I’ve been on an intense spiritual journey for almost 6 months now. I’ve been praying for guidance and direction. I’ve been saying prayers in the morning, mid day and at evening. It has been a beautiful time in my life. It seems that in hard times I feel the presence of God stronger than when things are going well. Truly dedicating this time to Him has strengthened me more than I could have hoped for.

One of the prayers I’ve been focusing on as of late has been the Rosary. I started with a nine day Novena and continued on from there. I really have no idea how many days I went. But the spiritual and material blessings have been profound. I also have a long fascination with Medjugorje. This small town in what used to be Yugoslavia has drawn millions upon millions of people because, reportedly, the Blessed Virgin Mary has been appearing to 6 children there for 28 years, since June of 1981.

In early 2005 I was privileged to meet one of those children, Ivan Dragicevic, who is now my age, 44. My family and I got invited to a special Mass where Ivan was speaking. We started the service by praying the Rosary, then we celebrated Mass and right after Mass, on the altar in front of us all, Ivan had his daily apparition with the Blessed Mother.  It was very beautiful and moving. After Mass, we went up to meet him and I told him about My wife Joanne, who was sick with cancer at the time and that we had 9 children and her situation didn’t look good. He said that he would recommend Joanne to the Blessed Mother during his next apparition. And I believe he did.

The video above was a song my Choir Director asked me to perform. The way it all came about was amazing. She didn’t know what to do with the song and was going to have our Cantors sing it but changed her mind at the last minute and put it aside, but didn’t really know why. Meanwhile, a friend of mine from the choir asked her if I could perform a song for the concert (why he did that I’ll never know!). All this was happening without me knowing it. She gave me the Medjugorje song a week later.

I was floored because of my fascination with Medjugorje and because I had been praying to the Blessed Virgin Mary so that I could know her more fully. Mary allowed me to honor Her by performing this song which was given to me through my director! WOW! It was a direct message from Mary that she was hearing my prayers. God truly does work behind the scenes. When you think all is lost and there is no hope He’s on the move! We just need the faith to realize it.

I hope you enjoy the song as much as I enjoyed performing it. God Bless!

I’d like to introduce you to a new session I’m doing in my Life Coach practice that is designed to help you focus and achieve your goals for 2010. It’s called Design Your 2010!

Here’s what you can expect:

• Review your accomplishments for 2009
• Look at your future by asking 7 Key Questions to begin Designing Your Year for 2010
• Set your 2010 goals in the 8 Important Areas of Your Life:

1. Job and Career
2. Personal Growth
3. Money & Finances
4. Self-Esteem
5. Personal Relationships
6. Health & Fitness
7. Personal Organization
8. Quality of Life

This is the perfect time to re-focus and set new goals for the new year. I have a 50% off special price for everyone who schedules their session before Christmas - $75! That’s half off the full price of $150. And, I’ll also include a copy of my latest DVD “The 10 Secrets - Tips For Successful Goal Setting” absolutely FREE! You don’t have to have the session before Christmas, just schedule and pay for it and you’ll receive the discount!

This makes an excellent holiday gift. Several people I’ve worked with have told me that it really keeps them focused on what they want to accomplish. What a great gift! Give someone some time to focus on themselves and start the New Year off right!

To schedule a session, please call 609-367-4799 or email me at rvosler@verizon.net. I look forward to celebrating your successes with you in 2010!

Take Care,

Rich Vosler
Your Life Coach

http://bit.ly/6hx9Pc

This was a reflection as part of my daily meditation this morning. Here’s what poured out onto my journal page:

I would call my insurance company and make sure they have my bank account number correct! LOL! Then I would write each of my children a letter. Then letters to family and friends. And I’d have a celebration of life and encourage everyone to have a big party after the funeral and enjoy themselves.

Then I’d tell them to open their hearts to the onslaught of grief that would surely come. At the same time, I’d tell them to also open their hearts to the Trinity and the Blessed Mother. Because although the impending grief will no doubt be great, the onslaught of insights and lessons will be greater if you open your heart to it.

God doesn’t necessarily cause things to happen but he no doubt uses them to teach a lesson and strengthen us. Just be open to his loving guidance.

Imagine you are about to be born into the world. God calls you and offers you two lives on earth to choose from. God’s first choice involves a short life of sickness, poverty, and ridicule by people. This is the best way you can accomplish the task God has in mind for you. God’s second choice is just the opposite. It involves a long life of health, wealth, and honor. God tells you, however, that He will love you deeply regardless of your choice. Realizing the hard decision that is being presented, God asks if you want to take a few days to think about it before deciding. On the other hand, God wants you to be honest. Would thinking about your decision for a few days be a formality, because you would probably end up picking the second option anyway?

How open would I be to God’s first choice for me?

This is quite possibly the toughest question I’ve ever been asked. As I also contemplate this, please think about this and post your comments here or are on my facebook or twitter page. Thanks!

The past couple of years have been really nice being that all of the kids are pretty much self sufficient. If they can’t do something then one of their older siblings is usually there to help. I even have my oldest, Nicole, who will be 18 next month, helping with some of the driving. That’s the beauty of being single and raising a large family. I don’t have to do it all. But this past week has been very challenging for me. After 9 kids and 17 years of diapers, I thought I was done with waiting on children constantly. But King James (as I have affectionately renamed him) sees it from another perspective.

He loves to be waited on. We bring him his meals while he watches his favorite TV programs; He watches Happy Feet until he falls asleep in bed (and no one in my house has a TV in their room except him now); we change his clothes; we carry him to the toilet; we use the stroller to take him out to the pool so he can watch the other kids swim. One of the kids even found a little bell yesterday that they were going to give him to ring when he needed something but I put the kibosh on that! He also cries and whine’s a lot when I try to break any of these new habits. Like when I told him I’m taking him to the kitchen to eat with the family. Or when I told him he had to sleep in his own bed (he slept with me the first few nights). He also cries when I lift him up but anyone else can lift him and he doesn’t cry.

With the frustration there’s also been a lesson in all of this for me. When I look at James’ relationship with me versus my relationship with God as my Father, I see many similarities. There have been many times where I’ve expected to be waited on by God in the form of my prayer requests. And if I don’t get what I want, I cry, whine and moan. Like James, when he cries, I almost refuse to help him because he’s not thankful for all I’m doing. But when he says, “Thank you daddy,” I want to wait on him hand and foot. Could the same be true for me and my relationship with God? I bet that’s why I’ve been so frustrated with God lately. It’s not His fault. It’s my attitude.

“I’m sorry God for whining and I wanted to say thank you for all you’ve given me. Here I am.”

Rich Vosler is a Certified Professional Life Coach, speaker and author. Rich can be reached at 609-367-4799 or by email at rvosler@verizon.net. His website, www.RichVosler.com is full of life and success tips as well as his brand new blog. Call or email today for more info and to schedule a free initial session.

I’m not one to relax easily. I don’t know why that is. I’ve heard that you have to quiet your thoughts in order to hear God’s voice speaking to you but I have never gotten to that place. I’m always looking at the clock preparing my next move. There’s always something more important to do than what I’m currently involved in. Usually by the end of the week I’m ready to go home and get on with life!

I was determined to make this week different. On Sunday, instead of planning every second during the day including what time we’d head back to the beach house, shower and head home, I took off my watch and left my phone in the car. I didn’t care about anything - not when to leave, when to shower, when to eat. I couldn’t care if we stayed until midnight.

In this regard, it’s very apparent to me that my kids definitely take after me. Shortly after we got there on Sunday, each child in their own simple way, found their way to me and asked the proverbial question, “When are we leaving tonight?” They weren’t asking because they were bored - they were asking because they didn’t want to leave. This went on all throughout the day at different intervals. And it seemed the younger the child, the more they asked. If I could bury one hatchet, I’d bury this one deep in the ocean sand.

My brilliant plan of relaxing at God’s waterpark failed. Because I’ve kept a ruthless time schedule my whole life it’s all that my kids know. They didn’t act that way because they’re full of anxiety. They acted that way because that’s how they think you’re supposed to act. You see, kids of all ages are very receptive to how we adults live our lives. They know when we don’t live the words we speak. And that get’s us into trouble. We tell them to turn off a particular show, and then later they see us watching a worse one. We don’t want them surfing the “bad” sites on the internet, but late at night when we think no one’s watching, they’ll see us on those sites. We scold them, “Don’t use that language in this house!” Then an hour later they hear us using the same or worse language.

It’s not a matter of what we tell our children, it’s a matter of how we live our lives. Maybe when we figure out that they understand a lot more than we think they do, we’ll begin to see some changes in the youth of today. But it all starts with looking in the mirror and examining our own actions.

I’ve got to run. I have a mirror to check.

I was talking yesterday with one of my close Catholic brothers and we were sharing some thoughts on our struggles of now and in the past. We are both looking for work and I told him that I seemed to coast effortlessly through my wife’s death compared to the financial difficulties I’m facing. It seems that the most difficult times for me emotionally involve lack of money and related worries. He said to me something I’ve known but to hear it was profound. He said, “Rich, the only reason you were able to do it all was because God was carrying your sorry _ss through the whole thing. You wouldn’t have been able to do it otherwise. He knew that your situation was unbearable and he carried you through it.” He was right. I might have used some different words (LOL!) but in reality he was right on.

When people ask how I do it all, I usually respond by pointing upwards and saying “It’s all him.” One of the scripture verses I try to remember daily is Isaiah 40:31: “They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’ wings; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.” And that’s truly how it all gets done. I hope in the Lord because I know that his purpose for us is greater than I can understand or imagine. Through that hope he sends people into my life to help take care of the kids. He sends people I can talk to. He sends his Spirit to strengthen me. He gives me everything and without him I am nothing.

So it’s not that my grief was easy, it was that God carried me, just like the Footprints poem says. I know too, that with all things, including the financial piece, he will do his part as always. He will never leave us or forsake us. But he also gives us the free will to accept his grace or reject it.

Finally, I wanted to share lyrics of a song with you that I read last night that opened the floodgates for me. I hope it touches you as much as it has me. This came from a book I’m reading called Living Catholic Faith. It’s part of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

If I Could Just Phone Home

I see your tears that fall down like rain.
And I know how hard it is to carry on,
But If I could do one thing to help you to get through,
I would ask the Lord for one more chance to talk again with you.

If I could just phone home,
I would tell you that today I soared with Eagles!
And the peace that I’m feeling just cannot be explained;
And the love that fills my joyful soul just cannot be contained!

If I could just phone home,
You could hear it in my voice that I’m so happy.
Now I can sit within God’s presence; rest in His secure embrace.
I can laugh and talk with Jesus while his light surrounds my face.

If I could just phone home…

Now I know that it’s easy for me to be brave,
Because it’s you that’s left behind so very broken.
But I promise you one thing, there’s so much more than you know.
So try your very best to trust in God and let your grief go.

If I could just phone home,
I would tell you not to worry, please don’t cry,
Because God’s love can move mountains and take away your pain.
And what looked to you like loss and death has really all been gain.

And though I can’t phone home,
When you need me I will meet you in your heart.
Talk to me like you used to and though you might not hear a word
You can find me in the starry night and in the sweet song of a bird.

Until we meet again, know I love you and forever always will.
Death can’t separate our love,
Our hearts will always be as one.
Our love’s not finished now, but only just begun.
My life has just begun!

Elizabeth J. Schmeidler  © 2004
www.elizabethshop.org

With the dawn of social networks like facebook and twitter and the increasing popularity of blogs, personal websites and newsletters that use Constant Contact type platforms, it makes sense to make these stories available to close friends and family again but also to distribute them through these viral-type internet phenomenon.

So stay stuned as I’ll update through twitter and facebook linking you back here to my website/blog. I’ll also be changing some things on the site as well so don’t get confused. I may start using Constant Contact or something similar that will reach my email friends too. I’d also love to come speak to churches, groups, associations and companies and share these stories and others about how we’re moving forward after Joanne’s death 4 years ago. There’s many life lessons from me as a single dad raising 9 kids but more so I think the biggest lessons will come from my kids teaching me things. At least that’s the way it’s been.

God Bless!

Check out my NEW book about The Vosler’s Nest here. Enjoy!