Happy Mother Earth Day! An Angel Message

A little songbird bird chirping outside the bedroom window helped me realize today is Mother Earth Day, April 22.

Today let's celebrate the beauty and wonder of our precious planet and thank her for our home.  Enjoy a song Elliot wrote many years ago, (click Mother Earth's in Love.)

Happy Earth Day!

Love and joyful blessings,


Rae Karen

The Ups and Downs of What Goes Round and Round: Angel Message

I remember the playfulness and joy at a carnival--a time of happy childhood memories.  The Ferris wheel is a good symbol for the cycles of life.  A reminder that change is constant--and every ending leads to a new beginning. To live in the moment and embrace joy in the now.  

 

Remember the thrill of lifting off the ground--coming higher and higher into the sky--the view expanding the higher we rise.  A reminder to rise above daily struggles and look at situations with clarity and wisdom.  To step back and look at a situation from a higher perspective and trust that everything is unfolding according to a divine plan. 

 

Trials are but lessons we've yet to master...opportunities keep coming round and round, to provide another chance to come up higher until we finally heal that karmic pattern.  It's tempting to practice avoidance--not face the problem head on...but a new cast of characters will enter our life to spotlight the issue within us!  

 

When we humbly ask for our hidden faults to be revealed and healed, the Holy Spirit will shine the light and help us to understand the issue through a lens of divine love.   Spiritual growth and transformation come with the rising and falling--there are ups and down like the Ferris wheel.  And, when we accept setbacks as part of the spiritual journey, and challenges as opportunities for growth, we can find ourselves grateful for the experience in the art of becoming who we truly are.

 It is not you that shape God, 

it is God that shapes you. 

 If then you are the work of God, 

await the Hand of the Artist who 

does all things in due season. 

 Offer Him your heart, soft and tractable, 

and keep the form in which the Artist has 

fashioned you. Let your clay be moist, 

lest you grow hard and lose the imprint 

of His fingers.

                   --Saint Irenaeus

Love and peace,

 

Rae Karen  

A Helping Hand to a Gardener Friend: An Angel Message

 On our way home from an early morning walk, a weary "gardener", half-dead, laid out in the sunlit road.  The lowly earthworm slightly lifted his head off the hot pavement, and in an unexplainable instant of oneness, I quickly reached down and lifted it up in my bare hands. An act that surprised me as I cupped it in my hand and walked on. 

Elliot had watched, wondering what was I doing?  He thought the worm was dead.  But I walked on, affirming it was alive; I'd seen him look up when we passed by.   

Walking fast, when we came closer towards home,  a happy pulse wriggled in my cupped hand, tickling my palm with life. A worm was one of the first gardeners, and my wayward gardener friend soon had a new home in a large planter of marigolds in the Marian Butterfly Garden.  

Curious, I dug around to learn more.  An earthworm has some short bristles on each segment.  These help it move through the dirt.  The bristles need to push against something in order to move.  That's the reason the worm can't move on a pane of glass.

My encounter with the earthworm was not by chance.  It turns out, an earthworm brings a message to rework old ground.  To review what we've experienced, examining and digesting what has happened in life. Then we can decide what to cast off as no longer beneficial, or purposeful. This will let in fresh air and open us to new growth. 

Earthworm often shows up in times of turmoil, and we feel the need to be alone.  A reminder to take stock before making another decision, and not react too hastily.  Any sorrows occurring, any breakups in the soil of our life are essential to our future growth even though turmoil may be hard.  Be sure to work on the old thoroughly before moving on to the new.   

I was thankful for the earthworm message that taught me--to get beyond my fears and do what I can in the immediacy of the now to help another in need.   

It's comforting to know that we are always in the presence of God's angels.   And God speaks to us in many surprising ways to teach us what we need to learn and grow in spirit. To teach only love...

Love and peace,

Rae Karen   

 

(Ref. Ted Andrews, Animal-Wise Tarot) 

  

   

A Lesson in Endurance/Resilience: Angel Messenger

Yesterday a beautiful sight from the bedroom window brightened my day.  The hardy prickly pear cactus shouted for joy in big yellow showy flowers out in the sandy, arid pasture.  She had survived the harsh winter, and grown stronger and wider in adversity, a symbol of fortitude and hidden beauty.   

Cactus adapt to some of the harshest conditions, and yet they flower in the most beautiful, delicate blossoms.  That's why the cactus represents energies that help manifest richness and beauty under all conditions.  An angel message to rediscover the elixer of life inspite of our outer conditions.  Cactus manifest life waters wherever one is parched. 

I learned, too, that the prickly pear cactus (opuntia humifusa) is a symbol of maternal love because it can endure and thrive in harsh conditions like the unconditional love of a mother.  Yellow is the color of faith, and cactus represents an endurance and strength to survive in new environments and situations. Strength and gentleness can co-exist. And, we are never alone, God has sent his angels to be with us in all of our ways.  Don't give up, the best is yet to be.  Take it slow and steady, one day at a time.  

Love and peace,

Rae Karen  

 

 

The Missing Cardinal Geranium: Angel Message

 Stranger than fiction?  First thing this morning I went to the Butterfly Garden with my daily cup of bird seed, singing the Doxology.  During the night, rain had filled the birdseed platter.  Everything smelled fresh,  renewed.  This week's heavy rainfall was the answer to Florida's drought, restoring the water tables.

I stood in the stillness soaking up the beautiful flowers, especially a large clay pot of new red geraniums. But to my surprise, one of the two plants was gone!  Completely uprooted, with a gaping hole!  A closer look at other potted geraniums held a clue.  Some of their red blooms had been pruned by hungry teeth. I was thankful the plants were intact, along with promising buds. A tell-tale sign deer had enjoyed a midnight snack on my new red Cardinal Ringo geraniums.   

It may sound strange, but I was happy those gentle creatures are still around--unseen, but not unnoticed.  With construction in the area, a little geranium here and there is fair game.  And, I was at fault for ignoring an angel thought to move the potted geraniums on the back porch steps at bedtime last night. 

Kind of funny though--as deer represents gently being guided on a new adventure.  And, geraniums are all about  new happiness and vitality; to take advantage of new opportunities.  The green sticks on the blossom-less plants stuck up like exclamation points on the angel message regarding a new adventure.  Besides, many Cardinal Ringo geraniums are in bloom, and the trimmed plants will grow, and blossom again.

But it was a mystery how one whole geranium plant was taken--that never happened before.  And why  only one Cardinal geranium left standing alone in that old clay pot.  

Later this morning, something strange happened...   When I went to plant the vincas in the Butterfly Garden.  Directly behind where I stood, I turned around by the geraniums pots. VOILA! 

The uprooted geranium plant lay on the ground intact, and ready to replant. 

 Puzzled, I thankfully, put it back in the pot where it belonged.  It's still a mystery how it reappeared out of nowhere.  Clearly this morning, the Cardinal geranium was gone, but that was only temporary.  It mysteriously returned again, ready to pick up life again.   God is good!

Love and peace,

Rae Karen  

 

Drumming in Spring: Angel Message

 Following an angel lead paid off not only in timing but also price.  On our way to a major garden center for flowers, inspiration came to stop by Ace Hardware first. (A mom and pop store.)  Their flowers are usually outside on shelves by the front entrance.  Timing was perfect.  A new flat of red azaleas, and several hanging baskets were soon loaded into our car, far cheaper than at Lowes, our next stop.  In search of yellow marigolds, and white vincas we were at the right place at the right time there, too.  An employee was just marking the marigolds down 75 percent...and I got my pick.  

When potting the red geraniums, I had an aha moment! I found out the geraniums were called Cardinal.  "When a departed love one draws near, a cardinal appears."  Usually, the cardinal is a red bird, but in this instance, I had happy thoughts of my sweet mom who enjoyed geraniums as much as I do. It felt like a smile from heaven in a soggy garden.  Ringo 2000 Cardinal, on the plastic marker, was a clear sign to drum in springtime.  These spontaneous little touches of love warm the heart with a deeper understanding that our loved ones may be out of sight but not out of touch.  Love is eternal. 

I looked up the symbolism of geranium.  New happiness and vitality; take advantage of new opportunities. Are we hesitating? Now is time to act. To march to the "drumming" of a new rhythm.  Remember you are never alone.  God has given his angels charge over you.  The best is yet to be. 

Love and peace,

Rae Karen 

 

 

ref:  Nature-Speak, Ted Andrews 

 

 

Singing in the Rain: Angel Message

 

Relief from the drought came late last week. The wind picked up, the sky opened up, and the rains finally came pouring down in a joyful sound-- one I often take for granted. At that moment, I was sitting on the screened porch gratefully soaking up the symphonic rhythm of happy little raindrops. Immediately a lone frog began singing  in a loud voice in the nearby bushes.  The frog didn't care who heard him, he belted out  his song with all he had. He sang because he was grateful.  It didn't matter if his voice sounded like a creaking shoe. 

Amen! I laughed, thankful for the angel reminder.  The acronym for FROG:    FULLY RELY ON GOD. 

He responded in a chorus of triumphant CREAK! CREAK! CREAK! 

Last night, an abundance of rain replenished the dry earth, nourishing the trees, bushes, grass, and flowers.  A touch of playful synchronicity had happened earlier yesterday when this big-eyed green frog garden ornament took a leap into my cart-- one-of-a kind, at the Dollar General.  Ribbit!  Fully Rely on God. 

The keynote of frog is transformation through water and sound.  The call of the frog is the call of the waters.  The frog is a symbol of metamorphosis.  It changes from an egg, to a tadpole, to a frog.  Even after it becomes a frog, it lives close to water.  Emotions are associated with water.  

 

When moving like a tortoise under pressure, it's helpful to remember the symbolism of the frog, pictured in this statue, guiding the way.  And, to know that we, too, will move forward under grace with the help of the angels when we fully rely on God and take it slow and steady, expecting the best is yet to be.   And keep on singing your own harmonious song. It makes a world of difference. 

Love and peace,

Rae Karen 

 

Easter Splashes of Joy: Angel Messages

During these challenging times we live in, I'm learning more to try to stay in the now of each moment. By being fully present in the now, wonderful things happen naturally when I have eyes to see and ears to hear, and expect the happy things of God to come to me.   

Early Easter morning, I went out to feed the birds in the stillness before the dawn.  That's when a startled cotton-tail bunny scampered across the driveway.  An Easter Bunny on Easter morning was a photo op not to be missed.  When I returned with my camera, Peter Cottontail was waiting for me.  Rabbits are about new life, fertility, and new beginnings. 

I caught sight of the Easter moon illumined bright over the pasture, and birds were singing to welcome  the new day--a sweet moment of serenity.  

But the best was yet to be...

Later that morning, while taking the cat litter out to the trash, I happened to look down at a startling revelation.  A long green straggly vine reached out toward me, presenting a little white rose. In that moment, it felt as if an angel had touched me on the shoulder.  "See!" 

Last week, I had noticed the old stump of a rose bush by the garage.  A sad sight, I took her for a goner after the winter freeze.  But was I wrong.  

Now on Easter morning, a glorious white rose reached out and touched my heart with the promise of resurrection energy.  To make sure I was seeing right, I traced the long vine back to the rose clump. My heart sank with compassion and admiration for her persistence.  Without a sturdy stem to support her buds, the rugged rose bush had made a way to bloom with all she had to work with. Amazingly she had created a long vine for her buds to reach out for the sun and bloom on resurrection Sunday.    

The roses on the bush had been yellow over the years.   Yellow is the color of faith. But on Easter her rose, and roses to be, were white.  A symbol of purity and spirit.  A tender touch of Mother Mary's grace, loving-kindness and compassion on Easter morning. The best is yet to be.  

As you can see, the stumpy rose stem was gone. Sometimes we may feel like we have nothing left to give...but Love will always make a way.  

 

Take a lesson from the Easter Rose, and remember God is the strength in which you can trust.  The best is yet to be.  Keep having faith, and remember you are never alone.  You can never be separated from the love of God.

Love and peace,

Rae Karen  

For He Has Risen!

Victory, the Awakening Christ!  For He has risen indeed!

May the joy of Easter fill your heart today! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(artwork:web)