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March, 2013

I Need a Sign… A Phone Call

Sweet Nancy fills my heart and my soulI Need a Sign… Part III of A Skywriter, A Billboard, A Bumper Sticker and A Phone Call

This time God dialed in through A PHONE CALL…

It was March 2011 about a year after I had the privilege of presenting my very first Women’s retreat. I set this goal, dream actually, in 2008, to help other women find joy, purpose and fulfillment. THIS, I believed would be my mission forward. This vision was rooted in my faith. I hoped that through this retreat process and the sharing of my own life stories others would see God and all his goodness.

In August of 2009, my friend Nancy and I were sitting on a balcony overlooking the San Diego harbor sipping a glass of Chardonnay. Nancy looked at me and said with direct inquisition, “So, Rob, you have been talking about this retreat stuff for a while now, when is the first one going to take place?” I understood. Dreams are good. They set direction and focus to our goals, but it was up to me to set a concrete date to my plan in order to advance the dream. Nancy was right. Together we set a date and agreed the first retreat would take place in Nancy’s retreat-like living room. There was new fire within me to complete the itinerary for the 2-day event. All my focus was directed toward making that dream come alive. Read more →

A Billboard, a Bumper Sticker…

Part II of – I need a sign…

A Skywriter, a Billboard, a Bumper Sticker and a Phone Call…

Sometimes it is easy to write things off to coincidence and other times it’s just impossible to do so. Sometimes the signs are so loud and clear that hope and reassurance fill my heart. As I continue to follow my life path it’s nearly impossible for me to ignore the signs that are placed in front of me.

My Dad has always possessed a very special part of my heart. My Dad practiced medicine in the times when house calls were still made. In fact, he would often travel on his bike or a scooter with his black crocodile medical bag in tow. He was always ready, always willing and always filled with a guiding spirit of care. My Dad truly has a servant heart.

There was one thing about my Dad that made me pause. I was fearful of that he doubted faith and God. While that doubt was easy to understand, it was difficult for me to accept. I believe that Heaven is for real and I wanted my Dad to believe that too.

A few years ago, I discovered the book, Faith and Doubt by John Ortberg. It was reassuring to see the words together. I planned to gift this book to my Dad for his 82nd birthday. I wanted to write a dedication in it for him, but I was struggling for just the right message. After all, what would he think about receiving a book about faith from his daughter? What would he say? Would he reject it? Would he be offended by it? What would my mother think about it? Read more →

I Need a Sign …A Skywriter..

I NEED A SIGN… Part 1

A Skywriter, a Billboard, a Bumper Sticker and a phone call…

Just ask… Really?

I am learning how amazing and powerful prayer just is. There have been times when I have so badly desired God’s guidance. Do you ever feel like that? While, for me, His answers are not always clear sometimes the answers show up in such a big way there is no mistaking they are a response to my “ask.”

The very first time I remember intentionally asking for a sign, I was sort of new at this believing thing. I was not really sure that God could love me so much that he would provide personal answers to prayer requests. I thought that I would give it a try even though the magnitude of this love was hard to grasp.

Shortly after I had made a commitment to try on this God life, I was invited to go on a girls golf trip. I had reservations about this trip as the others in the party walked on the wild side and I was pretty sure they might not “know Jesus.” Silly, really. I know that. I wanted to share what I was learning but was afraid I might be rejected by them. So, I decided to ask God, “please send me a sign in a way that makes it possible for me to share my new found faith.” I wondered if and how God might show up on this trip to answer me. After all, I was new at this prayer thing. I didn’t have any idea if God even answered such prayers when there are so many greater needs in the world. Read more →