Hi Linda; When Cheri first sent me your link, I'd read your son's story. First I cried my heart out at the pain you must have felt to lose your child. And, I gained so much respect for you because you grew out of pain instead of letting it make you wither away. I admired you already, before I even posted once. ========= The back of a tapestry is knotted and the threads are criss-crossed every which way and it makes no sense at all. It is ugly and something that we would never choose to display. BUT the front of the tapestry - which is made up of all the knots and threads on the back - is beautiful and perfect and we love looking at it. That is how I have come to view life. The back of the tapestry represents divorce and the passing of our loved ones, crime, etc. - and the front is the result of the events represented on the back. ========= That's a very beautiful way to think, really. For me, the hardest part was to know how many people I could truly affect.... (ie; I could teach single mothers to run successful businesses and change life for them & their children; I could take small businesses and help them grow enough to achieve their dreams & employ others...) I could do anything I believed.... except I could not change the person I loved or the way we lived. I can not count the nights I cried myself to sleep, wondering why I could help almost anyone else - but yet I was powerless to change what was happening in my own home. I can not tell you how much that ate at me. Even using the tapestry story, it makes me feel that my personal life was the "knots" at the back of the tapestry, and the people outside of my home were the beautiful work at the front. That was never what I wanted, you know? I think I would have given anything for my family to be the lovely tapestry at the front... it just didn't work that way. : ) L

Hi Linda, What I can offer here is that perhaps you and your family ARE the beautiful tapestry. You cannot always see something when you are in the middle of it. What you see on a physical human earthly level is the back of the tapestry. But what you can not see here on earth is the creation of something that on a spiritual level - which may not be understood from a human viewpoint - is a beautiful tapestry. These are my personal beliefs. If I believe - and I do - that there are no mistakes, no coincidences, no tragedies - but that everything IS in divine order (because God/Universe/Higher Power does not make mistakes).... Then I know that even if I don't understand it now, it is STILL in divine timing. THAT gives me peace. I don't have to understand it. I just believe it. Reading Radical Forgiveness by Colin Tipping - or going to one of his Make Room For Miracles Workshops - will help anyone understand where I'm coming from. I love sharing this and I fully acknowledge that many will not agree with me - and that is ok. I always learn something from everyone. And when I add in my belief that I am an eternal spiritual being having a temporary human experience... Well, then, I view my life experiences from a different perspective. If I believe I am eternal, there is nothing else for me to worry about. Nothing. I'm looking forward to your reply, Linda.

Hi Linda; === You cannot always see something when you are in the middle of it. === I actually laughed in delight. How strange to have someone say those words to me. Usually I am the one saying them... and usually to clients that do not understand why no one is responding to their business and ads and promotions. === If I believe - and I do - that there are no mistakes, no coincidences, no tragedies - but that everything IS in divine order (because God/Universe/Higher Power does not make mistakes).... === I think that's the part I struggle with. If we are created in the image of God/Universe/Higher power, and we make mistakes... maybe nothing is infallible and maybe the universe does have tragedies. I'm not saying I believe that... lol... More, I'm saying that sometimes I'm not sure what I really believe in that aspect. === I love sharing this and I fully acknowledge that many will not agree with me - and that is ok. I always learn something from everyone. === Well, that part I completely agree with. Heck, I don't agree with things I, myself, used to believe 5 years ago. How on earth could everyone agree with me - on anything - when my own thoughts have changed over the years and theirs do, too. For that reason, I also feel I learn from everyone. : ) Linda

Linda, Some of my favorite words from the teachers Abraham are: "You cannot get it wrong and you never get it done." Those words give me great peace - because if I can't get it wrong, what do I have to worry about? And if I never get it done, why am I always trying to "finish" something so quickly. I didn't come here to finish anything. I came here for the experience. Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Hi, Linda, I found this a rather disagreeable article after I had taken a little time to absorb what was written (I never respond on a reflex). After disposing of the phenominal amount of redundant verbiage and sitting with an open mind so that I could try to experience the 'inteligence' Gikandi was attempting to impart, I was left with two rather unhappy ideas:- 1 - that I had deliberately sought out wives who were going to die or 2 - my second and third wives died because this was what I was anticipting, so fulfilling a prophecy. (Where that leaves my fourth wife I didn't even want to think about). As you can imagine, neither thought was particularly pleasant. Then I thought about my lost children and had to return to my own reality before I went on a massive guilt trip. I think I will have to be a little more circumspect with some of these articles - they have some very powerful ideas but, certainly for me, could lead to a level of unhealthy introspection. Regards