Families at Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley

Inspired

2012-01-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

It seemed so obvious to me to go to the same place I did yesterday to find my inspiration today. It was such a beautiful experience yesterday. I put everything in place, set it in motion and sat back ready for "it" to happen.

It only took a few minutes as I observed myself saying "okay, where is the inspiration?" to see that inspiration does not happen like that. Inspiration is something that occurs when I am sparked by awareness, love, creativity, beauty or any multitude of experiences that connect me with the Divine. Not a new idea, but definitely a greater understanding and awareness of the truth. So my inspiration for the day is a simple reminder that inspiration will find me and happen through me. I cannot conjure it up by recreating even the most inspired moments. Inspiration is Spirit expressing through my life and I am more excited than ever to see it, feel it, experience it every day and in all kinds of situations. Yahoo! My life has expanded even further.

Where are you being inspired?

New Year, New Day, New Inspiration!

2012-01-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

It's a brand new baby day as Mary Manin Morrissey likes to say. And, right now, it is a brand new baby year and all kinds of resolutions are being made.

What is your New Year (brand new baby new year) resolution? Mine is to find inspiration wherever I am. I am a firm believer that we find what we are looking for and I have many demonstrations of just that - some "good" and some great! I have found inspiration in all of the expected places - inspirational music, church, nature, meaningful conversations with friends, etc. My personal challenge in finding inspiration wherever I am is to see the Divine in all life. So, finding inspiration in the mundane and ordinary tasks of work, in the t.v. drama that I like to watch, in listening to the chatter of a friend. Paying my bills and even in doing my housework which I lovingly refer to as home care.

I believe that God is expressing through All Life. Therefore everything is God in action. Yes, that is going to be a stretch at times. I accept the challenge. It is more than seeing the good or knowing that there is a silver lining. I am looking for, anticipating and expecting to be inspired by the presence of God in everything I do and in every place I find myself. Let the Inspiration begin!

Giving Thanks

2011-11-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

The month of Gratitude is here! It is traditional that we celebrate gratitude during the month of November. I love it because we are in alignment with the schools, the media and most faiths. Gratitude is one of those blurred lines that have become evidence of unity rather than separation. Giving thanks is a powerful action and I remind us to not get lost in the repetitiveness of it but to remain and return to the power of our thoughts and words as we give thanks for the good in our lives.

How can you and your family make the gratitude month meaningful? Here are a few of my suggestions for cultivating gratitude:

Have a family gratitude journal and add to it every morning.
Give thanks for your meal before enjoying it.
Thank each member of your family for something every day.
Thank yourself for something every day.
Make a list of 100 things you are grateful for.
Give thanks in advance for something you desire.

Add to the list and share your ideas. Repeat as often as you think about it and remember to have fun!

In Our daily lives we must see that it is not the Happiness that makes us Grateful, but the Gratefulness that makes us Happy. –Albert Clarke

“It is a happy talent to know how to play." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

2011-08-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

It is August; the end of summer and the theme at our center is playfulness!

Our youth classes this month are inspired by Dr. Carolyn Webster-Stratton (Professor of Family and Child Nursing and Director of the Parenting Clinic at the University of Washington. She tells us “For the child, play is not frivolous – it is an opportunity for growth and development in almost every area. But it takes practice for children to become competent, creative, and self-confident in their play. Children need free play at home and at school. Play is essential for the cognitive, physical, and emotional well-being of children and youth."

Yes, we will be playing in youth church this month and yes it will be powerful, relevant and uplifting! I look forward to playing with you and your children!

Awakening to Freedom

2011-07-06T16:10:00.000-07:00

This month the theme in our youth center is Freedom. Come be a part of something powerful and fun join us on Sundays at the Center. I look forward to seeing you!

Youth Lesson Theme: Awakening to Freedom

7/3 Celebrating Freedom!

7/10 Freedom Skill Building

7/17 Free to be Me!

7/24 The Road to Freedom

7/31 Freedom and Respect

Science of Mind: “Freedom of will means the ability to do, say and think as one wishes; to express life as one personally desires...” Science of Mind textbook Page 108.3

The Science of Mind Textbook:

Chapter 1 pages 31-32.2

Chapter 6 pages 106-111.3

This month, we are giving (or deepening), our awareness and appreciation for freedom. Freedom to choose our thoughts is the greatest freedom of all. No one else can think your thoughts for you. Therefore No One else has dominion over your experience. If we are not consciously choosing our thoughts (and no one does 100% of the time) then we are in default, auto response, we are at the effect of our conditions or circumstances subject to race consciousness and the people we are listening to. According to Stephen Covey “Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.”

Just because we are the thinker of our thought and we are inner-dependent does not give us the right to disrespect another person, idea or activity. Freedom is our birthright and it comes with a responsibility to use It for good.

Activities like the Freedom Dance, Team Building Games, Marshmallow River and more make these lessons unforgettable fun!

Summer Vacation!

2011-06-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

Summer Vacation! While the kids are thrilled to be out of school, free of homework, late nights and early mornings they might be missing their friends and the social aspects of school. So how do we make the most of summer vacation? Here are some ideas to consider, and please, add your own comments.

10 Tips for a Magnificent Summer Vacation

Know what you want! What kind of summer vacation do you want to have? Are you looking for peace-filled days that rejuvenate your being? Do you want an adventure filled summer? Or, is this summer about connecting with family and visiting as many relatives as possible? Once you identify your intention start defining: What would that look like, feel like, what activities would you be sure to include, what people are part of that intention. How will you know at the end of summer if you had the summer that you wanted?

Find out what the other members of your family want and negotiate so that everyone gets to have some of what they want. This is especially useful if you have kids ranging in age and interests. Have a summer planning event and ask each family member who is old enough to have a voice in the summer plans. This is a great family practice and your kids (and spouse) will appreciate the opportunity to be heard. Allow everyone to say what quality they want first i.e. peaceful, restful, adventure, exploring, connection with nature, friends, family, etc.
SpiritStorm (brainstorm) activities that will fulfill the intention. Everyone can participate in a fun spirit-storming session. Sometimes the best ideas come from the least likely source. When everyone knows they are going to get to do something on their list it is easier to support their siblings in finding creative ways to fulfill their ideal summer vacation.
Be Flexible! Allow spontaneous opportunities and invitations to be accepted. Once the intention is set the universe will conspire to bring all sorts of choices to you for consideration.
Be Clear! Sometimes saying no to one thing is a huge yes to something else. If you are considering saying no, pay attention to what and who you are saying yes to and be honest about what you are saying no to.
Allow down time. Even for the most active and adventurous kid, down time is essential. When we schedule every moment of every day we do not have time to reflect on how we are feeling. In order to be true to ourselves we must know ourselves and in order to know ourselves we must spend time with ourselves.
Maintain a family summer gratitude practice. Each night or at an agreed upon time each day give thanks for your good. Individually and as a family say out loud and record it in a special summer journal what you are grateful for. Even if your family (or you) resist at first this is a powerful practice and will bring you closer together.
Smile often. Smiling is one of the greatest things we can do to shift our experience, to express gratitude, love friendship, support… It is just a fabulous gift to Life and that means to us as well as others. Smile, you are loved!
Be a receiver! Allow your kids, neighbors, friends, and family to give to you too. If you find yourself doing, doing, doing for the others remember your own summer intention and plan something for you. This might require or involve asking for help. Do it! You will be amazed at the support you will receive. If you are not receiving the support from the person you are asking, ask someone else!
Expect the best. Maintain an attitude of expecting and accepting the best summer ever! Attitude is everything as we like to tell our kids. Remember that summer vacation is nine weeks of all sorts of experiences, all sorts of good. Expect it, accept it and claim it. It is yours to enjoy!

While these are just a few tips for a fabulous summer vacation there are others like being present, declaring your home a worry free, complaint free zone, and taking a vacation by yourself! Joining our summer camp programs is a great way to stay connected to your spiritual community and have some fun social activities.

Finding Spirit Everywhere

2011-04-14T14:06:00.000-07:00

"There is not a spot where God is not” We tell this to our children and ourselves but do we practice this truth? For me it is true. I can look around me and know that everyone and everything is a part of that Infinite Intelligence that I call God. And, like everyone else I know, sometimes, I forget. Yes, I forget that the driver on the freeway who just cut me off is having her own bad day and if she was thinking about it she would not have cut me off. BECAUSE I do believe that we all ultimately want to do “good”, be kind, be generous and live in the blissful awareness that life is good. Sounds Pollyanna doesn’t it? And yet, doesn’t your day go better if you can meet the comments, cut-offs, insults, the “no” with a smile and a willingness to know that it is all God – all Good!? I’m not saying take everything and just accept it, but be willing to know that there is a greater idea back of every seeming mistake, accident, and wrong doing. If there really is not a spot where God is not, that means that every activity, every relationship, encounter, and conversation (friendly or not) is where Spirit resides. I challenge us: me, and you, to find Spirit hidden in those moments of fear, doubt and anger. I trust it is there to be seen, for there really is not a spot where God is not!

Discipline

2011-04-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

It is the most requested topic in parenting classes. It brings the most frustration to both parents and children and it is possibly the most misunderstood of all the parenting mandates.

What is discipline and how can it be a benefit to a relationship?

Discipline as defined by Dictionary.com is a noun. And it means

training to act in accordance with rules; drill; military discipline
activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training; a daily stint a the typewriter is excellent discipline for a writer.
punishment inflicted by way of correcting and training.

Let us not fall into the old way of thinking that discipline is the answer to a behavior that does not meet the parent/teacher/adults picture.

If what you are wanting as a parent is for your boys to not wrestle, horse around and essentially beat each other “for fun”, or your daughter to resort to tears, or tantrums to get her way then ask yourself “What do I want?” and focus on that. What I really want is for my boys to love each other unconditionally, for their to be a loving connection between them. I want my daughter to know that who she is matters, who she is makes a difference just by being herself. Our boys might express unconditional love and trust by wrestling. As they challenge, they learn about who they are in a safe place with a loving sibling, an understanding parent. The journey is personal. We cannot, nor should we, determine someone else’s journey: the route or the vehicle. Our role as the parent, as the disciplinarian is to practice self-discipline, practice walking our talk. Practice speaking with respect to our family members. Practice in real life being the person that we want our children to learn from observing.

The gift of discipline is for us to embrace it as a personal practice. Self-discipline requires knowing what I want. I want to not yell at my children. So translated, I want to speak with and be spoken to with respect. My affirmation is I speak and am spoken to with respect and care.

“Self-discipline is twice as strong a predictor of school and career success as intelligence. And it's eroding in our kids. No is not just a word; it's a parenting strategy. By saying no when they need to, parents help their children learn skills of self discipline including self-reliance, respect, integrity, the ability to delay gratification, and a host of other crucial character traits. Although the importance of no should be obvious, too many children are not learning it because of powerful cultural messages that scream "More, Fast, Easy, and Fun." No. Why Kids-of All Ages-Need It and Ways Parents Can Say It David Walsh, Ph.D.

parenting essay

2011-04-05T15:44:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Bunny Hull recently asked me to contribute to her website so I thought that as I re-energize my own blog for parents I would share the article and a link to her amazing website http://dreamaworld.com/ and work. I share this with great love for all of the parents and children I have worked with over the years - especially my own!

As a parent of adult children ages 19 and 21 I have experienced the time of rebellion, questioned my effectiveness and skill at being a parent and I have experienced the unmatchable love of a parent for a child and experienced that love from my children. I have given my identity, my purpose and my self to being a parent and claimed my Self back again. Did I do it perfectly? Who knows? Was it worth it? Yes! Today, I find myself serving as mentor, teacher, friend and spiritual leader for children of all ages. There is a child in all of us to be nurtured, inspired and to learn from. It is my great joy to share the journey.

I like to focus my parenting classes and lessons on the parent rather than the child. There are many, many great books, programs and teachers to guide parents in using effective parenting tools with your child. My question is: “How is life for you as you “raise” these precious little people?” How is your life (as a parent) as your child mirrors your behavior, beliefs, attitudes and even habits back to you? Our children are our very best teacher because they give us the opportunity to look at ourselves, to experience how we are viewing the world and how we are participating in life! Sometimes that is a great big ugh! I do that, or a version of that? Really? And sometimes it is Yes! Life is beautiful and it shows!

Yes, our children are our greatest teacher and yet we have the very impressive task of raising them to be responsible, compassionate, contributing members of society. The life of a parent becomes a series of lessons in self reflection, self honesty and self responsibility. All practices that we model for our children and thus out of our own experience we teach.

What is this journey of life and parenthood but a time of self-discovery? As a parent, from that time (planned or a surprise), of finding out we will be a parent it is a time of immediate questions: what kind of parent will I be? How will my kid turn out? What preschool, public or private school, sports, college, career do I choose? What is best? And, how will I know?

There is one question that has served me well and that many parents have successfully utilized. It is the practice of being. When we ask ourselves: “how do I want to be” instead of “what do I want to do and how will I do it” we work from the inside out. Allowing the perfect action, the supportive words, the empowering response to be revealed. It is a practice to embrace and to become skilled at until it becomes a habit. Do I want to be suppressive? Do I want to be doubtful, do I want to judge? Will that empower me or my child? Will it harm or sustain our relationship? Do I want to be loving, kind, compassionate, a good listener, a sounding board…… Asking the being question might look like being creative before we step into our child’s room to wake them up for the fifth time that morning and singing, or describing a perfect day or telling them all the reasons we love them, or…... What if you know how you want to be before telling them no? No, they cannot go to the party after all because you have to work? If we can pause long enough to ask ourselves “how do I want to be” before responding to the rolling eyes, the turned back, or sarcastic attitude what will the relationship look like? Breathing and remembering our role as parent before looking at the report card that you already know is less than stellar and being the listener we might discover a challenge, a question, a fear that our child had not shared.

We want our children to be kind, be happy, be sincere, be themselves, be proud, be successful, and be the best they can be. Life is about being. How do you want to be as a parent? What will you model for your children? Life is lived from the inside out. When we know how we want to be the doing is revealed.

As a parent, I encourage you to be yourself. You know your answers, you know your challenges, and you know your strengths… I know who you are is more than enough!

August theme in youth church classes

2008-08-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

In August we are focusing on Honesty in our youth church classes. Being honest with oneself requires knowing the truth about oneself and then matching our words, thoughts and actions with that truth. When we are honest with ourselves we can expect and anticipate honesty in our lives. Our lessons in youth church this month will be explorations into the truth about who we are, what our unique expressions are and how we are all made from the same magnificent and infinite power!

New this year is our preteen summer day camp August 18-22. All preteens entering grades 4-7 are welcome to join us!

Service Project

2008-08-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to our 2008 Voices of God summer day camp - We collected 200 pounds of food for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County!!! Way to Go!!

July Theme

2008-07-03T00:07:00.000-07:00

Healing is our theme in July as we celebrate summer with day camp for our 5-11 year olds, preteen summer socials and more fun opportunities to connect. In exploring healing we will be utilizing the tool of affirmative prayer (Spiritual Mind Treatment) and connecting with Spirit and each other through spiritual practices that include surfing as meditation, music and the benefits of deep breathing. Recognizing that Love is the greatest power of all we will immerse ourselves in loving life and celebrating our wholeness. Our affirmation for the month is “I love life and life loves me.”

Preteen Summer Socials

2008-06-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

Preteen Summer Socials

Tuesday, July 8th San Clemente Beach

11:00 – 3:00 meet at the Pier

Bring water, sunscreen, food or $$ (Parents needed)

Tuesday, July 15th Ice Skating 2:15-4:45

Ice Palace in Aliso Viejo

$13.00 admission and skates

Bring snack bar money if desired

Tuesday, July 22nd 4PM – 8PM

B-B-Q, Movie and Swimming at Pattie’s

Bring swim suit, towel and $5 for dinner (Parents invited)

Tuesday, July 29th Wild Rivers 4:00 – 8:00

Evening session $17.98 admission

Drop off & pick up at the front Gate

NOTE: Pattie will NOT be at this event

This event subject to cancellation without appropriate adult supervision

Tuesday August 5th Salt Creek Beach

1:00 – 4:00

Bring water, sunscreen, & food or $$

Meet at the snack bar

Tuesday, August 12th Bowling 1:00 – 3:30

Saddleback Lanes, Mission Viejo

Bowling $5.00 p/p + snack bar$$

Summer Activities

2008-06-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

This year will mark our seventh annual Voices of God Summer Day Camp! We have 33 campers enrolled and are ready for a fabulous week of joyful connections with parent volunteers and teen helpers. This camp is for children ages 5-11 and happens every year the third week of July.

New this year, is our Voices of God Preteen Summer Day Camp. This camp is for 9-11 year olds and is being created now for the third week in August. Since we have added the preteen summer day camp the preteen summer socials will be rescheduled so check the calendar for updates!

April 30 2008

2008-04-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome friends to our wonderful world of blogging. It is my intention to make this a fun site for news, updates and ideas to support our families and our spiritual community.

Here you will find web links, recommended reading, music and more. Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Bunny Hull the fantastic musician/author who recorded A Child's Spirit that you often hear playing in our youth church classes. Bunny has recently published four children's books that we are now carrying in our bookstore (Inspirations) and will be including in future Sunday Lessons. I am delighted to have made Bunny's acquaintance and look forward to having her presence here through her music and books and maybe even a personal appearance in the future!
much love to you and I hope to see you soon!!!!

Welcome

2008-04-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our blog!