Purpose in Life – Are We There Yet?

By Jackie Trottmann
Finding Purpose in Life - Are We There Yet?

Sometimes we need to pause and admire how far we have come in finding purpose in life.

 

Finding purpose in life is like taking a road trip.  Have you ever taken a long road trip as a child or with young children? The line always comes up after a while on the journey – Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? It usually comes in multiple repetitions too!

 

Part of the reason behind this question is pure enthusiasm and anticipation. The destination may be to a new place where we’ve read and heard how wonderful it is, but we’ve never been there. We’re so excited that we want to get there now!

 

The other part of the reason behind the question is due to impatience. How come we’re not there yet? How long will it take us to finally get there, already? It’s taking too long to get there!

 

Our lives are a journey. If we want to be fulfilled, if we want our hearts and souls to sing, we must find, “there“. There means reaching our full purpose and potential. There is different for each of us. Some people will find their joy and calling in raising children, being a teacher, selling insurance, creating art or music or being a CEO.

 

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Help for Anxiety – Try this Breathing Meditation Technique

By Jackie Trottmann

 

If anxiety and stress are causing you to be bent out of shape, maybe it’s time you discovered the transforming power of meditation. To meditate simply means to think, to intend or plan.

 

When we focus our thinking on problems, scarcity, and the anxiety that we feel, our minds are filled with stress. We get stuck and can’t move forward to live the life that our Creator intended us to live. We are bent out of shape, like our pretzel friends.

 

Is Anxiety Making you be Bent out of Shape? Try this Breathing Meditation

Is Anxiety Making you be Bent out of Shape? Try this Breathing Meditation

 

If you are feeling stressed right now, stop for a moment and use the following meditation technique focusing on breathing. Focusing on your breathing will bring you into the present moment and clear anxious thoughts.

 

Breathing Meditation Technique to Help Anxiety

  • Free yourself from distractions
  • Find a chair where you can sit up straight
  • Close your eyes
  • Take in a deep breath through your nose and mentally count to 10 as you inhale. Hold just briefly and exhale slowly through your mouth to a count of 10 – Pause after each breath
  • Repeat this five times
  • Sit quietly for a moment before returning to your day

 

It is easy to allow the stressors of life to consume us. Our culture is filled with noise. If we have allowed other thoughts and voices to control us, we have conditioned our minds to become anxious and fearful.

 

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A Prayer for Mothers

By Jackie Trottmann
Mother and Daughter Eskimo Kiss Mother Feeding Baby Grandmother With Grand Daughter

Dear God,

We thank you for the gift of life.

We thank you for our own life and for the gift of our children.

We thank you for the miracle of birth, whether we carried a child in our wombs or a child was carried to us to call our own.

We thank you for this precious gift.

We thank you for the gift of instincts to care for our children with the gentleness of a lamb and to protect them with the ferocity of a lion.

We thank you for our mothers who provided us with the love and values we needed.

 

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Inspirational Bible Verses for May

By Jackie Trottmann

1 John 1:5 God is Light, in Him is no Darkness at All

 

The following are inspirational Bible verses for you to meditate on during the month of May.

 

As spring moves into summer, we enjoy more light each day. It’s hard to see anything in the dark. It’s hard to know where to walk in the dark. God’s light lights our path.

 

“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” – James 1:17

 

There are many references in the Bible regarding light. 1 John 1:5 states,

 

“God is light; in him is no darkness as all.”

 

This verse assures us of two things – we can see clearly that every perfect gift comes from God because He is light, and – God never changes.

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The Best Book on Awareness that Can Change Your Life

By Jackie Trottmann

The Best Book on Awareness

 

Every now and then a book comes along that changes your life. Awareness, by Anthony DeMello, was that book for me.  In Awareness, he lays out the truth about waking people up to the reality of their greatness. When the awareness light shines on us, we can fully wake up.

 

Anthony gives us the tools to reverse the conditioning that society, culture, our friends and family have had on our behavior. In order to live our best lives, we must wake up to the truth and step into the people that God intended us to be.

 

Anthony DeMello was a Jesuit priest known throughout the world for his writings and spiritual conferences. He died suddenly in 1987. Charles Osgood, long-time broadcaster on CBS radio and television sums up this book as, “This is your wake up call.”  I would agree.

     Purchase Awareness Now

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How are you Living your Life in the Dash?

By Jackie Trottmann

How are you living your life?

 

We all start out with a birthday, have a dash in the middle and finish with an end date. How are you living your life in the dash?

 

My best friend’s father just passed away after a painful period where Alzheimer’s had taken its final toll. I may have met my friend’s father briefly at some point, during our thirty plus year friendship, but I didn’t know him.

 

I attended his memorial service and one by one members of his family and close friends shared their fondest memories. By society’s standards, Howard was just an ordinary guy. But listening to the love felt for him was quite the opposite. Howie, as he was affectionately called, was quite extra-ordinary. Continue reading →

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What is Spiritual Direction and How to Find a Spiritual Director

By Jackie Trottmann

What is Spiritual Direction and How to Choose a Spiritual DirectorWhat is spiritual direction and what is a spiritual director? I had never heard these terms before until a few years ago. My friend Karen and I share the same philosophy that if we hear about something multiple times in a week, whether it’s a recommended book, movie or advice, that we need to pay attention.  Well, this spiritual direction and spiritual director topic popped up everywhere!

One of my friends was retiring. He held an executive position within the Presbyterian Church. At a reception I asked him what he would be doing once he retired and he told me that he wanted to spend more time as a spiritual director. I asked him what that meant and he explained what spiritual direction was, but the room was noisy and we were forced to cut the conversation short to get to choir practice. I didn’t quite grasp the meaning and quite frankly, forgot about it.

That weekend Robert and I took a trip to Wisconsin to visit friends of ours.  I showed them my website and what I was doing and Dave said, “You need a spiritual director.” Continue reading →

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What Bible Verse Summed Up Last Year for You and What Verse Do You Claim for the New Year?

By Jackie Trottmann

Those Who Hope on the Lord Will Soar Like Wings on EaglesA spiritual mentor of mine asked me what Bible verse summed up the year for me. He also asked me what verse I would hold onto for the New Year. I thought that was an interesting question and wanted you to think about what Bible verse comes to mind for you. Immediately, a verse, rather, two connected verses summed up the year for me.

Luke Chapter 12, verses 27 and 28 – “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet, I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow, is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!”

God has provided for me and my family in so many ways this past year. Yet, in the moment, I constantly worried. How would we pay our bills? Where would the next job come from? How would we make ends meet? God provided month in and month out. My worry caused me only unneeded, self-induced suffering.

So, what is my verse for the New Year? Continue reading →

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God’s Blessing from a Salvation Army Angel

By Jackie Trottmann

Blessing from A Salvation Army Angel

There is no doubt that God speaks to us through messengers, or, as I like to call them, earthly angels. One angel spoke to me last Saturday. She was disguised as a Salvation Army volunteer.

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Contemplative Practices – How to Connect to God through Mindless Activities

By Jackie Trottmann

Our connecting with God and practicing ways to be contemplative aren’t limited to prayer, meditation and writing. While I promote prayer, meditation and journaling as powerful tools, there are many simple ways to feel the love and presence of God every day.  By incorporating mindfulness of the presence of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or all three, through simple acts we perform, we can bring a sense of peace, wholeness and clarity into our daily living. What do I mean?

Have you ever stopped to think of simple things you do – Preparing a meal, walking your dog, painting, gardening, cleaning your house or apartment, sitting in the presence of a loved one and not speaking, fishing – almost any kind of hobby?  All of these activities lend themselves to putting your whole heart into it. We may even call these activities “mindless”. What these actions represent are contemplative practices.

I put house cleaning on the list because it seems so odd, right?  Continue reading →

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Bible Verses for Your Meditation This Week
Monday

May 14, 2012

But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Romans 8:25
Tuesday
May 15, 2012

And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 3:17-18
Wednesday
May 16, 2012

Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
2 Corinthians 13:11
Thursday
May 17, 2012
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
Hebrews 12:1
Friday
May 18, 2012

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
James 4:8
Saturday
May 19, 2012
For the Lord takes delight in his people. Psalm149:4
Sunday
May 20, 2012

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
Isaiah 43:18
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