More stories to rock your world

“I pray for the change in perception that will let me see bigger and sweeter realities.”–Ann Lamott

My favorite thing in the whole world is miracles. I’ve been a student of ‘A Course in Miracles’ for more than 25 years. The TV series I created is set in an ecovillage called Milagro Springs. Milagro, of course, is Spanish for miracle. And I spend my days looking for miracles which, in reality, is nothing but recognizing Truth.

Let me repeat. Miracles are natural and normal and happen constantly…once we give up antiquated patterns of thinking.

To prove it, here’s yet another trio of miracle stories in honor of ACIM Lesson 253:

1. “I want to share a quick story with you that totally rocked my world! So, there is a retreat that I really want to attend, but my husband didn’t like the idea of me spending almost $2000 on a weekend away when we have a mortgage, bills etc. Fair enough I said, I’ll manifest the extra money to go then. He laughed and said ok, you do that.

“A few months passed and as the cut of date for the application and payment was due, I wondered if I would make it to the retreat? I still had Ziva Retreat postcards in highly visible locations all over my house and had faith (although admittedly, it was beginning to dwindle).

“Then, just yesterday my Chiropractor and one of the speakers/organizers of the retreat rang me to say that one of the crew members was no longer able to attend and would I like to take her place! I would be working behind the scenes, but would be sitting in on all of the sessions, plus all of my meals and accommodation would be paid for! As you can imagine, I was flabbergasted and totally amazed at the FP! (so was my husband haha).”

2. “This will be one of those e-mails telling you how right you are. How because of you today is going to be amazingly awesome. How putting positive thoughts out into the world comes back to you ten times over. Sorry about another one of those e-mails, but I hope you never get tired of hearing how your words inspire us! It’ll also be about a project – one inspired by you – that I’ve been working on for a few years.

“I’ve been a reader for a long time. When things get rough I re-read E-Squared and E-Cubed to put me back into the zone. The experiments worked when I did them the first time and still work my umpteenth time around.

“I’m writing to you today from a cruise ship in the Caribbean. This is our 60th+ cruise. Hubby and I caught the cruise bug years ago on a wedding anniversary and have gotten hooked. What’s so surprising for us is that we both grew up in poverty with free school lunch and food stamps and all. For us growing up poor, to be on a cruise, let alone get to go again and again and again? Never in our wildest dreams.

“But there is something else that has been against us. Hubby was born with cerebral palsy and is disabled. He’s not in a wheelchair, but most people assume he’s had a stroke because he doesn’t have use of his right side. He also was in renal failure and was bedridden a couple years ago. As for me, I have rheumatoid arthritis, have had two knee replacements, and have two shoulders full of screws holding everything together. I used to be scooter-bound, even. We’ve been through a lot. I often wonder about how we got through it and others didn’t.

“Sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself to check if this life is really my life. How did I get here? Why am I one of the lucky ones who get to live a life like this one? I do know for sure we are blessed to have this life. These experiences. After some trips – and sometimes midway through some trips – I’m certain we are done. But by golly, we recover and regroup and find ourselves able to plug away one more day.

“I am certain that because of an idea you shared years ago, we have the ability to continue to live our lives to the fullest.

“For the last several years I’ve been giving away dollar bills with notes of encouragement. I used to hand write notes on packs of Post-It notes but I found the adhesive wasn’t sticking in high-humid climates we were traveling to. A couple years back I switched to making my own little money pockets and printing labels for them. I’ve left them in restrooms and airplane magazines and sugar containers. I’ve left them in windowsills and tip jars and hotel room drawers. I’ve left them on buses and taxis and trains and cruise ships. Sometimes I place one somewhere once a day and other days I drop them off multiple times. Most of the time I never find out who picks it up; other days I do.

“If you’re interested in what I’ve been doing with them, I did a blog post about it here.

“I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback about the pockets. I even had a grandma tell me she’s doing the project with her granddaughter. Yay!”

3. Last story is from Marc Medley, a school administrator who does a regular podcast called The Reading Circle. He interviewed me a couple Saturday’s ago.

If you’re interested in a listen, I’ve posted it below. Before we started the interview, however, Marc shared a miracle story about reconnection—my most favorite kind.

Family relationships, being what they are, can sometimes go off the rails. He hadn’t spoken with one of his daughters for awhile. After reading the story in E-Squared about my friend who healed a rocky relationship with her mother, he decided to follow suit.

Just like my friend, he started sending silent blessings to the estranged daughter. Every day, he’d wish good things for her. Within a few days, well, you can probably guess what I’m about to say? She called out of the blue.**

Also want to mention that this month, if anyone has yet to read Thank & Grow Rich, the digital version is going for a mere $1.99. That’s less than a small cappuccino.

**Another synonym for God.

Pam Grout is the author of 19 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest book, Art & Soul,Reloaded: A Year-Long Apprenticeship to Summon the Muses and Ignite Your Daring, Audacious, Creative Side.