Ahuv Sheli

*Note: Images from the Twilight Saga were all lifted from Google.                No copyright infringement intended. I woke up after an hour's rest... I couldn't bring myself to write, draw, make music much less do my usual spiritual readings. My blog was devoid of inspiration...   I took a momentary vacation from some friends... Midnight, I hooked into music and waited until my thoughts c lea red out... Love Never Fails ~Brandon Heath~ ------------------------------------- He came quietly into my life at the time I was 'ready to receive' love ~  To care means first of all to empty our own cup and to allow the other to come close to us.   ~ Henri Nouwen~ The Essential Henri Nouwen He took me out of the frenetic world I lived in and brought me to his heart.... I felt my pulse come alive ~  Inside his heart resided              ~ the ...

photo (used with permission) courtesy of   Raising Ecstasy   *I write this on the occasion of St. Teresa of Avila, 'our' favorite saint... Close your eyes " Wait... " he told me as I began to pray... " Breathe love first ..." I breathed him... " Slow down... "  and I placed my hand on his chest to take the rhythm of his heart beat... ------------------------------------ A few months ago, my good friend in the Purpose Driven Life sessions, challenged me to finish one drawing I had since 2010... he, like the others, was so eager to see me committing myself to a man...  I looked at my Vision Board and saw a bride and a bridegroom on the right, a family, and a mother holding a child. I've always had conflict with my desires for I never have fully felt the 'need' to have someone at the moment. " Please... please don't start drawing Jesus. You've already come out of the convent... Dra...

It has been several weeks now since I started noticing how "positive" people are around me... At one of the conventions I attended a few Saturdays ago, I helped out at the registration area where I immediately identified this 'beautiful soul' among the crowd ~ a vibrant guy ~ a new face ~ who kept on coming back to our desk to ask for the VIPs so he could assist them. We were not formally introduced until dinner time ~he was the recently hired Coalition coordinator~ but even before that, I was very eager to know his 'story.' He had only one arm. Apparently from the bone structure, the deformity was not inborn but was caused by an accident early 2000 New Year. W hat really caught my attention was his oozing confidence. It was the careful attention he gave each one of us that made him extraordinary ~ and here I was thinking, how could he give so much when he lacks a hand?  He nourishes his "hidden life" with Christ and ministers ...

"We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can  - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us." ~St. Teresa of Avila When first asked by my friend   Vishnu   to write about the second phase of my life (transition from convent life to the world outside), I was a bit hesitant to share. I needed to find ‘peace’ within me in order to do that.  If you read my journey to the religious life previously, Unveiled: My Life and Lessons as a Nun , you know my faith journey and spiritual life lessons . Today, I want to share with you why I left my old life as a “nun.” Why I entered I received my dispensation of vows from Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. Nobody dared ask me this personally but relatives, friends and neighbours went to talk to my mom when   they   all saw me ‘without’ the habit. To explain why I left, you must know why I entered the convent in the first place. I was filled with idealism and concepts of...

Download: "Stigma: A Major Barrier to Suicide Prevention 2013" Brochure I wr i te this on behalf of friends who, for years, have waited for me to break my silence over  depression (my own, several years ago) and the suicide and death of a friend whom I cared for so much.  April 2012, Holy Thursday, while the Last Supper and Washing of the Feet was being re-enacted, I looked at the altar of our church. Four years before that, a man shot himself in front of that altar ~ the church was desecrated and was closed for several weeks. I was in N. Africa when that incident happened and most of the stories in our place were recounted by my mother. I 'knew' how my mom 'felt' when I asked her about it. That very night, I received several calls from India, but every time I took them, they dropped instantly that I had to wait early the next day to find out what happened. I knew it was an emergency call. I opened my FB and was greeted by severa...