Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: Ella

  • Heart-Shaped Water Spot

    Sacred Stories

    Out for a bike ride, early Sunday morning, after the previous day of heavy storm-related rain, at 8:31 a.m. she photographed a distinct heart-shaped water spot.

    A few minutes later she sent it to a dear friend in a text message.

    The reply: “I was just sitting here, sobbing about Ella, feeling like she’s so far away.”

    “Nope,” she wrote back, including a rainbow symbol.

    “Your timing is divine,” Ella’s mom wrote, “I love you.”

    “I love you. Ella loves you. I love you. You love Ella. Timing is always divine. Do I have your permission to post this as a sacred story?” she asked.

    “Of course. I am still staring at this. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Ella’s mom continued.

    “Also look BEYOND the sign,” she reminded.

    “I see her.” (heart symbol)



    PLEASE make an intention to notice. Every moment we are being guided. Right where we are, we are being given the opportunity to look BEYOND the sign….

    (See Ella’s Soapbox for the rest of the story.)

  • Tri-fold Photo Frame

    Sacred Stories

    They were dealing with the loss of their infant daughter differently. He was living with his other two children. She was living with all three.

    He purchased a bi-fold picture frame and put a picture of the two children in it.

    Her first thought was, “Where’s our other daughter?” but she didn’t say that.

    A couple of weeks later, she asked him if he would mind if she got a tri-fold frame to replace the one he had purchased. He said, “Sure, I’ll find something else to put in that. What do you want to put in it?”

    She told him, “I want to add a picture of Ella,” and as she said Ella’s name, the box fan next to them turned on by itself.

    He said, “I didn’t touch that. I did NOT touch that.”

    She responded, “Ella wants her picture in there too.”

    He answered,”Obviously!”

    These are sacred stories. Pay attention to happenings in your life. Do you have a story to share? Send email to debra@scs-matters.com.

  • Three Little Birds

    Sacred Stories

    After her daughter lived three-and-one-half days, she founded a soap making business to honor her daughter. It was the first “market” where Ella’s Soapbox was set up.

    Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” began to play.

    This was a very special song, and the message was clear:

    Saying’, (this is my message to you)
    Singing’ don’t worry ’bout a thing
    ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright
    Three Little Birds lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

    Tears of gratitude and recognition. Ella was there with her!

    These are sacred stories. Pay attention to happenings in your life. Do you have a story to share? Send email to debra@scs-matters.com.

  • In the Stillness

    Breaking my own rule, my fingers are on the keyboard as I am listening to Claire Zammit sharing the keys and tools on how to activate and awaken even greater levels of your Feminine Power. As she says, “It might not be linear or logical,” I relate. Hearing her say, “You must find and clear the deep blocks to your connection with your Higher Power,” I have a deep longing for all beings to thrive in this connection.

    Earlier this week, I shared Karen Drucker’s “In the Stillness” with a colleague. As we listened, we both felt that coming into alignment.

    In The Stillness
    Words & Music: Karen Drucker
    In the stillness of this moment there is peace, there is peace.
    In the stillness of this moment there is peace, there is peace.
    And I rest, and trust, and breathe, and know,
    that in the stillness of this moment, there is peace.
    (There is love, I feel love, I am peace, I am love, I am.)

    Zammit describes women who don’t trust life, who don’t value themselves, who don’t feel supported. She says it is not our fault. Her research has discovered how women stepped away from Feminine Power when we took on the masculine power which (1) sets goals (2) creates a plan (3) works hard for what you want. She says we have been brainwashed by this masculine power which says we can do it by ourselves, creating barriers to receive support.

    What are your barriers to receiving support? Have you had beliefs that you were weak or unworthy? How will your life work better as you join with others who are standing for each others’ greatness?

    In the masculine form of power exist competition, comparison, and conquest.

    In the feminine form of power, we gather around one another, and we surrender into the greatness we came into this world to share.

    As much as I enjoy the words feminine power, I prefer to recognize it as our authentic power. This power belongs to women and men. Gary Zukav has been encouraging us to remember and live from the authentic power of love for over thirty years.

    Love
    Intimacy
    Vulnerable
    Compassionate
    Open heart
    Co-operative
    Win-win
    Shares
    Self-responsible
    Open to intuition
    Harmony
    Co-creation
    Wants to heal
    Faces fear
    Creates authentic power
    Integrity
    Self-aware
    Spiritually growing
    Detached from outcome
    Changes inner world

    PLEASE WATCH this interview with Oprah and Gary where they talk about each of us having a “mother ship” that guides us. At about 16 minutes into the interview, Gary speaks with a couple who had recently had a twin son live four days. The interview reminded me so much of the precious gift of Ella and I am so grateful to her mom for recognizing her as a soul.

    In the stillness of this moment I am love. And so is Ella, so are you….

  • Here we are!

    My precious friend, Erin Hamilton, is one of the most courageous women I know, and I know a lot of really courageous women!

    Erin opened her December blog post this week with the words, “Here we are.” Erin is writing about the birth of her twins, Lennox and Ella. Lennox will be celebrating his one-year birthday on Friday, December 16. Ella will join our celebration for both of them in spirit. Ella’s spirit came through with a message a few days ago. She wanted her mom to know that just as Lennox has grown and changed and learned this past twelve months, she, too, has grown and changed and learned.

    How did it get to be December 2? My previous post was on Saturday, November 19, 2016. Of course, we got to spend almost a week in Tennessee with our daughter (Stacey Dodge) and her family.

    We all have our personal, “Here we are.”

    Stacey and her husband, Doug, have just bought a sail boat. Miss Magic has been delivered to Tennessee where she will get a good face-lift in preparation for their three-month cruise next year. “Here we are.”
    miss-magic-in-tn

    Grandson, Brad, and his new bride are anticipating a move to Charlotte, North Carolina, shortly after the first of the year. “Here we are.”

    No one I know is on hold right now. We are moving forward, moving back, getting better or worse. There is pleasure and pain, loss and gain.

    A line from Erin’s blog says it all, “One does not cancel the other out.”

    Erin is speaking of the rich emotions that accompany our everyday lives. She writes, “I can’t believe we’ve survived a year. It’s so hard to explain holding such grief and loss for our Ella and such love and happiness for our Lennox all at once. One does not cancel the other out. I’ve had to learn to let them coexist. To love with all of these feelings- through them, in spite of them, because of them- has been such a journey already.”

    I will close with a favorite concept from anthropologist Angeles Arrien, author of The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary, where she links the four directions with sage advice for us all, where ever we are:

    We begin in the North, “The Way of the Warrior,” the place of the Leader, where we SHOW UP and take a stand and choose to be present. We then move to the East, The Way of the Visionary, the place of the Seer, where we TELL THE TRUTH about what works and doesn’t work for us. Then, we move to the South, the Way of the Healer, the place of the Lover, and PAY ATTENTION to what has Heart and Meaning for us. And then we move to the West, The Way of the Teacher, the place of Wisdom, where we LET GO OF EXPECTATIONS, and yet are open to what we do receive.

    Then we begin the cycle again, refining as we go. Each direction has an energy of its own, and if we leave any part out, the cycle falls apart.

    lennox-bath

    (If it would bless you, visit EllasSoapBox.com and check out a soap with a mission.)