Friday, October 31, 2014

Friday "Halloween"

Dear Diary,

Today is Halloween!  I am so excited as I we have had a wonderful time having all the trick or treaters come by for candy.

The spirits have been quite over the last few days. I am sure they are enjoying the special day in which people are remembering them and having fun.


Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Wednesday " The Lower Chakras"

Dear Diary,

It has been busy the last few days. My family has kept me busy but when I have a few moments to myself I have been working on balancing the lower chakras. I was reminded of the elements the other day and wanted to see how it worked with the energy of the chakras. This is a mediation that uses the elements in combining the physical body while balancing the chakras.

How it works:

The first step is to find a quite place to sit so that you can relax the body and mind going into a mediation. The intention then is to find your center of balance and then work on the lower chakras aligning them up with the earth plane experience.

From there you then take your focus to the base chakra which is connected to the earth allowing yourself to connect, emptying out any fears or worries that have been taking up space in your mind and body. After you take a few moments to release any fears etc... then you can connect to the earth letting your base chakra to align up with the earth while spinning it.

Next you then work the second chakra which is the sacral chakra that is connected to water. There you place your focus on the blood and any body fluids. By doing this you can move your awareness down through your body and let all the impurities or anything that is foreign in those fluids to be released into the light that does not serve for the highest good. Again cleaning out the energy in the body fluids and allowing the second chakra to spin.

The third chakra is the solar plexus which is connected to fire element in the body. This is the heat source in your body that burns and converts all things into energy. I love this one as it can be used on any emotional energy that is no longer necessary, burning it off, releasing it from the body. It can also be extended into the spiritual bodies that holds and records any energy that is no longer necessary. This allows this chakra to be cleansed and helps bring it back into balance so that it can spin.

The forth chakra that can be used in this exorcise is the heart chakra. This chakra is connected to the element of air. It is the breath of life that sustains our existences on the planet. On the in-breath you can bring your awareness into the body so that you can visualize the oxygen regenerating the cells while cleaning and clearing the energy within the body and within the heart chakra. By focusing on the out-breath you may release any stress, fears, or any emotions that no longer serve for the highest good. Again this also brings this chakra back into its full balance allowing it to spin at the proper rate.

By doing these exercises with the lower chakras you can bring the energy flow back into harmony which will clear and balance the lower chakras. This will help in keeping you more grounded and connected to the energy of the earth which is experienced in the physical body. Our bodies take a real toll in moving around the planet in our every day lives and this will allow the physical stress to move out of the body quicker rather than carrying it around. Like everything else it takes practice but once you have mastered the technique it will only take a few moments to clear and go through the exorcise.

One thing I do want to mention is that it is in no way a replacement of any kind of medical care. It is an exercise that will compliment and is kind of like taking a spiritual vitamin that will work together in building a healthier life style.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Monday "Dream Swap"

Dear Diary,

It has been a very busy but delightful weekend. I got to help a dear friend with a "Trunk or Treat" event and helped my In-laws with their garage sale. I also took time to visit a local Holistic fair that was going on this weekend so I got to spend some time visiting and catching up with some of my light worker friends who had come in for the show.

Also this Sunday was the last day of the Mercury retrograde bringing about a sigh of great relief for many who have been affected by the planetary pull. It will still take a few days for the residue of the energy to move out but will be getting weaker as the week progress.

Last night I had lots of strange dreams as they came is different series of events that focused on being stuck in an energy pattern that I couldn't shake off. When I shared my dreams with my husband this morning he felt like they were "spot on" with what he has been going through these past few months with his work and his feelings about life. When he shared his dream from last night, I couldn't help thinking how very odd it was exactly what had been going on with me as far as my emotions and feelings about things that I hadn't had the time to sit down and share with him.

As we talked about our dreams we both realized that we were picking up on what the other one was going through and understanding as we experienced it ourselves through the dreams. Our talk was very exciting as we both understood the personal struggles being more supportive of what the other was going through.

As he went to get dressed for work, I decided to go back to sleep. It was just as I was about to fall asleep that a little boy around the age of ten with an English accent came right up to me and started to share a few things that he noticed about my husband. It was kind of funny and as I was enjoying the conversation it dawned on me that he was a spirit and I was not really dreaming. My eyes immediately flew open as I thought about what he said. Then I went to find my husband and told him what I had learned from the little boy. He was surprised and thought about what I has just said acknowledging that was something that he was personally working on with a project at his work. This sparked another conversation between us until he noticed he was late for work and had to leave.

All of our lives can get so busy and sometimes we don't really get a lot of opportunities to really have some deep conversations as life seems to get in the way.  I think it can be such a blessing  when we do take the extra time to talk and really try to see the world from someone else's perspective.  It seems to make our relationships with each other so much more connected and helps us to love and support those that we love so much more.

I also think that sometimes
we are very fortunate to have a little help from the other side when we least expect it. 

Friday, October 24, 2014

Friday "Peace"

Dear Diary,

It has been nice around the house the last few days. I did notice a few spirits darting through the living room Wednesday evening. Those spirits looked like the black smoky images as they came by and then went on their way. They seemed to be interested in the environment more then they were with me. They didn't linger to chat only passing by and feeling out the house.

I did have some contact with one spirit yesterday when it passed through me while I was putting on my make-up in the bathroom. I was minding my own business when I saw out of the corner of my eye what looked like an image made out of clear vapor move through the room. As my brain started to register what I was seeing I felt an instant shift and then a tingly feeling as it move through me making me laugh. Again this spirit didn't seem to be wanting to stop to talk only passing through the room and I was in their path.

The house and myself since the other day seem to be back in harmony. Balance and peace has been restored to the house as things are getting back to normal. I was at a friends house yesterday afternoon and she brought up  the subject of what had happened last week. I noticed I could talk about it without feelings being attached so I knew that I had moved on past the emotional struggle. It felt nice to be able to let go like that.

Our family did have a wonderful and delightful evening as we got to have dinner with some of our dearest friends and their children from Finland who were in the States visiting for the week. We had not seen them in 13 years so it was a wonderful reunion to get together and catch up on all of our lives. So much has changed over the years. It was a true blessing to see them again!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Wednesday

Dear Diary,

I have been working hard on myself trying to change my energy fields with the love and support of my many friends who are amazing light workers. One of my spiritual teachers reminded me that when a Mercury retrograde is in progress it is the time to go deep within ourselves reflecting on any old energy that are no longer useful. This is the time to release old energy patterns out of cellular, spiritual and emotional bodies. What surprised me with the car wreck and then the animal situation, old wounds had come up from the past forcing me to revisit some old energy patterns that I thought had been long gone.

As the energy in the house started to change from the emotional energy shifting, I had the simple challenge of releasing those emotional energy patterns that were hindering the energy to move on to higher ground. If I didn't get a handle on it soon, then whatever was attracted to those lower energy frequencies was starting to attack and could very well spin out of control.

Finally I decided to spend some time by myself driving out in the countryside and getting out to walk. As I drove, I focused on all the love and prayers that were being sent from all our loved ones who knew what was going on. After a while I found a place in the country to get out and stand. As I looked out on the land that stretched out before me, I took a deep breath grounding myself in all the love and the massiveness of it all. After a while of taking it all in, I was able to pull all my energy back letting go of any attachments to the situations. As soon as I found my center peace swept over me bringing all things back into perspective. I could feel the emotions leave my body.

Today I feel very excited with a much clearer connection with myself and spirit. I feel almost new. The house has been quite today with not a lot of activity going on. I know that the energy has shifted and am waiting for any visitors from the spirit world who find their way back if they want to talk or need help.. The retrograde ends on the 26th... It has been a dozy!

Monday, October 20, 2014

Monday "The Unknown"

Dear Diary,

Friday I worked with my Akashic teacher on forgiveness and clearing. It was a good start but I was still very upset over what had transpired with my son and his roommate. I spent the rest of the editing my book trying to keep my mind occupied with something. Later I went out into the backyard with the dogs enjoying the sunshine but when I stepped back into the house I noticed a skunk smell right when entering the living room.

The smell didn't seem to be anywhere else but in that one location by the back door. I took a good whiff of the animals just to make sure they didn't have an encounter and needed a bath but none of the pets smelled, so I ruled that out. Later in the day I took a break from my book and went through the living room noticing the smell had moved to the front door area. When my daughter got home from work she also noticed the smell when she came into the house.

As we caught up on our day, waiting for my husband to come home I decided to go upstairs to check to see if I could smell it there. The skunk smell went all the way up the stairs but wasn't in the upstairs of the house. When I came back down the smell on the stairs was gone. It was like it was moving around the house. When my husband got home he could smell it but as the evening wore on the smell seemed to vanish.

Later I got a phone call from the place who was fixing my car from the accident and we picked it up turning in the rent car. I was so happy to get my car back and had forgotten about the skunk smell. The next morning which was Saturday I got into my car to move it and when I opened the door the car reeked of skunk. My husband then found fresh blood on the driveway thinking that one of the neighborhood cats might have gotten a skunk.

Sunday morning we drove to the city where our son is attending school and spent the day with him giving him support and enjoying our time together. At one point we decided to take a walk and were walking down the street when I heard a cat crying out that seemed to be trying to get our attention. My son and husband were up ahead a head of me. I was following a little ways behind because I took a call, but scanned the area with my eyes after hearing the sound seeing nothing. That was when I noticed the blood dripping off my son's hand. He and my husband started to react to it about that time because it was bleeding excessively dripping off his hand and onto his clothes. He had not stopped to touch anything on the walk so it was strange that it started to bleed. Quickly I ran up terminating my call trying to help looking for what caused the bleeding.

I asked him if it was a scab but he said he didn't have one. I checked his clothes and couldn't find anything that would make him bleed like that. It didn't look like a bite. The wound was on the left hand by the wrist. None of us had a Kleenex with us but a man coming out of his house offered to help giving us some paper towels along with antiseptic to clean it up. As we wiped up the area we saw what looked like a puncture wound from a claw. Thinking it was strange we decided to terminate the walk and go out for lunch not really sure what had happened. I didn't really think much about it as I continued to enjoy the day with my son and husband.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Friday "Shifting"

Dear Diary,

I don't even know how to begin to write this. These last few days have been a real struggle. We had an incident of betrayal and animal cruelty by an action displayed from my son's roommate. It is hard to describe the emotions that have racked my own feelings about what I think of the whole situation. I do have to give credit to my son who handled the situation the best that he could.

I on the other hand have found that my emotions have ranged from anger to grief bringing my emotional levels to the lower end of the spectrum. I noticed the other day that I could smell rotting flesh in the car with me when I was driving letting me know that my emotions were opening doors into the lower levels of the spirit world. When I realized what I was attracting, I quickly tried to control my emotions as the atmosphere around me was shifting.

Later that morning my daughter was in the bathroom putting on her makeup when I walked in and the lights started to flicker. She looked at me knowing that I was not handling the news very well and I told her what happened in the car feeling the presence that was feeding off my energy getting stronger. She sat down with me and we prayed about it trying to shift the energy and ease the pain. I ended up going to bed early to escape the grief that had now settled in, only to awaken in the middle of the night to be hit by what had happened. I knew I didn't want to stay in this energy to long and quickly willed myself to sleep trying to escape.

Yesterday I was still upset but I was able to get a better handle on my emotions as I again went into the grieving process grateful that most of the anger had left. Today I am working with my Akashic Records teacher to look into processing the emotional grief faster to move on and bring my energy levels to a higher frequency. We will also work on clearing my energy fields etc... As a sensitive I don't want to stay too long in the lower levels as it can create a lot of problems.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Wednesday "The Dark Side"

Dear Diary,

I have been visiting with a dear friend who had asked about the darker side of the spectrum in the spirit world. I know that lately there has been a heavy fascination with that side as some of the television networks have been coming out with shows about ghosts. Most of the shows seem to be dealing with the dark side and being attacked by ghosts. My own guess is that with Halloween being around the corner that it is why the networks are airing more of these shows.

After our conversation I wanted to make a note on how important it is to educate one's self about the spirit world, especially if one is a sensitive. As a light worker and sensitive it is not always easy to ignore the darker energies that can be prone to attack. Yes, even light workers come into contact with these energies as it is a lot like running into good and evil people who walk this earth. It is just apart of the three dimensional experiences. We attract people and spirits into our lives depending on our own  vibrational frequencies.

 I want to say in no way do I ever want to discount another person's experience with the spirit world. I have my own experiences and know that they are real. What I do want to share is something that I have come to understand that may help someone when they are dealing with a darker energy. In my own past I have done house clearings, spirit rescue and communicating with the other side. As I was learning I have been attacked as well. As the saying goes, "If you are going to work with lions you might just get bit a time or two". It is all part of the learning process...

I hope that this will help in what I have to share... One of the basic rules is that every thought or emotion is created out of energy which is sent out into the aura field and into the atmosphere in the environment. This is just part of the human experience as we all participate in life. Now with this in mind we bring in a person who is sensitive and has the capacity to communicate with the spirits whether they are aware of it or not. Spirits and even the darker energies are often attracted or curious about someone who is sensitive as they have a light in their energy that lights up in their aura field. It is kind of like a track light that shows up on the other side.

The sensitive as we already know is sensitive to subtle and emotional energies around them. As they move through their life they pick up on other people's emotions as they dealing with their own emotions. They also can pick up on emotional energy that is recorded in the environment which can affect their emotions to. As a sensitive person is processing and dealing with all the emotional energy they are picking up, they are also unconsciously sending out signals to the other side which attract energies that correlate to the energies signals that are being sent out.

So lets use the example of someone moving into a house that has aggressive or dark spirits. The spirits will pick up on the emotions and thoughts of the humans who live there as they are energy beings. Like animals in the wild they will pick the weakest to pray upon. Dark energies are attracted to someone who is afraid and easy to manipulate creating a lower energy source that they can use and feed off of. The lower emotions such as fear, anger, oppression etc... are energies that match their vibration and help them to build their energy so that they can vibrate on that level of existence.

I do want to make a note that a sensitive person who is unaware of their gifts often can become susceptible to the energies in that environment quicker, as they pick up the lower vibrations, creating emotional fears etc... This also adds more fuel to the fire.

This of course can happen without the sensitive as any lower emotional energies only help make the dark energies become stronger so that they can make themselves known. As they then start to pray upon the rest of the family who have become aware of the spirits, the dark energies feast on everyone's fears and negative energies. So by the time that a family calls for help the dark energies have become stronger and are able to attack on a physical level. This is what the spirit rescuer, house cleanser or even exorcist walks into.

What I think is important to know first is that our thoughts and emotions create an energy source that not only affects the other side but each other. Sensitive or not, spirit attacks become stronger as we send out emotional signals whether we are aware of it or not. It is the sensitive person who picks up on the energy faster and becomes affected sooner if they are not used to working with the darker energies. By that I mean knowing about protection, clearing etc...

Monday, October 13, 2014

Monday

Dear Diary,

It was a busy weekend with lots of celebration with friends. My daughter and I were at a wedding shower on Saturday and busy with family on Sunday. I am still doing my healing sessions on myself and find that when I do I feel like I am good until I overdo on the housework then pay again for it later. I know with back pain it takes a six weeks but I think I can heal faster if I take a real week off from my house work.

Yesterday evening when the house was quiet, I got up from my easy chair in the living room to go upstairs to join the rest of the family. As I was walking towards the stairs in the hallway I bumped into a spirit. This is not a uncommon experience but this time it was very different. My hand seemed to go right through the spirit's hand that was hanging by their side which felt very cold, wet, and clammy. The an image shot through my third eye of a women's body that decomposing in a body of water.

The whole incident took me a little off guard and I had to shake it off as I climbed the stairs. I forgot about it as I joined the my family upstairs. Later when I went to bed I couldn't help smelling a foul smell that permeated the room. It bothered me so much that I took some rose water and sprinkled the bed. It didn't help as the smell wouldn't go away. When my husband came to bed I asked him if he could smell it but he said he didn't.

As I lay there trying to relax, my inner guidance started to let me know that there was a spirit in the room. I was reminded that a spirit who hadn't been in the spirit world very long and may have died violently often has some attachment to their physical body. When this happens they will keep the energy pattern of the physical body duplicating it in the spirit body. That is why I got the impression of a decomposing body and the foul smell.

I lay there for a little while asking if the spirit needed to talk but I got nothing. I knew then that the spirit still needed time to adjust to the spirit body and maybe later on will seek me or someone else to communicate with before moving on. The spirit finding me meant that they still had some unfinished business to take care of. We will see if they will continue to hang around or move on...

Friday, October 10, 2014

Friday

Dear Diary,

Yesterday I had the privilege to have lunch with one of my oldest and dearest friends from my childhood who was in town visiting her family for the week. She is one of those friends in my life that even though we don't get to visit a lot when we apart as our lives are so different, we will always be friends. We spent a good portion of the day catching each other up on our families and our lives. It was amazing how much had changed since we last talked.

At one time our conversation turned to the subject of ghosts as that is apart of my life. She told me that since she had been back to her childhood home she had started to have some experiences. Her mother had passed away several years ago and she was wondered if that was her trying to make contact. I have to admit that was on my mind when she brought the subject up but wanted to let her tell me what she was experiencing in the house.

My friend went on to describe seeing blurry images of someone out of the corner of her eye darting quickly through the rooms. She also talked about feeling a presences as if someone was in the room with her. I couldn't help following the energy frequency with my energy field while she was describing the different incidents. Basically when a person talks about an experience their memories relive a little part of what had happened to them creating an energy field. For a person who is sensitive to this energy it is a doorway that opens into the past event that gives access into a hologram of the whole experience. Once it is opened a sensitive person can lock onto the energy picking up the subtle vibrations that participated while tracking different energy trails of interests.

Side Note: Most sensitives will do this unconsciously as it is a natural ability for them and can't break down the process to explain as it just like breathing to them.

What I found when I went into that doorway was that it was not her mom she was seeing but a spirit who had come in the house to hang out with her family. It was harmless and only curious. As we talked I understood that if she asked me directly to give her the answer whether it was her mom or not, I would tell her exactly what I got. If not to leave it alone as the idea of a foreign spirit would only upset her. She was okay with me being who I was but still unsure about what she really thought about the spirit world and spirits interacting with the living. Her only question to me was if she had seen a real ghost. I validated her experiences of seeing a spirit. Then the conversation went into another direction and was not ever brought up again.

We spent the rest of the day shopping and enjoying each other's company.  It was a good day!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Wednesday

Dear Diary,

I woke up last night with lots of pain in my back muscles. It was 2 am and I was wide awake. I decided since I was already awake that I might as well do energy work on myself to try to relieve the pain. I put my intentions on my crown channeling energy from Source into my solar plexus going deep within my inner core. From there I started to radiate the healing energy that felt warm and tingly out through my bones and my whole body. The energy then moved out through the skin and aura releasing any stuck or pain from my muscles. I then started to feel my back relaxing while I lay there finally giving me some relief.

As I did the energy work on myself I heard a woman talking. It was just small phrases and they were said so quickly that it took me few seconds to catch on that there was a spirit in the room with me. After she said a few more things I was able to catch on to the vibrations in her voice as I became aware that she was talking to me. I immediately asked her if she needed to talk but she didn't respond. As some time passed I gave up and went back to what I was doing.

That was when I heard the woman's voice again only it wasn't the same woman. I heard the phrase, "I am a teacher". I was ready this time, shifting my energy and locking onto the frequency of her voice. I asked her her name. Again the room was silent and there was no response. Frustrated I started to give up and that is when I heard very clearly, "my name is Sarah! It is Sarah!" I then asked what she wanted and she responded, "I need help!" I asked her how I could help and didn't get a response. I asked again and nothing. I could feel her energy slipping away so I quickly opened up the gird of energy calling in the light and angels who could help as I searched for her energy trying to find her frequency again. I then saw the golden light immediately opening up but the whole process was too much for me in my state and within a few minutes I lost consciousnesses.

I slept through the rest of the night only to awaken this morning feeling like a truck had run over me. As I got my bearings I couldn't help wondering what had happened to the spirit who asked for my help. I felt guilty and a sense of regret that I couldn't hold the energy on this side to keep up the communication with her. That is when I remembered to ask my guides what had happened to Sarah. I got the response that she was okay and that she was there getting help. The transition into the light was a success. Then I got a sense of peace and knowing that she was being taken care of.

I think today is going to be a good day!   

Monday, October 6, 2014

Monday

Dear Diary,

It has been an interesting weekend. To my disappointment I found out that mercury went into retrograde this weekend which started on the 4th and goes through the 26th. With communication breakdowns this does not complement my predicament with my car. I did however find out that October has two eclipses this month. One is a lunar eclipse on October 8th and the other is a solar eclipse on October 23rd. Those are always fun to watch for.

My time lately has been taking care of my spine and taking it easy. I have noticed some major progress but this morning everything seemed to start all over again. We have had some spirit activity in the house which was actually very nice. I don't think that most people know that even spirits have some compassion for the living. This is not the first time that I have had spirits crowd around me that I sensed a great deal of loving energy and support from them. Lately I have one that likes to check up on me when I am resting. It is a nice feeling to have all the support even on the other side.




Friday, October 3, 2014

Friday

Dear Diary,

My back was really out of sorts from the car accident. I don't think I realized how much I was in pain until the next day when some of the shock wore off. When I checked in with myself my guides were letting me know that I could be healed from the pain if I worked on putting my attention on healing it. I decided to work with my heart as it was racing the other night to help me find a starting point. That is when I decided to look up the heart chakra in the Acutonics book and discovered that I needed to be working with the planetary tuning forks. I asked my husband to work on me and gave him instructions on how to use the forks on my spine. He was sweet to do as I asked and it was amazing. I was able to finally get some relief from the pain. I then slept like a log all night.

Today I was invited over for brunch by a dear friend who is a wonderful healer. She used flower essences in my water to help promote healing in my back and then had me lay on her bio-mat. The mat has crushed amethyst that is heated to help with moving the energy in the body and bringing it back into balance. As I lay there it felt as if it was working on my crown. At the time I thought that it was strange as I didn't think there was anything wrong with my crown. I had been a bit muddle headed after the accident but I knew that was normal. Then I felt my third eye open up followed by my throat chakra.

My heart chakra was next and I was aware that the energy moved to my heart releasing something there to. Then I felt the energy move down to my second and first chakra bringing it all into alignment. After a while a huge wave of energy wash over my whole body from head to toe. It was amazing. As I laid there enjoying the energy my friend came in to get me. At first I was a little light headed but she gave me some lemon water to ground and I was good.

On the drive home I realized that my head was completely clear. I did a quick checked my back finding that the pain was also gone in the spine. I was still a little sore but nothing like the day before when my spine felt like it was in a kink. The rest of the day has been wonderful with only a little soreness but not the throbbing pain that I had had before. I have also been running Reiki energy from the top of my head and moving out energy through the bottom of my spine releasing any toxins and any stuck energy. I have been healed from bursitis years ago in my hip using energy so I know that my spine can also be healed. I just have to use the tools that are accessible to me and allow my friends to help me move through this. 

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Wednesday

Dear Diary,

I was rear-ended yesterday at a stoplight while I was out doing some errands. My little Cooper which is a standard stalled out at the light and I was hit from behind by a big Jeep Wrangler. The hatch back caved in. The first thought that went through my mind was "No, it can't be!" But it had happened and the rest of the day followed with the process of taking care of the situation and dealing with my own shock.

Last night I had very fitful dreams of being psychically attacked by someone I used to know who was notorious for getting into other people's energy fields. The dream was so vivid and I knew the energy of the particular person so well that I awoke with my heart pounding. It took a moment for me to calm my heart to a normal beat as I came out of the dream. I had had a history of being blindsided by this person on the psychic level and had gone to great lengths in working on protection grids to keep this energy out. Now that the years had past, I had not had a problem in a long time with being invaded. I was finally able to gather my thoughts from the dream but I wanted to know what was happening. I also wanted to know if it was starting over again.

 I asked my guide if that person was in any way tying to contact me. I got an immediate response that it was not the other person at all. It was stuck energy that had been brought back up by my car being hit in the back. My body had been jarred by the impact of the accident and had triggered the cellular memories of being psychically blindsided. To the physical body it was all the same. The cells in my body were releasing the energy that replayed the incident which made the memory of that person so prevalent in the dream.

As I understood this, it started to register in my brain and I could accept what was happening to me at that moment. After that I was able allow the cells to release the emotional energy that was stored recognizing it and acknowledging it as it moved out into my energy field away from me. After sometime I was then able to fall asleep. The next morning I was visiting with a friend and she was intrigued by
how the body holds on to energy patterns that get stuck in the body even after you think the problem is resolved. I on the other hand was happy that at least some of the energy that I didn't know was holding on, was gone. Sometimes events in our lives that can be  frustrating can turn out to be a blessing.