Military Angel Of Protection - Angel Rubber Stamp

*July 2014 - Pamela's stamp company closed*  

Last year I offered my Angel of Protection drawing
to a rubber stamp
designer Pamela.
(She's from Ohio too)

She tweaked the image just a
bit,
but you can still tell it's my design.

I am really thrilled about
this, as it
will mean more exposure for the angel
and soldier. I am not
making any sort of
profit on this, that was not my intent.
Pamela is
sending me a stamp sheet.

Please share this info with anyone you
know
who is a rubber stamper who might be
interested.

This is NOT only a holiday stamp, it can be used
all through the year. 

The Red
Rubber sheet, Untrimmed, Unmounted.
There is lots of info on the web about mounting stamps
and Pamela has info on her site too.


Angel
Stamp Set - Pamela's site
http://tinyurl.com/28kubq


Link
to My Drawing
http://tinyurl.com/mxc9o


From
Pamela's web site:
Firecracker Designs By Pamela

This wonderful angel
was inspired by a sketch sent to me by
Air Force Mom Deb! I loved her idea so
much, I turned it into
this stamp plate, versatile enough for military cards
at any
time of the year!! Or use the Christmas trees in 3 sizes as
accents
on your Christmas Cards too!! Thanks again,
Deb for such a great
Angel image to work with!

After reading several heart breaking emails from/about
military
families, and the constant sacrifices they make for our country,
and because
I grew up an Army Brat...I've decided to LEAVE
the price of this set at 20%
off permanently.
It's my small way of saying THANK YOU.

Red
Rubber sheet, Untrimmed, Unmounted, 4.5 x 5.25


Link to gallery of Stamped Angel pictures


Pamela's Blog


http://www.pamelasgallery.com/


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The Seven Whispers: A Spiritual Practice for Times Like These

The Seven Whispers: A Spiritual Practice for Times Like These

by Christina Baldwin 

    

"If
every day the Divine is attempting to communicate its larger wisdom, then one
of the most important things we can do is find a way to listen to spirit.

Reciting these seven whispers is
a very simple practice.

It doesn’t require physical training or stamina.

We don’t have to travel to exotic and holy sites.

We don’t even have to get out of bed.

This is the practice — recite and see what happens.

Call and see what responds.

Notice how help comes."

 

The Seven Whispers

 

Maintain peace of mind

Move at the pace of guidance

Practice certainty of purpose

Surrender to Surprise

Ask for what you need and offer what you can

Love the folks in front of you

Return to the world

I had the above words saved in a document on my computer.   
Today I went to Amazon and ordered the book.     The description
says the book follows the above Whispers in full chapters.

What a simple, yet very powerful message.

Illusions ~ The Adventures Of A Reluctant Messiah - Quote 2

Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull  came out in 1977 with
Illusions ~ The Adventures Of A Reluctant Messiah.

Snipped the following from an Amazon.com editorial...

"Richard Bach takes to the air to discover the ageless truths that give
our souls wings: that people don't need airplanes to soar...that even
the darkest clouds have meaning once we lift ourselves above them...
and that messiahs can be found in the unlikeliest places--like hay
fields, one-traffic-light midwestern towns, and most of all, deep
within ourselves."

The 192 page paper back edition opens with this line...

"There was a Master come unto the earth, born in the holy land of Indiana,
raised in the mystical hills east of Fort Wayne...."

What I am planning on doing is blogging, in no particular order,
a few quotes every now and then from the book ....

'Imagine the universe beautiful and just and perfect,

the handbook said to me once. 

Then be sure of one thing: 

the....       Is has imagined it quite a bit better than you have."

Stephen Hopson - Amazing Person !

First off........    Jump over to YouTube and watch this
2 minute video of Stephen.   :)      

YEAH........... go NOW and then come back.    

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuqlVivegXg






Stephen J. Hopson ~ 'Turn Adversity Into A
University

 

Stephen, deaf since birth, has gone where no deaf man had ever gone
before. 

Stephen the pilot made aviation history on February 24, 2006 when

the FAA gave Hopson an instrument rating.
His instrument rating requires
that he flies with a qualified copilot
to handle the radios for
him.

 

Hopson left a very successful Wall Street career to follow his
inner
voice and passion of becoming an inspirational speaker and author. 

 

He has a successful and interactive blog site named: Adversity
University.
http://www.adversityuniversityblog.com/

 

I met Stephen at Phil - MAKE IT GREAT - Gerbyshak's blog.
Stephen had written a guest post about the value of sending snail mail
Thank you
notes.  I am a HUGE fan of snail mail myself and in ending the
comment, I
asked him for his mailing address.   It turned out we live in
the very same
county in Ohio.   What a pleasant shock.

 

To explain Stephen, I've grabbed a little bit from his own web
site.
I believe you can FEEL his enthusiasm and ZEST from his own
words.

 

Stephen's life example encourages me everyday to be thankful and

grateful for my own hearing.  His living beyond what might hold
someone
else back, is just pure inspiration. !!!

 

(from his web site)

 

Imagine with Stephen. . .

 

Let’s go on a little trip, if you will.
Open the stairwell to your
imagination for a moment.

 

Imagine…think in your mind what it would be like in your life to

never heard a sound…any sound. You’re completely deaf and have

been since birth. You’ve never heard a baby’s cry, a bird chirp, an

airplane’s roar or worst yet, your mother’s reassuring words of
comfort in

a time of pain, need or sorrow. You are in effect, virtually alone

in a world of your own.

 

Now go deeper in your imagination. If you’ve never heard a sound,

that also means you’ve never heard a word articulated. Think about

that for a second. If you’ve never heard a word articulated, how
would

you know or better yet, how would you even learn how to

pronounce a word…any word?

 

How would you distinguish between similar sounding words that were

spelled the same or slightly different? For example, “The solider
decided

to desert his dessert in the desert”; “They were too close to the
door to

close it”; “Upon seeing a tear in the painting, I shed a
tear.”

 

Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Do you think a totally deaf person

could do it? Do you think you could master the language if

you were deaf yourself?

 

Stephen Hopson was born completely deaf. He’s never in his life

heard a grunt, a groan or a peep. Yet he not only mastered the
English

language and become an accomplished professional
speaker but he’s

also been a successful Wall Street stockbroker and recently made

aviation history by becoming the first deaf person ever to earn an
instrument
rating, a rating that actually requires hearing – something
so-called experts

considered would never happen in a million years. Stephen proved
them wrong.

 

If Stephen can master the spoken language and achieve the
impossible,

what’s stopping you from achieving your goals? Goals that don’t
require

nearly the work, the effort, the time and the discouragement that
he’s encountered?

 

ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE. You just have to set your goals and they must
be high.

Donald Trump thinks in multiple BILLIONS not just enough to pay

next month’s rent. You have to develop a plan, muster your
resources and

then most importantly, take action.

 

Stephen is not here to tell you what to do. As a motivational
speaker

and author, he shows you, no better than that, he gives you a
roadmap…

that will not only get you started in demolishing the obstacles
that you are

holding back but help you accomplish your dreams, your goals and
your aspirations.

 

But wait, there’s more…much more. The question isn’t whether the

content of his speeches works. There’s no question that it does.

He’s living proof. The real question is, Are you going to work what
he

shares with you from the platform?

 

When you hire Stephen as keynote/meeting speaker, your audience

will not only overcome the demons, obstacles, and stumbling blocks
that
are holding them back from achieving their goals, they will also be
inspired
and motivated to take action. They will begin to maximize the

God-given talents they’ve been blessed with and start capitalizing
on the
wonderful and abundant rewards that are lying in wait for them to
claim!

http://www.sjhopson.com/

 

 

Stephen has entered a video contest that is taking place at the

BeTheNextBestSellingAuthor.com website.

 

Stephen chose his video on his most life changing moment. 

 

For this contest, they are picking 3 winners.
Two will be chosen
outright and a 3rd will be from
the most views on YouTube.   

I believe that Stephen's entry will be chosen outright,
but just in case..........   The most viewed would help too. 

 

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW and
it counts as a view. 
Stephen's video is 2 minutes long.

 

Most Life Changing Moment That Led to a Dream Coming True

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuqlVivegXg

A Man Dying Shares HOW TO LIVE ~ AMAZING

This morning, my dear friend Carey sent me a link to this video....
~ THANK YOU - THANK YOU Carey ~

In her words.......

"Very humbling"


I say - absolutely AMAZING. !!!!!!!!!!!

From the Carnegie Mellon Web site, I snagged the following description:

"Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer,
gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy
Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch
talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve
their own career and personal goals."

This is a comment a viewer left on the YouTube site after viewing Randy....
I could not have said it better, that is way I am quoting this viewer....

"Have you ever met someone who's eyes sparkled? When they smiled their entire
faces lit up and a twinkle appears in their eyes. I have always believed people
like that are Angels. Beings that walk amongst us, blending in and living life
among us. Randy is an Angel. He is that special being that walks among us. And I
truly believe this, when he is gone, there will be a twinkle in his kids eyes
that his wife will see and this will be her realization that he is still with
them."

The link below will take you to an 11 minute video.  On my site here, I
have popped in the longer 70 some minute version.    I know that not everyone
has 70 minutes to sit and watch, but PLEASE consider bookmarking this
and come back to the long version later on.

Link to Video of Randy reprising his 'Last Lecture' on the Oprah show.

Randy's September 2007 - Last Lecture - Longer Version.

 

This link will take you to a PDF  transcript of the lecture.   
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/Randy/pauschlastlecturetranscript.pdf

Randy Pausch's Web Site
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

Absolutely AMAZING. !!!!!!!!!!!

The Garden Of Life

'To know someone here or there with
whom you can feel there is understanding
in spite of distances or thoughts expressed,
that can make life a garden.'
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
(1749-1832)


'Just remember, every now and then an ass
might wander into your garden.
That's ok too..... just take it in stride'
(Deb Estep)

A Gem From My 11 Year Old Kevin

Kevin has the day off today due to teacher's meetings
and he just turned to me and said.......

"Mom, you have to pay taxes when you work, right?"

I said..........  "Yes"

Then he said...............

"You and Dad will be paying my taxes, right?"

I said....................

"NO"....  "When you work they take the taxes out of your pay"

He said...........

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh"

Blessing Shared ~ #1

A few days ago I had written a post,  May You Be Blessed.

I was speaking about Kate, who started a Blessing Movement. 

On Saturday, Kevin had a Saturday detention.   Kev is in 5th grade and  unfortunately he got into some trouble at school.   He left gym class without the teacher's permission and he also kicked a classmate in the ankle.   He tells me that he barely touched her foot.   There was another kid who saw this, but 'did not want to get involved' in telling what he saw.   As I discussed with Kevin, the rules of school are that you keep your hands and feet to yourself, so he broke the rules there and also leaving the classroom was breaking the rules.   The assistant principal called me, and Kevin was going to have a 2 hour after school detention.   This was the 2nd time he had gotten in trouble, and I asked the Mr H. IF there was stiffer consequence.    That turned into a 4 hour Saturday detention where the students are to have work, or reading material as they sit quietly in the class.   From 8am until 12.    Hopefully he will be more inclined to follow the rules.

On Saturday morning, I was thinking, I wonder who has the nearly thankless job of sitting in a classroom for 4 hours with these kids.    I then said a prayer blessing that person.

At 8, I walked Kevin into the classroom to sign him in and leave an ER contact number.   I also quietly explained to the teacher, Mrs A.,  that due to a medical condition, he might not be able to make the 4 hours with only one bathroom break.    I am guessing that Mrs A. is maybe in her very early 30's.    She had a very caring and serene way about her.   Her eyes really spoke with me.   I thanked her and left.   

After getting home, I got to thinking this would be a good time to pass out my first 'Bless You' card.    http://www.bettertobless.com/BlessingCards.pdf    This link will take you to a PDF printable page of Bless You cards.    I did write out the web link on the backside of the card, because it did not print out so clearly.      I wrote a short note to the teacher explaining how I had said a prayer for her even before I met her, and thanking her for what she does.

At noon, when I went to pick up Kevin, I handed her the note and card in an envelope.    Explaining that it was a note I wrote her today.   I then went down a hall to look for a friend I had seen earlier.   I saw Mrs A as we were walking out the door, she said to me......  'Thank you so very much for the beautiful note'.   She went on to say .... "Kevin drew me a picture today".

On the way home, we discussed his time in the detention.   Of course he does not know that the Saturday detention was more Mom's idea than the assistant principal, but that's okay for now.   He also told me he was the only one to give Mrs A a picture, and he drew her a flower. 

Kevin is a good and caring kid.   His actions today showed that.   :)

I have a little hesitation sharing entries under my Grow a Kindness Garden category, because it's NOT meant to be...  look at what I am doing, it's meant to be .... see what I am doing and please join me. !    I am grateful to Kate for starting the Bless You movement.   

Can you imagine how a stranger's day could be changed by passing out these Bless You cards to them ?    IF you do follow me on this path, I hope you will check back and let me know.... and might I add.............   


BLESS  YOU ~ Dear Reader





 

Why He Blogs ? - (He sure has some 'HOODSPA')

Slade Roberson of Shift Your Spirits shares ......
Why He Blogs.   

OKAY..... so after a Google check I found out it was ......Chutzpah

Please..... take just a moment to laugh WITH ME.  Hoodspa.
I have a hard enough time spelling English, let alone the Jewish
language. !   LOL - LOL  A couple of more giggles there.

     one for Debbie's Mom and me ~ wink 

Chutzpah (balls) is exactly what Slade has in order to
share the reason he blogs is because Ascended
Masters told him to.    And he also adds this.....
" I blog in service to Ascended Master Mother Mary."

You just have to read Slade's site for yourself to embrace
his open and very authentic writing style.   He shares what he is
and what he does....... and encourages ALL to walk this path of
enlightenment right along side of him.

This post is a must read into the world of Slade.   Like opening up
a clock to see where that tick tick is coming from. !!!!

Why He Blogs................

http://sladeroberson.com/writing/why-i-blog-big-mission-for-an-ugly-little-word.html

Love Is All There Is ~ Dedicated to Vitor

Vitor over at Fractal Forest made a post in January.  ~Peace~

Inspired by his message and also his fractal art - Peace, I've
created this painting today.


As I shared to Vitor in a comment.   It's been over 32 years since
high school art class that I've done anything close to abstract art.   

I have had black paper for sometime, but had yet

to do any paintings with it.  Today I created this acrylic painting.
Usually I would not post 2 messages in the same day, but
I just had to share this and thank Vitor on my site for the
inspiration.

To the connectivity and love we all share….

Love Is All There Is

My January Cemetery Trip And Another Message

On the Morning of January 17th of this year, I had not planned on making
a trip to the cemetery where Jimmy's Grandmother, and my dear friend
Antoinette's husband Larry is buried, but I had a ~nudge~ to GET THERE. 

The weather was in the 20's and a small amount of snow was on the ground.

I did not think about the snow and wonder IF it was covering the grave stones.
Looking back, I am glad it did not cross my mind, I might have decided not to
go thinking I could not locate the grave of Jimmy's Grandmother.
The reason I thought that Larry and Grandma J might be close to one another
was that they had passed less than 6 months of each other in 2006.

As I got into my car, I had the nudge to turn the radio on.   This was more than just my routine of always turning on the radio, I felt there would be a message in a song.    During the drive to the cemetery, I kept flipping radio stations. I was about 2 minutes from the cemetery when I flipped to a channel that was playing the song..........'How Far Is Heaven?" by the Lost Lonely Boys !!!

THAT WAS IT.......... that was the song I was meant to hear.  :))

 

All Saints Cemetery is set on a beautiful piece of property.   There are softly rolling hills and a small pond.    Upon turning in the driveway, I was blasted with
a message......  The Pond - The Pond - The Pond.    There are graves around the
pond, and for a second I thought about stopping there to look around.   With the
snow covering, I decided to head right to Larry's grave.    I parked my car, closed
the door and took 2 steps.   I then decided to turn back and grab my camera.
I brought the camera to snap some shots of Grandma J's grave to send to Jimmy.

Larry died in November of 2006.    The day of his burial was a sunny, crisply cool November day.   Antoinette and Larry had their 25th wedding anniversary in October of 2006.   Although their union was not blessed with children, they had a wonderful blessed marriage.    That November day, the priest was at the head of the grave saying prayers.    Near the end of the grave service, a huge flock of Canadian Geese flew overhead.   You could softly hear the honking as they approached, and then as they were right over head, the honking was so loud it drowned out the priest's voice, to the point where he had to stop talking.

A round of light laughter could be heard from the gathering of family and friends.
Larry was not Catholic, but Antoinette is.... looking back I've often thought it was
Larry's way of saying....... OKAY wrap it UP !!!!    It will always be a very fond memory
for all who were there that day.

Most of the grave stones are level with the ground, but there are thin wooden crosses on many of the graves.    As I walked the short distance to Larry's grave, I glanced down at this name on the stone, and then grabbed ahold of the corner of the wooden cross with my right hand.   

INSTANTLY.............. I felt this surge that rose up from the bottom of my feet.
It almost took my breath away and then I heard.........
"Antoinette needs to know EVERYTHING IS OKAY".  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I burst into tears and thought........  I will tell her. My mind was racing, but I thought Larry's message must have meant he was okay with Antoinette and a fella that she has been dating. 

Just then, I heard a faint sound of geese.   I instinctively I grabbed my camera
from my pocket.    Looking up, I saw geese flying in formation right towards me.
I started snapping right away.    I only had time to get 2 pictures, when the geese
flew directly overhead and then immediately off to my right.

AS IF I was not crying enough..... the geese just blew me away.   "OKAY LARRY, I'll be SURE and let her know". !!!!!!!!!!!!!!      'Thank You' .. 'Thank You'   I quietly thought.

I walked ahead to the next row where Antoinette's Mom and Dad are buried and
said a prayer.   I then started to walk around and  glance down at the grave stones
hopeful that I would locate Jimmy's Grandmother.   The wind was whipping over
the open area, and within a distance of 20 feet or so, I was not finding it.

OKAY.......... I need to go back to my car and call Jimmy. 

Thankfully, I was able to get through to Jimmy.   I let him know where I was.
He was SHOCKED to say the least that I was at All Saints Cemetery.   I said,
I had to go there for him, because he could not.   

Jimmy directed me back towards the entrance.   Again I had to pass by the pond, and felt such a HUGE feeling, but her grave was not near there.  He got me to a location and I parked my car.   He said 3 rows up, and a certain distance from the street.   He was guessing from only having been to the grave a few times.     I walked a distance of about 20 graves to my left and I spotted her name.........

"I see it Jimmy, I see it"  --- again I burst into tears.... AS did Jimmy.

I bent down and touched the corner.   I said to him, I am touching the corner
of her stone.    Through his tears Jimmy said.......... 'THANK YOU DEB"....
"THANK YOU DEB"..... I let him know I was taking some pictures. 
We talked about his Grandma for just a few minutes and he said to me....

"You know........... My Dad is buried there too...   He's across from the pond"

ZING --------- ZING.......... The Pond  The Pond.....   No WONDER I felt such a draw to that area.    He directed me to his Dad's grave too.   

Well, the day did not end right there.    Even though I felt such a huge peaceful
feeling, for Jimmy and also from having the message from Larry.

I got home, uploaded the photos sent an email of them to Antoinette and
then called her at work.    I said......... Ann, I was at the cemetery today.
She said........ "Larry's grave?"   And I said yes............   She said....
"Ohhhhhhhh Deb, and then she burst into tears".   

I said....... 'Ohhh honey, let me tell you what happened at the cemetery I told her the story of his message.........

"Antoinette needs to know EVERYTHING IS OKAY"

Through on going tears she told me that just that morning, she had heard back from the  loan department of the bank she works at.   She was attempting to take out a home  equity loan to redo her basement.   They contacted her to say there was a snag.   Larry's name was still on the title.    They faxed her a copy of the title.   She told me looking at the title a feeling of great sadness came over her.   

Ohhhhhhhhhh MY...... did Larry's message to her EVER take on a new meaning.
He was coming through to let her know, going ahead and doing what she had
to do, (removing his name from the title) was OKAY. 

IF you've made it all the way down here........... Thanks for sticking around and reading. 

I would like to share some pictures from that day.........

The Pond

Walking Away From Jimmy's Dad's Grave

The Geese - Close up shot  ~ 8 of them for 2008  !!!

The same shot of the geese, but a little wider

I share these message to relate....   ~ hope ~
A knowing that we can hear from those who are crossed over.
They are with us, and love never dies.