Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: metaphors for life

  • It Is Well

    She arrived at retreat with the deep awareness of letting go of worry and control. She would have no email, text, or phone access while on retreat for the next seven days. Her daughter and son-in-love were leaving dock the following day. They would be working their way to the Gulf of Mexico, then on to the Carribean, living on the 35-foot sailboat named after his late mother for the next year and a half.

    During introductions, one of the women at the retreat shared that she and her partner had left California and had for the past ten months been living aboard a sailboat! They were currently in the sea of Cortez. Wow….

    A few days into the retreat, the woman who was living on the sailboat was given this message from Jesus: “Humans have been sailing on the seas since time immemorial. The way to keep your self safe is to focus inside where the waters are always calm. You will be safe. Enjoy. Really look into the sunset. Really smell the salt air. Really be with this adventure. All will be well. And all manner of things will be well.”

    She fully recognized the message from Jesus was for her too.

    Home from the retreat, a text message to her daughter included the synchronicity about having been with a retreat attendee who was also currently sailing for life, along with the message that had come from Jesus.

    “I have been coloring this week,” her daughter quickly sent a text message back, along with this photo:


  • 2,500 Songs!

    Sacred Stories

    He wanted his mom to play his song.

    Three Little Birds is an awesome memory and connection to his twin sister, who had lived 3 1/2 days.

    His mom could not play the song for him, because she had taken the cord into the house to recharge her iPad, and had forgotten to put the cord back in the car.

    The following morning as they were leaving the house, he reminded his mom to take the cord.

    When they got in the car, she plugged in the cord, and Three Little Birds was playing for him.

    Pretty amazing evidence that his sister’s spirit was involved… Her iPod holds 2500 songs!

    These are sacred stories. Pay attention to happenings in your life. Do you have a story to share?

  • Atlanta Angel

    Sacred Stories

    She had been out of state visiting her son and daughter-in-law and her new grandson.

    Choosing to spare them having to drag the baby across town to escort her, she assured them she was capable of catching a bus and getting herself to the airport.

    She set out. However, her confidence soon wavered. Since her husband had died, she often felt without support. This was one of those times.

    A man, missing his front teeth, was seated at the bus stop when she arrived there. She said she was going to the airport. He assured her she was in the right place for the bus to the airport. So, she waited….

    Almost an hour had passed, and when no bus arrived at the scheduled time, the man jumped up and told her to come with him. “They just don’t run on time. We’ll have to get you to the subway station or you will miss your flight!”

    She felt some hesitation, but in the desire to make her flight, she followed quickly.

    When they got to the subway station, he insisted on going down into the station with her. “That is not necessary. I don’t want you to have to spend a token,” she protested.

    He said he did not have to pay extra. “I have a pass. I want to make sure you make it on to the right subway train!”

    She boarded the train, and as it pulled away, he put his hands together and bowed his head.

    Once again, she had been given assurance that we are always being watched over and cared for….

  • Divine Design

    Sacred Stories

    She had been doing some volunteer work with the local hospice organization. Although her involvement had not been ‘active’ in the recent past, the hospice person stayed in touch some via text.

    When she received a text message asking if this was a good time for her to provide some additional assistance, she had to decline, saying that her husband had recently been hospitalized. His care at home was demanding at lot of her right now.

    The hospice person wrote back asking, “Is there anything I can do to support you?”

    What had begun as a request for her to give support, suddenly unfolded into an opportunity for her to receive support.

    “I have been wondering if my husband could receive additional help managing his pain by going onto hospice care. It is increasingly difficult to get him to the doctor, too. I have been too overwhelmed to even make the call.” She spoke honestly.

    Within less than 24 hours the hospice person had put things into motion with absolute resolution. By the end of the night her husband had been accepted on hospice care!

    “I can see it all as such evidence that God is working all things together for good,” she said.

    Like the individual shards of glass in a kaleidoscope, all the people and happenings in our lives are moment-to-moment perfection being revealed. Life is more beautiful with the ups and downs. Each circumstance in our life is being expressed in Divine Design….

    Thank you for noticing this evidence and beauty in your own circumstances. Please share with others. These are sacred stories.

  • Flowers of Love

    Sacred Stories

    She arranged to have a dear friend create the floral arrangements for the church altar in honor of their wedding anniversary.

    On the way home from church, they gave one bouquet to her late friend’s daughter. The daughter was from out-of-state, supporting her father with hospice care there in his own home. The daughter had been sick, worn out, recovering, and in the thick of compassion fatigue. She cried when she saw the beautiful bouquet and felt the thoughtfulness.

    The other bouquet went to a neighbor whose husband had passed just six weeks prior — and it just happened to be their 48th anniversary!

    Clearly the gifts of these ‘Flowers of Love’ were divinely guided as well as lovingly created.

    Be alert to the subtle guidance you receive. Share the way Sacred Stories are alive in your life.

  • Timing is Everything

    Sacred Stories

    His choice was to donate his body to science.

    After he passed, his grand daughter was surprised to see he had done the necessary paperwork exactly one year ago!

    Timing is Everything

    When the stars line up
    And you catch a break
    People think you’re lucky
    But you know its grace
    It can happen so fast
    Or a little bit late
    Timing is everything

    Songwriters: Natalie Nicole Hemby / Troy Jones
    Timing Is Everything lyrics © Tiltawhirl Music, Crozier Music

  • August 10

    Sacred Stories

    He had for years lived in what had been his mother’s home. The time had come for him to sell it and move nearer his daughter. He had received an offer on the home a week or so earlier, pending inspection and financing.

    Early one morning he was at the laundromat doing his laundry. Usually he was the only patron there, with just the attendant. This day, a couple was also there. He overheard their conversation—about their having put an offer on a house. He thought they were describing his home.

    Approaching the group, he asked about the location of the home they had put the offer on, and then exclaimed, “You are buying my home!”

    What a small world….

    Later that day he located the deed and noticed the couple had put their offer on the home on August 10, the exact date his mother had purchased the home years earlier.

    Share your sacred stories so we can all be more aware of the invisible threads that connect everything.

  • Dad’s Love in an Apple

    Sacred Stories

    She had been thinking about her dad a lot lately, especially that morning.

    As she stood there in the kitchen and took a bite of her apple, she realized her bite made a heart shape in the flesh.

    This was an apple her Dad would have picked up from the apple farm on his way home from work. It was small, and just the right amount of sweet.

    She was so happy that she took a moment, for whatever reason, to pull back and see her Dad’s love in an apple.

    Be alert to those simple reminders…. Love is all around us!

  • Free Lunch

    Sacred Stories

    A couple weeks after her husband’s passing, he received a big postcard inviting him to a free lunch, along with a guest, at one of their favorite restaurants.

    The only obligation was to listen to their presentation on cremation.

    Her girlfriend said he would want her to go, but tell them they just missed him!

  • Pine Cone

    Sacred Stories

    Her Godmother, who was like a sister to her mother, was visiting. They all met at a restaurant for dinner.

    She brought some pictures and things of her mother’s that she wanted to ask about and discuss with her Godmother. They laughed and joked—sharing a really nice time.

    In the middle of the conversation her Godmother asked, “Do you think she is here with us?”

    “Yes,” she answered, and they both got a little teary-eyed.

    When they had finished dinner, the others had to go to the bathroom, so she and her Godmother stood by the stairs waiting right inside the restaurant.

    She looked down and saw a pine cone.


    This pine cone was like the ones in the mountains—her mother’s ashes were taken into the mountains. Her mother loved nature and the outdoors. When she was a girl and they didn’t have a lot of money sometimes they would go out and pick up pine cones and take glue and glitter and decorate them….

    She said, “I think that she was there with us. Why would there be a pine cone there right as we stood waiting? It wasn’t there before. We looked around and there was no display or anything that even came near to a pine cone.”

    This pine cone was a sign. For certain!

    These are sacred stories. You are always invited to share.