A blessing from a blog

I have recently had the honor of meeting a lovely young woman, Sundi Jo, through LinkedIn.  I've only just begun exploring her blog, but every post I've read so far has been a divine blessing.  I'm new to LinkedIn too, and already it's obvious that the majority of people are using it to establish professional relationships, which is fine, but I thank God that there are also many who are using this tremendous tool to share the Good News of His love, grace, and mercy.

If you want to see first-hand how God is moving in the lives of young people today, visit her blog.  I will be - often.

A great read on voluntary simplicity

I'm not sure that my core motivations are the same, but here's a great summary of the concept of voluntary simplicity that I'm trying to embrace in my life.  Looks like an interesting blog.

Pennies from Heaven

It's time for me to get serious about replenishing my savings account and preparing for retirement. I took the first major step in 2008 - eliminating all of my debt. What a relief! And now I'm always looking for creative ways to reduce costs and save money.

One of my first steps was to sign up for Bank of America's Keep the Change program. I'm sure there are other banks that provide this service, and it's also possible to do it on your own. But, since I'm already a BoA customer and it's a mindless way to save, I decided to do it. In a nutshell, whenever I make a purchase with a debit card (which represents 100% of my expenses other than rent and utilities), the purchase amount is rounded up to the next dollar, and the additional amount is transferred into my savings account. In additiona, BoA matches 10% of my Keep the Change deposits each year (up to an annual total of $250).

Welcome to my blog

Living a life of "soulful abundance" has become a major life goal for me. In fact, after my decision to become a Christian, it's probably the next most important lifestyle choice I've ever made. I've been on this journey for about two years and the results have been profound. I've been thinking about sharing the strategies and insights I'm learning for quite some time, and finally decided to take the plunge and start this blog. I hope you find it useful and meaningful and I invite you to share the journey with me.

What exactly is "soulful abundance?" Dictionary.com defines these two words as follows:

soulful: full of or expressing deep feelings; profoundly emotional.

abundance: an extremely plentiful or oversufficient quantity or supply; an overflowing fullness; wealth.

The concept of abundance is not new. It's mentioned often in the Bible and it's been gaining popularity lately in its current incarnation, known as The Law of Attraction. The concept first began to take hold for me when I read Simple Abundance. In it, Sarah Ban Breathnacht, defines simple abundance as "an inner journey, a spiritual and practical course in creative living, a tapestry of contentment."

That simple definition contains so much insight. It's an inner journey, meaning that it is ours and ours alone, a journey of our choosing, it comes from within us and is not predicated on external events. We can embark on this inner journey regardless of our external circumstances. We don't need to wait until the bills are paid, the kids are grown, we get married (or divorced), we buy that new house, or we get that new job. We can embark on this journey NOW.

It's both spiritual and practical. It's interesting that both words are included here. So often people focus on spirituality, but they forget that it's faith and love in action that matters. We're talking about a lifestyle, not an abstract theory here.

I love the word creative. As a self-proclained artist (in the very broadest sense of the word), anything that involves creativity definitely has my attention. But what's great about that word in this context is that not only does it inspire me to live my dream of filling my life and home with "art", made by me and by others, but it also reminds me that God and I together are the artists of my life as well. God has given me the opportunity, the resources and the desire to create a life that is pleasing both to Him and to me.

Here's what Sarah has to say about Simple Abundance:

At the heart of Simple Abundance is an authentic awakening, one that resonates within your soul; you already possess all you need to be genuinely happy. The way you reach that awareness is through an inner journey that brings about an emotional, psychological, and spiritual transformation. A deep inner shift in your reality occurs, aligning you with the creative energy of the Universe. Such change is possible when you invite Spirit to open up the eyes of your awareness to the abundance that is already yours.

With all due respect to Ms. Ban Breathnacht, while simplicity is goal and ultimately a by-product, the process is not "simple". It requires a conscious commitment to changing the way we think about our lives, our relationships and our environment. It is a paradigm shift that challenges the choices we make and the motivations behind them. For me, it's been a central theme in my spiritual development, and has also been profoundly emotional - hence my personal preference for the term "soulful abundance."

In upcoming posts, I'll expand more on my thoughts about soulful abundance. I'll also be sharing practical suggestions on how to create more soulful abundance in your life. I'm also planning to develop a set of links in the far right-hand sidebar of online resources and books in print that you may find helpful.

Thanks for visiting and please come back. I invite you to share this exciting journey with me.