Hi Friend.

What a time in history this is. Whether you’re one to watch all the footage, news reports, and media, or one who consciously takes in what you’re able to handle to better serve the community, I’m with you. Being aware of what is going on in the world and all of our history is so important. Know better, do better- in all areas of life.

The most important thing I feel I can “do” is pray. Pray for the victims. Pray for the victims’ family and friends. Pray for the community. Pray for the attackers and aggressors. Pray for the system. Pray for all those in power and in charge. Pray for the betrayed. Pray for the powerless. Pray for good, positive change. Pray for the world.

The more I’ve learned about the power of prayer, the more I know prayer to be the best thing to do. Yes, of course, there are other actions and steps that need to be taken. But prayer is always a wonderful start.

This book helps illustrate the power of prayer. It’s no secret I love feel good books, movies, and tv shows. Life can be difficult enough on it’s own, so it’s nice to be reminded of all the good in the world. This book, When God Winks at You by SQuire Rushnell is just that. It consists of many people’s own personal godwinks. What is a godwink you ask?

I love this. The more life experience I gain and the more I learn about quantum physics, the less I believe in coincidences. I know there to be a Creator, God, and as pointed out in this book, “you’re always on His GPS- a global positioning system I like to call God’s Positional System” (p.4).

The following includes some of the quotes that stuck out to me, with a little elaboration by yours truly. 🙂

GODWINK LINKS

“God uses others as unwitting messengers of godwinks to each of us. In fact, we all become deliverers of goodness to others without the slightest clue that God is using us that way” (p.15).

• What a beautiful image. We all have served and will continue to serve as godwinks for others. In ways we are completely unaware of. This is so magical. Imagine if we could one day see all the amazing godwinks we received and were a part of! Wow. I think we would be overcome with awe.

“Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” James 1:2-3 NKJV

• Ugh… this verse. Yes, on the outside this makes sense and it truly is amazing when you get to the point of counting your trials as joys because you are able to see the growth, bigger picture, and understand you’re developing all sorts of amazing qualities (patience and humility are the big ones that come to my mind). But my dear friend, it can be SO DIFFICULT to get to this spot. I truly don’t know how people could get to this point without believing in a higher power. Regardless of where you are, give yourself some grace for whatever stage you’re at. And I pray, one day you too will count your trials as joys.

 

CATCHING HOPE

“Hope is a powerful force in life. It’s like going into the kitchen, turning on the faucet, and being surprised by the water pressure. You almost jump back, giddy that there’s so much energy pouring out. Your hope is stored up inside and wants to burst out of you the same way. You need to turn on the faucet of your faith and then feel the surge of hope that springs forth. If you are fully hopeful, you’ll cause other people around you to almost jump, happily splashed with your enthusiasm. Reinforced by the wonderful godwinks that happen to you, hope is contagious. Go ahead. Spread it around!” (p. 45-46).

• What do you think of this? Some days I would feel there was no hope in my pipes to come gushing forward. But what this quote points out is that, “you need to turn on the faucet and then feel the surge of hope that springs forth.” If you have faith, it will lead to hope. But you also have to allow yourself to be hopeful. Sometimes we may need to be in the dark area of no/ limited hope, to process things. But I pray you don’t stay there for long. Hopelessness is a terrible place to be.

 

• What’s really helpful is hope is contagious. And I would encourage you, once you’ve allowed yourself the time and space to process whatever you need (being hopeless), start the journey towards hope again.
  • One of my favorite ways to do this is to reverse the hopeless comments/ sentences that you’re saying/ thinking…
    • “what if it doesn’t work” to “what if it DOES work!?”
    • Continue stating the reverse of the hopeless sentences, preferably out loud and see how much better and lighter, and hopeful you feel!

“Deep within you… nothing is hopeless. You are a child of God, and hope has been planted in you by God.” – Norman Vincent Peale (p.47)

• Another wonderful image. While we may go through stages of our life with more or less hope, it’s always there. It’s in our human make up.

TRANSITIONS

“At times of transitions in your life, you seem out of sorts- lost” (p.59).

• Amen! I realized a few years ago that I can have a hard time in the transitions. Meaning, whatever I’m doing in the moment I want to continue doing. If I’m watching episode after episode on Netflix, I want to continue. If I’m having a great day at work, I feel I could just keep going. etc.
• Whether it’s the daily transitions from home to work, rest to activity, eating to not eating :), or bigger transitions of a life path… transitions can be hard!
• If you feel out of sorts during transitions, I really appreciate Brendon Burchard’s recommendations.
  • During the daily transitions:
    • MOVE
      • stand up, get some water, stretch, and take some deep belly breaths.
    • OBSERVE
      • make a mental observation of what you just completed.
      • what are your wins?
    • INTENTION
      • state your intention for this next part of your day.
    • ACTION
      • Do it!
  • During the bigger, life transitions:
    • REFLECT
      • JOURNAL- you’d be surprised how you write things differently than you may think them. Journaling often clues me into how I really feel about things or provides points I didn’t think of previously.
      • MEDITATE- in times of stillness and quiet, we are better able to receive (guidance, ideas, godwinks, intuition, etc).
    • TALK IT OUT
      • confide in a counselor, therapist, family, or friend.
    • WALK OUTSIDE
      • I believe connecting yourself to nature really helps open the line between you and your intuition.
    • SLEEP
      • Never underestimate the power of sleep! It can make or break your day. Far too many of us have trained ourselves to function on less than 7 hours of sleep a night. But friend, if you’re not sleeping 7-9 hours of sleep every night, there are objective detrimental effects occurring in your body. (If you’re a parent to a young child, you get a pass… because life! But really try to incorporate other periods of rest in you day!)
    • NOURISH
      • Eat plenty of good food and drink half of your body weight in ounces of water each day. I know, I know. This is always my suggestion, but we are what we digest. And what we eat and digest makes up our being, which contributes to how we feel, which will manifest in how we think and what we do.

“Perhaps you are more sensitive, more attuned to God’s messages at those moments” (p.63).

• Moments when we are out of sorts may provide an interesting time to be more sensitive and more aware to God’s messages and our own feelings.
• This would be an example of when your trials can turn into your joys. You may be out of sorts during a transition, but due to this, you are more attuned to God’s messages and possibly more in tune with yourself. Which is truly amazing.

Well friends, those are some of my favorite quotes from When God Winks at You.

I would love to know your thoughts about godwinks.

What are some of the godwinks you’ve experienced?

With faith, hope, and love,

Emily Kappelman