Last night I attended the rehearsal for this weekend’s Clarity Connects inspirational event.

One of the speakers talked about finding the magic in every day life.

Christy’s story begins with her struggle to leave a full-time job so she could grow a side-line business that brings her great joy and fills her with an unbridled passion that just resonates from every pore.

I’ve known this talented and spirited gal for a couple of years and she had mentioned before she made the leap how scary the decision was. What she shared in her speech, however, was something few of us knew.

Though her client base did pick up immediately, it wasn’t enough to cover her lost wages and she soon found herself behind in her mortgage payments.

She tells the story of sitting in a parking lot, crying her eyes out because she feared she’d made a bad decision for herself and for her young family. She says she decided to pray and pleaded with the universe for a sign that she was on the right path.

When she picked her head up off the steering wheel, she noticed the bumper sticker on the car in front of her. Expect Miracles.

With a little renewed hope, she headed to the office for her day’s appointments.

At the end of her last appointment, the client told her she wanted to continue with her services but she needed to be accountable because she knew if she didn’t take a firm, proactive stance she would let it fall by the wayside.

Do you know what happened next, Journeyer? Can you guess? I’m not good at connecting the dots in movies or stories. I’m one of those people who is always saying to myself or the person I’m watching a show with, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming” or “How did you know that was going to happen?”

Christy’s client asked if she could pay in advance for an extended set of services.

The amount? A single payment that covered the arrears and the late fees.

Call it whatever you want: Miracle, Magic, Coincidence, Serendipity, Prayers answered or Divine Intervention.

Let me share another story with you. You may or may not recall the young family for whom Warren and I purchased a home until they could renovate it and secure a traditional mortgage.

Warren and I had just closed on a house he’d renovated over a three year period. The house sat on the market for almost eighteen months before it sold. We were out of money and I fretted every single day about our ability to pay our own mortgage, our other business and personal bills, and the loans we’d taken out to cover that project. We’d even had to borrow money from Big Guy, who hadn’t decided how he was going to spend the money he’d been saving his whole life.

The week after we closed on that property, Warren learned about the problems this other young couple were facing with a seller who was doing some shady stuff to get more money out of the buyers.

I’ll always remember the day Hubby asked me what I thought about using the money to help out this couple for a short time. “I know how much it would have meant to us if someone had been in a position to assist us when we needed it on that project.”

At closing, our lawyer instructed us that we would owe our friends a portion of the new tax bill that would be arriving soon. Shortly after the bill came, this little voice told me that I needed to write a check that night and take the stuff to them.

The young wife gasped and her eyes watered. The bank had called them that day and told them they’d made an error in the escrow amount and they had to bring them in more money, funds she had no idea how they were going to come up with on such short notice.

The amount? Our check covered it.

That is the magic of this universe that Christy speaks of. Warren and I had several things we needed to attend to that night and I was running like mad to stay on top of what had to be done that day. And yet, some force stepped in and nudged me to take care of that task right then and there.

As I went to bed last evening and as I rose today, I thought about Christy’s message. I have a habit of noticing nature’s magic and this morning when I took the dog out I saw the diamond-like sparkles glistening off the snow dust that had fallen overnight. Again, I thought about Christy.

I’ve been trying this week to spend a few minutes in short meditation after I get up . This morning, despite a pounding headache that has had me out sick for the past two days, I sat down to shut out my surroundings and tap into the universe’s energy.

What I realized as I entered prayer, is that I was asking the universe to send me signs as to what I should do about work. Should I go or should I stay.

Suddenly it dawned on me, Journeyer, my prayers were being driven by a fear of doing the wrong thing, of making the wrong decision for me and my family.

It’s one of the things I talked about with Ess in a recent counseling session.

I often feel trapped because I am so afraid of making a mistake.

In essence, I was asking the universe to decide for me so I didn’t have to. Christy, on the other hand, had taken that leap of faith, she was moving and acting and deciding and thinking and having faith and had merely asked for confirmation or support.

The universe did respond to today’s prayer. As I sat in that semi-meditative state, I felt myself being wrapped in a cocoon, almost like being swaddled, and then the universe sent me an image of me inside a sort of amniotic sac.

I immediately felt trapped, one of my life’s common threads; feeling trapped in a job that is no longer bringing me joy, once feeling like I was trapped in my marriage because I couldn’t financially support myself and my young children if I’d chosen to leave.

Before today’s fear could expand, Journeyer, I heard this little voice say, Stretch, and as I imagined myself reaching out my arms and my legs, my enclosure opened up without resistance, for it wasn’t a restrictive device but one of comfort, warmth, and support.

I am not trapped. That was my message. That feeling and your barriers are nothing but illusion. All you have to do is stretch…all you have to do is move…

It’s seldom that I pray for something; my prayers are usually those of gratitude and thanks.

After completing this morning’s combination of reflection and meditation, I began thinking about the two sides of these prayers.

Whereas both prayers were prompted from some sort of fear, Christy’s plea was not about avoiding her fear, rather it was asking the universe to validate her love, her passion, her belief in the universe’s many magical qualities.

My prayer, on the other hand, came from a place that wasn’t focused on the positive and wasn’t coming from a joy within; it was coming from that dark place of being stuck, from a place that doesn’t believe in myself, my decisions, my actions, or in the magic that exists all around us.

Christy’s prayer ultimately came from a place of faith; mine from a place of fear.

In the end, we both received what we needed, symbols that held meaning for each of us.

What sorts of things do you pray for, Journeyer? Does your prayer stem from a place of magic or nightmare? I hope you’ll share something in a comment below for somewhere out there is a neighbor who will surely benefit from any story you have to share.

Until we meet again,

Yours in hope, healing, happiness, Magic and Love…