spirit is closest, guiding us, encouraging us, and leading us. Are you hearing their messages? Are you hearing " I know this is tough, but we have your back"? " You are safe, you are loved, and you are doing your best", this is after all just a lesson. Troubled waters, rough roads, pits and valleys? that's nothing compared to the "Dark Night of Soul". Where you have lost everything, and just left with faith, faith in yourself, faith in others and faith in Spirit.

What is Faith? The dictionary defines it as “ Complete trust or confidence in someone or something,'' A strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion. It is during the darkest hardest times in life that one really learns first hand just what true faith is. Let's take a look at the trials of Abraham and one of his tests of faith.

God says to Abraham “Take your son, Your son Isaac, whom you love and sacrifice him. Can you imagine years of Sarah and Abraham trying to conceive a child of their own together, the joy in their hearts when Spirit grants him this amazing gift, The promise Spirit gave when he told Abraham that He would become the father of nations through Isaac? then Bam! Now you have to sacrifice him? Abraham never questioned, never wavered, despite having several chances to keep from sacrificing his son Isaac.

Abraham relies on his faith that spirit will fulfill the promises and take care of his needs. So Abraham took Isaac they go to the mountain, create the Altar to which his son was to be sacrificed, prepared to do what Spirit had asked of him. He picks up the knife, takes a deep breath and just as me moves to do the deed….. God speaks “ABRAHAM, ABRAHAM, DO NOT LAY YOUR HAND ON THE LAD OR DO ANYTHING TO HARM HIM!” Spirit spared Abraham his precious son. This was a test of his faith and a lesson unto itself. Through all this Abraham’s faith remained strong and constant, and in the end he was rewarded.

I personally have had my faith tested, and endured the Dark Night of Soul not just once but twice in my life so far. What I am about to share is really deep, soul bearing, and healing, This is my truth, so please understand if i get emotional this is still a very fresh wound, but a message I was guided to share in hopes that it will help another who feels like the world is crashing down and there is no hope. Some of the best teachings come from the ones we know who have been through the fire and are emerging on the other side, like the phoenix born from that fire.

I choose to spare you the details and nature of this current situation. However, it ended up taking so much from us. We have lost family, lost friends, lost our home, my Lovie lost his job, and It’s costing us thousands of dollars (that we don't have).

But, We are blessed that I was able to secure a third job, and my Lovie was able to find one that took a chance on him. We are blessed that my parents opened their home up to us so we have a roof over our head, and food in our bellies, while we struggle to stay afloat. Not to mention their love, support and faith in us. It goes beyond just the physical stuff, with that you have the emotional toll, that's where it got the darkest. When I say dark it got really dark, I found myself planning and plotting murder, suicide, and when I realized I couldn't do that, It resorted to doing the research to find someone who wanted to murder for fun, to do the deed so my Lovie could then take the life insurance to get out of the fire.

I truly was that girl on the edge, looking down thinking it really isn't that far. I had convinced myself that I could do more good in spirit then in the physical. I can stand here and tell you “Everything was fine” Put on a fake smile and just go on with life, knowing I really didn’t want to. After all, that is what everyone saw the mask I placed around me, attempting to hide and hide from those closest to me. Closing myself off so no one knew just how unstable I had become, how hardened and shattered my heart was.

Always questioning “Are you strong enough to endure this?” “Are you strong enough to fight this?”, “ Are you strong enough to not let the opinions of others bring you down?” “ Is your faith in yourself strong enough? Is your faith in others to see the truth strong enough?” “Is your faith in spirit strong enough?” This was my lowest point, then one night my Flashlights started shining so bright I was blinded.

Flashlights a new term for our guides not just in spirit but in the physical as well. Flashlights are those people & entities that send/ give us messages and guidance to get us through our lives. It first started with my physical flashlights ,listening, giving advice, guidance, encouragement, and yes even financial help at times. They were always reminding me about the spiritual aspects of the situation, passing along messages from spirit that I just wasn't open to hearing at the time.You know there's a reason for this, there are lessons that have to be learned, Karmic debt is being paid, You signed up for this”. All things I already knew, but not ready to acknowledge.

Then one night when I was at work at my lowest, I stepped outside. It was about 3amish in the dark of night under the clear sparkling star lit sky, I looked up and was just gazing, with everything running through my mind. Questioning how did it come to this? Everything went black and I saw the web that connected it all. The web was huge, including not just this life time but others as well. I could see each point, but not what it represented, In that moment all those messages my physical flashlights had provided finally clicked and made sense. This is when things started shifting, This is when I realized that this situation had to happen because Spirit has bigger plans for us. All I have questioned, researched, taught, learned,the people that have come and gone in my life,The path that led me here to my spiritual home was all preparing me.

Placing the right physical flashlights in my path for this situation and the bigger plan that is to come. (Side note: When I think back, as to what lead me to my little church family, I giggle a little. A very fond memory printed so very clearly, my very first message from Rev Blue, My beloved Grammy was here. Her message to me short and sweet ,knock my crap off, stop fighting the changes and embrace them for I was sent here for a reason.) With the realization that this was a part of a bigger plan this is when I surrendered and gave it all to spirit. I started calling out to my spiritual flashlights and they would provide us with all the information we needed that is changing the game.

We needed money, I asked for it, BAM! A loving friend took a chance and helped, then a car accident and a nice settlement was delivered. Let's take a minute to dive in here a little bit, there is another lesson. At this point we had really lost just about everything we had worked so hard for and had nothing of real value left.

With the loss of Lovie's job, the loss of our home and having to sell everything we had that had any value to it, the truck had just become yet another thing to add to the list of things lost. I didn't see it at the time but this was just another way of Spirit growing my faith, it had taught me that when you ask for things, sometimes sacrifices have to be made to make room for the blessing to appear.

As this was all taking place a wise spirit Mama & teacher told me, “The universe always equals itself out, Spirit doesn't take without giving something better in return” it made sense, we have to be willing to let go of things to clear the path for new enter. Spirit knew the truck was the only thing that could be taken, we only had my car (that has payments) and a truck that was already paid off. So spirit choose the truck, thus giving us the settlement to help put some of the fire out.

We need proof as to a person's character BAM!, the information was provided through social media & phone calls from friends who had no idea of what was happening. I needed emotional support BAM! that was there. I needed comfort & strength BAM! A song, a light loving touch, a phantom scent would ring through the air, number sequences showed up, and totem animals would appear. This is just a sampling, everything we needed and asked for was provided.

I learned very quickly during this time that as spirit manifested the messages and blessing that we needed, and the more gratitude I displayed for each one, the messages became clearer and manifested more often. It was though the more I acknowledged them the more they came. I found that the gratitude I displayed to spirit for every message and every blessing strengthened my connection to my best friends. Ponder this for a moment, When we develop a friendship in the physical we do things to nurture that friendship to make it grow, why would it not be any different with spirit?

I am going to share one of my favorite spirit messages that came during this time, although it isn't the most mystical & magical (those are a stories for another day), but it's one that illustrates my next point so very well.

My 3rd job is waiting tables at a local pizza place, well one night I was all up in my feelings, very low vibration, tired and just plain worn out, in short, I didn't want to be there. As I was standing in the wait station just thinking how much I didn't want to be there but knew I had to be, I called out to spirit, please just help me make it through this shift. Then out of nowhere the grill cook, started belting out a horrible rendition of Simple Man. Let me take a minute to explain the significance of this particular song. I always have been a granddaddy’s girl. SHHH, don't tell anyone but I was his favorite. I even had the blessing of being there holding his hand, and one of the last 2 people he looked at when spirit came for him. As a result of this it has made our relationship closer and stronger since he has transitioned into spirit. (Again another story for another day),

Although granddaddy was always a quiet man and a man of little words, you could always feel his wisdom and love radiating from him to those he loved. Simple Man was his song, one that described him so well and a song we used at his funeral to honor him, so it has now become a sign for me that he is near. In that moment of the cook belting out granddaddy's song it instantly lifted me to where I needed to be. When he stopped singing it was just after the verse “ all that you need is in your soul and you can do this oh baby if you try”. I knew in that moment my granddaddy was there reminding me I had everything I needed and that could do this, I just wasn't trying.

Many of us are flashlights to others and don't even realize it. Our actions, thoughts, conversations, and the way we choose to love and live our lives brings our truth out for others to see. Many of you reading this today have acted as physical flashlights, providing healing, kind words (even though you don't always know something is going down), messages from spirit, or just a simple smile,hello or hug. In short, be kind, be loving, and be open to shining your light to all you come into contact with. You never know how much of a small thing can impact another.

As for our situation it didn’t end as we expected, but the light is shining brighter each day and is no longer so dark, and funny enough I find myself being grateful & thankful to spirit for the lessons that have been and the ones that are still being taught. Thankful for the stronger connection, thankful for the strength I have found in myself, and thankful for the bigger plan that is manifesting. Truth & Light always prevails, the darkness is just a way of showing us to the light, teaching us valuable lessons and putting us on the right path as we go forth. Think of a flashlight, you don't see the light from it until the lights go out, then it shines.

And Just as a reminder of our scripture this morning, Roman's 8:28 states“And we know that all things work together to those who love God, Who are called according to his purpose. So when you find yourself in the dark ,and not sure if you can go on, or in times of trial. I hope you remember these words. Place your faith in your flashlights they will light the way, and that my friends is the essence of faith knowing we don't walk alone, we are called for a higher purpose and that no matter what happens in our journeys, Dear One, the sun will shine again, and everything will be alright."

Love, Alice