Conscious Women-Conscious Lives
Conscious Women –Conscious Lives, Powerful and Transformational Stories of Healing Body, Mind & Soul complied by Darlene Montgomery is a collection of remarkable stories written by women. These heart-felt stories show how these women met with some of the challenges of life with courage and gained spiritual insights and wisdom.
The chapters include such topics as Healing Journeys, Living Your Dreams, Losing a Loved One, and New Beginnings.
Several of the stories stood out for me. One was by Linda Anderson who wrote Learning to Receive about her experience with breast cancer. To support herself in her journey, Linda formed a group of friends she called Circle of Angels who would bring her meals, take care of her pets, give her rides to the doctor and support her emotionally.
Linda realized that she felt unworthy of asking for help. Her problems seemed miniscule in comparison to others. Now she was given a lesson in having cancer and learning to receive.
Linda said, “I had to learn to ask. I had to learn that asking means surrendering to what life brings and trusting that whatever comes your way is perfectly designed for you. I had to learn that I was worthy of receiving and that when others give, they grow and glow. I had to learn that on some spiritual level, I had even asked for cancer in my life, because this was how God would shower me with divine love and teach me to receive it.” P. 21
Another story was by Frances Blackwell titled Love Never Dies. France was driving her car one day when she saw a man laying in the middle of the road. When she stepped out of her car, she felt the presence of God. She could see that the man had been hit by a car and ran to a nearby house and asked them to call 911. She returned to the man and sang HU, a love song to God. The man stopped spasming and asked her to let his family know what happened. Another man stopped by and recognized the injured man whose name was Stan and so they were able to contact the family.
Stan died on the way to the hospital. Frances felt a strong connection with him and so went to the funeral. Later she had a chance to talk to Stan’s wife and bring her comfort.
A few weeks afterwards Frances’ husband went into the hospital. Her experience with Stan’s accident eased her way when she realized her husband was dying.
Frances said, “I am grateful for the gifts these experiences have brought me. I’m discovering that love- all love- is God’s love. And every act of giving with a loving heart brings us closer and closer to learning about a love for all life.” P. 83
She ended her story with a poem:
Celebrate life! Dare to Love!
Love endures
Love doesn’t change.
Love lives forever. P. 84.
The third story I wanted to share is titled The Making of a Miracle by Ann Archer Butcher. At the time Ann was teaching high school in Cincinnati in a program for disaffected students who weren’t achieving their potential
Ann wanted to make them feel like they had control over their lives and give them personal power. On her wall she put a quote loosely attributed to Paul Twitchell.
“Miracles I can do in a minute. The impossible takes about three days.”
One Friday afternoon the students asked for examples of the quote from Ann’s own life. She told them that you have to ask for what you want and add “If not this then something greater.” P. 59. Then they needed to surrender to the outcome.
The students wanted to make a contest out of this idea. Ann told them she wanted a hot air balloon ride, but couldn’t afford one, so it would be a miracle if it happened. She then imagined what the ride would be like.
That night in the laundromat she bought a raffle ticket for needy children. The next morning the phone rang and Ann had won the prize, which was a hot air balloon ride the next day. When she arrived at the site of the ride there were media people there. Her interview was shown on TV and seen by many of her students.
Monday morning Ann told her students, “You have to admit, this is my dream and desire manifested in a way none of us would have expected.” P. 62. She went on to say that after this happened her students were ready to learn and to listen.
These three stories are just a few examples of the many remarkable personal revelations in this book. The stories inspire the reader and help us see how we can find our own inner strength and guidance. Men as well as women will enjoy this book
Have you had a challenging experience in life that you grew from? I’d love to hear your stories.
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