12.25.09
Posted in Blessings, Christmas, Encouragement, Inspirational, Joy, Love, Uncategorized at 2:57 pm by Sandi Rauwolf
This entire Christmas season it has been on my heart, if we all had the Spirit of the Season within us every day of the year we would truly live in a different world and what a wonderful world it would be! It’s not about the commercialism, the gifts, not event the traditions … it’s about the Spirit of our hearts, that heart tug. Chris just said to me, “I can’t believe Christmas is already over.” He then said exactly what has been on my heart this month. He said, “You know, as soon as Thanksgiving is over everyone’s attitude seems to change. They began to be a little nicer, think a little differently, they give unselfishly to others, they are happy and kind.” He then paused and said, “Once Christmas is over, things change and go back to the way they were.” Then I said, “Yes, wouldn’t it be great if every day people could have the heart they do at Christmas.” He said, “Yeah, like the end of that movie Scrooged. Once you have that feeling, you want it every day.” I smiled and said, “My thought exactly!!!”
Here’s the clip he’s talking about (Warning: clip is from You Tube so I did not create it thus could not edit – it includes adult language at the end of the clip, view at your own discretion):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2Rq50NFgCc
My heart then talked to me a little louder and the realization settled in … it really is up to us. We can choose to do something about it. And “the something about it” isn’t about religion, it isn’t about skin color, and it certainly isn’t about social status. It’s about the condition of our hearts. See if we each decide to have our hearts changed and learn to live true unconditional love in all we do, we would live in a different world one that I have imagined living in since the time I was little. When we act in love thinking of others before ourselves, when we ensure our actions are kind, sincere, caring and considerate, when we give of our time to help others even in the little things we do … like going out of the way to open a door or help someone pick up something they dropped – we are making a difference. It brings a peace and joy that all the money in the world couldn’t buy. Give from your heart whether it is sharing a smile or being able to buy a meal for someone who can’t afford one – when we do those things from our heart, we are one person in this huge world making a difference.
I encourage you to keep the Spirit of Love going, every day. Go and do a random act of love for someone else after the holiday. Commit to doing something once a week or if that is too much start out once a month. Every day before my kids walk out the door, I give them a hug and kiss, tell them I love them and (both of them will tell you) I always say, “Do something kind for someone else.” I promise you the gift you receive for giving love from your heart to others is priceless. If you want some ideas of sharing kindness (or if you want to download a free note card – example, let’s say you decide to make a meal for someone unexpectedly, you can download the card, write a note and not only does it touch someone’s heart but the print on the back encourages them to keep the love going by doing something nice for another), go to www.inthespiritoflove.org. Please know that making a difference starts with “one”, will you join us?
Have a very blessed holiday season to you and your family!
With much Love,
Sandi Rauwolf
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12.13.09
Posted in Christmas, Heart Tugs, Inspirational, Judging Others, Love, Special Needs at 8:04 pm by Sandi Rauwolf
This weekend we were headed out of town for our annual trip to Indy to see Santa at the Zoo. The last two years I promised myself I would buy some warm boots so my focus wouldn’t be on the icicles forming on my toes but instead on the Spirit of the season. So before we headed out of town, we stopped at the store to buy some boots for me. As I was taking off a pair of boots and placing them in a box, I felt a tug on my heart guiding my eyes up and towards the beginning of the shoe aisle. I looked up and saw a mom walking down the aisle with her little girl’s feet on her feet. Her tiny arms were stretched up with her hands held tightly by her mom’s. Every step the mom took the little one was able to take a step with her. The girl’s hair was blonde and hung over her face as she looked down at her feet.
I finished putting the boots in the box and as they walked closer I felt my heart overflowing with so much love. The tug on my heart then said, “Look closer.” At that moment, my eyes met the eyes of this precious little angel. She had the most beautiful blue eyes you could ever imagine. I stayed knelt down and began talking with her, “Hi honey, what’s your name?” The little girl tried to form the words to say her name but couldn’t. Her mom then softly responded, “Her name is Jenna.” I said, “Well, it is great to meet you Jenna. You have a very special soul, you know that?” I could see her eyes light up and her mom said, “Yes, she sure does.” Jenna then began to point to her left shoe all excited. I could feel her heart communicating directly with mine. It felt like I was living her excitement right along with her. I said, “You are excited because you got some new shoes.” Her mom then said, “Well, she actually only had to get a new left one.” Although the girl couldn’t speak, our hearts were able to communicate perfectly. The love and excitement that filled my heart and the store from this little angel was amazing.
I asked Jenna, “How old are you honey?” Her mom then said, “She will be 18 this Saturday.” I said, “Wow! Eighteen that is great. I hope you have a wonderful birthday and a lot of fun!” I couldn’t stop smiling just feeling so much gentleness, kindness, and love from this little angel. Her mom said to me, “Thank you so much for talking to her that was really nice of you.” I hesitated for a minute and thought why wouldn’t I talk with her then at that very moment it was as if I could see her thru the eyes of how most people in the world saw her. This little angel had a disorder of some type that prevented her from growing like other children. She was the size of about a 1 ½ year old. She was going to turn 18 years old Saturday, not 18 months. She could not walk on her own. She had no teeth on the top and a few scattered teeth on the bottom, spaced out and growing in every direction. Her skin was tight like leather so the bottom of her eyelids were pulled down as if someone was intentionally trying to make a strange face by taking their fingers and pulling the bottom of their eyelids down. My heart swelled. I smiled at her and said, “No, thank YOU for talking with me. This little angel just made my day today. The world needs to be filled with more hearts like hers, it would change the world.” Her mom smiled really big and I could feel Jenna’s heart smile even bigger. I felt something inside of me change that day as if the love from that special little angel brought my heart to an even higher level of love. I didn’t do anything special, I just saw her for her heart and not for her circumstances.
I was then reminded how important it is that we see people for their hearts and not what’s happening on the outside. If we can see every person as the love that is within each and every heart (no matter how buried it may be) then soon the world will be filled with hearts like Jenna’s.
It reminds me of a story I once heard about a new teacher. She was given a list of her students and noticed they all had their IQ scores to the right of their names. She thought, “Wow! What an opportunity to teach such bright kids.” She met each one of them and saw them for nothing less than the IQ scores that she saw by their names each and every roll call. At the end of the first quarter the principal called a meeting with her. She was asked how she is obtaining such great academic achievements with these students. She told them it wasn’t her at all but thought it was brilliant to put such highly gifted kids in a class together. The principal looked at her puzzled. The teacher went on to share all of the things the students were doing, their progress and what she expected by the end of the year. She said, “Thank you for sharing their IQ scores with me. It was a great help having them noted next to each student’s name.” The principal looked at her and said, “Those aren’t their IQ scores but their locker numbers.” The teacher looked at him in amazement. He then began to share with her that she had been given a class full of children who had been struggling with grades and behavior issues. They had never taken interest in school and actually none of the other teachers were able to reach them because they had so many issues. She was shocked because she had never had a problem with any of the children. The principal said what she had achieved was remarkable.
The powerful lesson about this story is the only thing that had changed was someone’s perspective. The new teacher believed in them and saw the good in them. As a result, amazing things happened … each kid became who they were meant to be.
I want to encourage you to see each person for who they were meant to be by looking into their hearts and right past any outside appearance or circumstances. When we decide to change our perspective to see only the good within others, we then can experience the same gift of peace and joy as felt thru hearts of angels like Jenna. Who’s the Jenna in your life?
With much love!
Sandi Rauwolf
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12.05.09
Posted in Blessings, Christmas, Inspirational, Joy, Love, Thankfulness at 8:47 am by Sandi Rauwolf
While getting our Christmas stuff out and ready to put up this week, mixed amongst all of the stacks of things on the counter Samantha had placed a box of mini candy canes. As soon as I saw it, within my heart triggered a beautiful memory of being about her age so excitedly standing in line waiting to see Santa. I could not wait to get up there and tell him all the things I had seen in the JC Penney and Sears catalogues that year hoping he would put some under our tree. I remember my sister, brother and I would sit there for hours paging thru those huge catalogues making our wish lists. It was fun for us and gave mom some quiet time. Anyway, I took one of the mini candy canes and just as when I was little, I couldn’t open the wrapper – some things never change. :) I was determined to do this without any help and I struggled with that little bugger for a good couple minutes after which I finally conceded and got the scissors out of the drawer. Ahhh, success!
As soon as the candy cane touched my lips, another wonderful memory overflowed my heart of those special moments I have been blessed with through the holidays. Growing up we didn’t have much compared to others but we had two parents who loved us unconditionally and who instilled within each of us – hearts overflowing with thankfulness for what we DID have. We were reminded to be thankful for even those yucky green beans in front of us (well we thought they were yucky at the time). My Dad would always remind us that there are many people in the world who don’t have a single morsel of food to eat or even a pair of shoes or a clean pair of socks to wear. We were always told that NO MATTER WHAT, we were loved and we were often reminded of that after we had made a mistake. So although the consequences were harsh, we were taught to learn from those mistakes and to know that we were still loved – unconditionally. It was important we understood that it was our decision/behavior that was bad and not who we were that was bad. (See if we associate that behavior with ourselves then our self esteem is down, we feel unworthy of anything because we can’t get rid of ourselves but we can get rid of the bad behavior.) So although the candy cane taste triggered wonderful memories, it isn’t the tangible things I remember but the love and joy I felt through those times – true unconditional love. What incredible treasures they are deep within my heart.
This year if you are facing a holiday where you don’t have funds to purchase gifts or to financially help others, please remember that love and joy are FREE and everything you do in life is building a memory for someone else – give freely of your heart, of your time … share love and joy with others, it’s the best gift you could ever give to someone.
With much love, peace and joy from my heart to each of yours – go out and make a difference in someone’s life today by being the beautiful person God made you to be and making a wonderful new memory within their heart and yours. What’s your “candy cane” memory? I want to encourage you to share one thru the “comments” link at the bottom of my blog. Your “candy cane” memory may inspire another … it’s the little things we do that make all the difference.
Love to you all!
Sandi Rauwolf
Author, Blessings Too Good
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12.18.08
Posted in Believe, Christmas, Self Reflection at 11:14 pm by Sandi Rauwolf
We headed to Indy this past weekend for a family weekend to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday. It’s a great tradition and one we look forward to every year! We go to the zoo – bundled up with little ones in tow as we walk down the beautifully lit paths lined with Christmas lights sparkling from the bushes and trees. Little red noses and rosy cheeks peek out through the hats and scarves. The kids think it’s cool they can see their breath when they talk! They can’t contain their excitement because they know this cold walk on a path lined with beautiful lights was leading us to Santa (which happens to be in a warm, cozy house! :) The kids didn’t seem to notice the cold but the adults were freezing – brrrr!!! The adults thought about getting warm and the kids about Santa but all focused on one destination and that was Santa’s house! There were multiple paths seamlessly interconnected as if a skilled artist used his black paint-filled brush to effortlessly glide along the canvas drawing each to its destination. Soon we approached Santa’s house and hurriedly crammed inside the door only to stand in an endless line to see Santa.
Kids were doing their best to behave because although they have always been told that Santa is watching them, this time they KNEW he really was! Despite their best efforts, something would lure them away – maybe the reindeer station where they could see a real reindeer or maybe Mrs. Claus’s cookies that they could help decorate. But, their parents were there to gather them back and keep them focused on why they were there and that was to see Santa! You could see in their faces how hard they were trying to be good!!! The younger they were, the more they would wander or be easily persuaded off path. Then their mom or dad would bring them back once again just to have their brother or sister wander off in another direction. Then finally the little tots were back in line and looking up to the older kids – great idea! Well, it WAS until the older kids wandered off path and all of the little tots followed – first one, then another and then yet another. But the parents were there again gathering them all up and getting them back in line.
The little ones, so sweet, innocent and naïve were more easily pulled off path. Not all of them wandered, some young tikes were standing in line very determined to focus on Santa – nothing would pull them away!! Or would it? Well nothing until an older kid stepped out of line making them think it was ok to do the same. Or when another kid grabbed their hand to pull them towards something that seemed better than standing in a “boring” line to a Santa they weren’t even sure was there!! After all, they couldn’t see him thru all of the towering older kids and crowds of people – so is he real?
Standing there in line Chris and I were helping keep all of the little ones from wandering. I felt blessed with an uncanny depiction of what God must see when He looks down from heaven at US. He has children of all ages – some infants just learning to walk, some adolescents fairly strong in their walk but some times pulled away and others mature focused with their eyes on Him.
We are each at different stages of our spiritual walk with God. We’ve all wandered off path at one point in our lives and actually we may have even pulled others off of their paths at times. Where are we today in our walk with God? I mean we know God is always with us even if we can’t see Him past the crowds … but are we as faithful to Him in our hearts as we say we are or when tempted do we find that we make everything but Him our number one priority and are easily pulled out of line? So I guess I am asking:
Are we the kid who easily wanders out of line?
“They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet.” Jeremiah 14:10
Or …
Are we the kid in line with his/her eyes focused on God?
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.” Joshua 1:7
We never know how many little tikes might be looking our direction to see what we are going to do or how we will react in a situation (especially when we are tested) … so how do you act in line?
May God bless you!!
Love,
Sandi
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