The Whisper Within

" Believing that God powers strange coincidences and the journey that lies ahead."

Category Archives: inspiration


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This week I was in the attic and found a box full of random pictures of the last twenty or thirty years.

As I scattered the pictures across my kitchen table I recognize most of the people in the pictures and thought, How lucky am I that I’m still am friends with a lot of the people in the pictures?

I grabbed my iPhone took a few pictures and sent it to those in the photos with a text saying something to the effect of, “Those were happy days. Good memories of you.”

The responses varied from sweet to silly. Some reciprocated by sending photos back to me. One in particular warmed my heart as she responded, “Thanks for the walk down memory lane.”

She then reciprocated and send a picture of her own to me.I was stunned It was like opening a time capsule.

Chrisy and I at John & Karen’s wedding. November 2002

I quickly texted back, “Love, love, love this photo. It was John Guido’s wedding. I sat with my ex at that wedding even though we were already three months divorced.”

I looked closer at the photo remembering that I was recently divorced and I asked myself Why did I look so happy? I think I was at peace and I was hopeful for the future. I believed God had good things for me.

I remembered that wedding and celebrating the wonderful couple that now been married eighteen and half years. It was a joyous occasion. I was glad that I could sit next to my ex and feel fine.

I looked closer at the photo and thought Wow! I was only 35 and now I’m 54. Never thought I’d be single almost 20 years!

Within moments a small smile covered my face. Thank God I did not remarry back then. What I wanted in my 30s is definitely not what I need in my 50s. Back then I may have had a faith in God but I wasn’t looking for a strong Christian man, let alone a warm body to sit next to me on the pew.

God was in the delay. He has been working on my heart and my desires; to be with a man who not only adores me but adores God. So today, as I got ready for church, I looked in the mirror and felt hopeful again. God knows what he’s doing.

I stepped outside and snapped a selfie and thought,I am happy. I am healthy. I am hopeful.

So today, for those of you who are single and wondering what’s taking God so long? Don’t give up hope! Believe that God has good things in store for you ! Maybe just maybe, like me, he is changing you for good. I believe the wait will be worth it !

“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, in his word I put my hope.”Psalm 130:5


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Two weeks ago, on Easter, I gave a testimony of my faith. I debated on whether to share it or not. Last night, while tucked in bed, reading the Bible,I got my answer.

“But how shall they ask him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? ” Romans 10:14

I took my pen and wrote in my journal ,”Why would I keep this a secret?”

My mind quickly jumped to the second grade song I used to sing, “Hide it under a bushel? NO! I’m gonna let it shine! ” This song is about telling people about Jesus.

So in my second grade spirit… here’s my five minute testimony of how God has made a difference in my life. My testimony starts around the eight minute mark. May you discover the JOY of Jesus.


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I gotta admit, I have become a wimp. It’s raining here in Santa Barbara.I’m not used to rain and either is my dog Kipper. Neither of us want to go outside. To my Chicago friends, please don’t hate me!

After work today I did what most people do on a rainy day, clean house. I pulled down the attic ladder and within minutes start digging through old boxes.

Why did I haul so much crap from Chicago?

As I dug through the boxes, I came across an old photo of myself from high school taken after a football game and a Hornet’s win.

I didn’t think about being happy back then. I just was.

As I climbed down the attic ladder, I smiled contently and thought how much healthier and stronger I am than five years ago when I moved from Chicago and was first diagnosed with Lyme disease.

God is healing me !

I don’t think about Lyme disease everyday like I used to. I don’t wake up feeling like the flu, burning like a match, and experiencing shocks like I am plugged into an electric socket. I am laughing more, being silly, and feeling joyful.

I am feeling like the seventeen year old girl in the photo, just happy.

God is restoring my joy !

” A joyful heart is good medicine.” Proverbs 17:22




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Today started out like a normal workday making calls and following up with clients but then my normal routine took a turn.

I called a client who I knew was alone. She recently lost her son and her mother. We exchanged greetings and then I told her,”Merry Christmas. I know that it has been tough year but I want you to know that you are loved. ” She started crying and that’s what it occurred to me that there is probably many more who feel this sadness and loneliness this year with Covid that need to hear they are loved.

Here’s some of the list from my calls today:

– A client who was isolated in a nursing home

– a lonely widow

– a client suffering with cancer

One client in particular made an impact on me. I knew he recently had lost his wife of sixty years . I told him I’m sorry again for your loss and Merry Christmas. He said it meant a lot and wanted to share a quick story. He said not only was his wife the love his life but she was the only girl he ever kissed. They dated since they were fifteen. This teared me up.

His story blessed me.

So am telling you, it’s not too late! Who can you call and make a difference and share the true joy of Christmas? You have two full days. Can you make them count? Can you cheer somebody up?

” Is there any such thing as Christians cheering each other up? …”Philippians 2:1




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I got admit this happened last week but I’ve been so swamped with work, in a good way, that I haven’t had time to write. But maybe God was in the delay because the eve before Thanksgiving I have a lot to be thankful for. But what happened last week was a great reminder that God has ways to bring us joy, happiness,and the unexpected coincidences. So here’s what happened last week…

Today The Dow Jones industrial hit an all time high. As a CFP, this is pretty exciting stuff.

I got admit I love the majority my clients and really enjoy working with them but sometimes there’s a bad apple and that’s just part of life. It’s still isn’t fun.

After work, I shut off my computer, changed into a swimsuit, and after a ten minute ride in my Jeep,Kipper and I were at the beach. This beach is an off leash beach for dogs.  I took Kipper’s leash off and within seconds she was sprinting down the beach and trouncing in the water.

I couldn’t keep up. I wouldn’t dare try. I walked by three young girls and they asked,”Is that your dog?”

I nodded and one of them said,”I’d like to have half the amount of energy. Your dog is just so happy here.”

I smirked,”Ya, me too. I wish I had that kind of energy. And yes, the beach is her happy place.”

I said goodbye, walked away, found a spot down the beach, dropped my towel, drop my shorts, took off my t-shirt, ran into the water,and submerged my body under a wave.

When I came up for air, I couldn’t help but let out a happy scream. The water was freezing. Someone said today it was only 56° in the water.

After about thirty minutes at the beach, it was time for Kipper and I to go home. As we we’re leaving I walked by the girls again and waved goodbye.

One of the girls said,”You look like a little kid out there dunking yourself in the water.” I said,”I’m not a little kid I have adult kids probably around your ages. They are twenty-three and twenty-four.”

They shook their heads and said,”No way.” We all laughed, they told me their ages and their names and yes,they were between the ages of 24 and 25 right around my kid’s ages.

They asked about my kids and they said they must be full of joy to have you as a mother . My heart sunk,”I can’t tell you how much that means to me . Today was a very rough day. Someone was trying to steal my joy. It hurt. But hearing you say that I am filled with joy makes me happy. We need to really love each other and be happy . You all did that for me today .Meeting you today was just what I needed. It is a good coincidence.”

Diana said,” I don’t believe in coincidences.I believe God orchestrates these kind of meetings.”

I quietly smiled,”Me too.”

“You are a gift to me today,”Julia said “I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.”
I asked to take their picture so I could remember them and and how these three beautiful strangers change my mood,changed my perspective, and help to restore my joy. They were a gift to me and because of their easy and open conversation, and loving hearts, my joy was restored.
Kipper and I walked down the beach and I waved goodbye.
I looked up at the sky and silently whispered, “Thank you God for Julia, Diana, and Cherith.” I looked down at my furry friend,”and yes, thanks for Kipper.”
So the eve before Thanksgiving, in a strange year of missing family and friends, can you really love,show extra kindness, and share happiness to those who may be strangers but may need it more than ever ?
Can you love like Kipper?
“You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:19








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Today I called one of my clients to review her accounts. “Hello, Bea! How are you?” After we exchange a few pleasantries, and reviewed the business at hand, Bea and I discussed how COVID was affecting each of us.

Bea explained, “I don’t like being quarantined but I have had opportunities to help others in this independent and assisted living facility.”

She explained that there was a sixty-nine year old lady who is legally blind and the staff is having difficulty administering her eyedrops . They asked Bea whether she would be willing to help out because they have heard that she is a kind soul. Bea further explained,”Do you know for the last nine years the lady has lived here without leaving her room and that she has had no friends? But all that has changed, she’s not only let me administer the eyedrops but now we walk almost everyday together. I guess that’s why at eighty-seven years old, why I’m still here. I still have a purpose. My purpose and the bottom line is to show love and care for others. And that’s what you do, Lisa. You care for me.”

I hung up the phone and later on in the afternoon, went for a walk uptown and thought about the earlier conversation. It occurred to me that last night I wrote in my journal, What is my purpose? What is your will God, for me?

As I passed a church, I saw a sign that read this :

YOU ARE NOT TOO OLD

AND ITS NOT TOO LATE

I took a picture and then smiled at the sky. Yes, that’s the purpose ! To love and serve others. Bea has it right !

It IS all about love! How are you loving and helping others ?

“It is God himself who has made us… and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.”

Ephesians 2:10 TLB


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This morning Kipper and I were on a morning walk when I saw a piece of paper laying on the sidewalk. I bent down and read the note.

( click to enlarge & see full note )

It read: Tom- I love you with all I am or will ever be. You are my protector, lover, best friend, and so much more, and I am so happy that I am truly able to be your wife now too!! I am so happy to have found my soul completion. Love you forever!

Love and peace

Leah

Reading this notes filled me with so much hope. I thought Love does exist.

I quickly took a picture of the note and texted it to some of my single friends with these words, Saw this on my morning walk. Praying this perfect love for you. Feeling hopeful!

The text responses from my four of friends varied from:

Heart and peace sign! I hope Tom feels the same and he accidentally dropped it? I would keep a note like that.

But why was it not saved in a safe place by Tom?

Aww!How sweet! LOL, maybe he didn’t feel the same and threw it out his car window!

Awww.Tom needs to learn how to hold on to things like this. LOL. Leah is like, “You lost my love note?” Tom’s like oh crap! I lost her note!

My response :

LOL! He probably kept it tight in his pocket at all times but it fell out while he was walking and now he is distraught wandering the neighborhood trying to find it.YEP! I’m A HOPELESS ROMANTIC!

I looked down at the note and thought, I hope Tom finds his lost note. 

Kipper and I continued on our walk.

I threw a smirk up at the sky and silently thanked God for the sign and thought, True love does exist.

Love, Peace and Hope IS just a step away. IT IS COMING !

Can you believe God has good things for you ?

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11


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Today Facebook reminded me of this key date.

Five years ago, I arrived in California. It was a dream- No! It was a prayer answered. Most days,I can’t believe that I really live here.

Last night, I watched the movie, The War Room. It is about asking God to fight our battles through prayers. The beach was just a want not a need. God answered that want. I am humbled by this. It got me thinking of all the prayers he has answered. Here’s some of highlights.

-Eighteen years ago, I went through a divorce, I worried and prayed,”Let my kids be happy.”

– A few months after a divorce, my ex became a paraplegic in a snowmobile accident, as a single mom, with my financial planning business in its infancy, I struggled financially. I know I prayed endless nights just to have enough money to get by and pay for groceries.

-As a single mom, I wanted my kids to go college but didn’t think I would ever have the finances for them to do so.

-Six years ago I became unexplainable sick. I lost about twenty pounds and didn’t know the battle I was fighting was Lyme disease and mold toxicity.

-Five years ago, I wanted a better quality of life to live life with a chronic disease and to be near my daughter who was going to be attending college in California.

– For the last eighteen years, I prayed for a husband, a companion.

So how did God answer?

He answered in HUGE ways!

Today Jake is an engineer in Chicago and Tarah is finishing college in New York.For the most part, both are happy.

Financially, we survived as a family, even though the year of the accident, I only made roughly ten thousand dollars. God provided for me and my children, day by day, just like manna from the sky for the Israelites.

He provided the dream and moved me to the beach so even with a chronic illness, I can walk everyday . For that I am so grateful. I may not completed healed from Lyme disease but am stronger, healthier, and enjoying swimming, yoga and playing pickleball. Heck, I’m even get some of my sassy pants personality back.

And about the husband… I finally have met someone …. PSYCHE!

NOT YET ! It IS coming !

God is not tired yet of me asking for the husband! He likes hearing from me and YOU!

God knows my heart and desires and I believe he will answer the small and BIG PRAYERS !

Can you trust God with the HUGE desires of your heart?

What prayers has he answered for you? I would love to hear. Comment below.

“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4


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Today, Facebook reminded me of a post that I wrote ten years ago today. It read:

Headed to South Haven, MI today. Once again makes me wonder,why do I live in Chicago? I am a beach girl.

When Facebook reminded me of that memory, I smiled and quietly thanked God. He moved me to the beach.

As I waited, for my Keurig to dispense my morning coffee, I thought about this further.Moving to the beach was something I desired. It was just something I wanted. It was not a need.

As I sat at my desk, sipping my coffee, I thought, If God took care of this want, he has the big stuff.Truthfully I needed this reminder. I think through my sickness,I haven’t forgotten or doubted this. God has my needs.

He has your needs too.

What do you need?

Ask God. He never gets tired of hearing from us.

“And my God will supply all your needs…” Philippians 4:19