September 2022
Greetings and good morning from the beautiful Bitterroot Valley! Today’s theme is going to encompass two messages that will hopefully inspire you in our world today.
- Never make a plan – because it WILL change.
- It takes a Village . . .
Over a month ago, I received a call of distress from an elder friend. Her rent had been raised $50.00. Living on a fixed income, she didn’t have the extra required and was asking me to reach out to others to seek charity. I knew how it could be solved effortlessly, I would just be the silent benefactor and take care of it.
Intuitively, she must have realized and made a call to me and stated emphatically, “I don’t want YOU to be responsible for this.” I never received a call-back of her becoming homeless and felt assured things had worked out for her.
However, just a few weeks later here in the Bitterroot, I had nine friends contact me. Each told me the same story, but with various reasons, “I have just been evicted and have until the end of August to vacate.
On the eighth call, I listened to my answering machine. On it, Debra stated, “I have just been evicted from my apartment.” I called her back quickly and stated, “Debra, I am going to say something and then I am going to laugh and perhaps you will, also. I am not laughing because it’s funny HA-HA, and it isn’t that I’m not compassionate . . . but maybe you will be laughing, too.”
Before I continued, I said, “I just have to ask one question. Do you have to be out by the end of August?” She said, “Yes.”
Sorry, but I did start giggling as I related, “Seven other people in seven days have called me with the same situation. You are number 8 on the list and at least you are in the top 10!”
Thank God she did start laughing, rather than crying – or I would have felt like a horrible person for handling the conversation the way I did. She cried out, “In fact, you have made me feel sooo much better because it’s NOT JUST ME being singled out.”
For me, I had plans made to attend my 51st class reunion in Sturgis. We missed our 50th because of Covid. I had planned for months to attend, although I graduated from Arizona – not Sturgis. Friends from that era included me, however, and I was thrilled that I would get to go see my youthful friends again. But it seemed that God had other plans for me and I wrote the letter to deny my attendance:
August 11, 2022
Hello Fellow Classmates!
I didn’t graduate with you, but was invited by Sheila Limbo to join in your fun. I have planned on it since arrival of the invitation. I have enjoyed receiving updates on all you characters and have felt sadness for the loss of those in our class.
Requested to catch people up during the last 50 years would be a novel. There are plenty of highlights (and low lights,) but to be brief:
I married at age 18, divorced 19 years later.
Remarried and spent 16 years raising his two kids and my son and daughter. Today is actually the anniversary of his death. He died doing what he loved most (being a prospector and having his own gold claim.) He fell off a mountain, shoved his right femur up through the right ball joint of his hip and died four weeks later of blood clots. My life changed that day in 23 minutes. I remain a widow.
I received my Ph.D. in 1996 in religious studies. Ordained as a minister in 1995, I marry ‘em and bury ‘em. In the same year, I created a Miracle Healing (Prison) Ministry. Convicts “make it look easy” getting behind bars. With tremendous red-tape, I was accepted to be an inspirational speaker behind bars and had my “captive audience.” Teasingly, I call myself “Dr. Glo-bug (Just here “to lighten things up.”)
Besides the ministry corporation, I also own and operate Miracle Publishing & Distribution. As a “third generation motor mouth,” I now have 11 inspirational/self-help books in print and four to edit to go to press. I am a motivational speaker nationally and internationally.
I live 24 minutes south of Missoula, Montana in Stevensville….in the heart of the beautiful Bitterroot Valley. I feel like I am on vacation every day, looking at this beauty. Until last summer,
our family still owned the little yellow house on Fulton Street behind where the Ford Company used to be. With my mother’s passing in 2021, us kids finally sold the property. To each of us, it still felt like HOME.
My strengths come from my love for God, family, and country. My yard still has 50 flags, decorations and red/white/blue lights in it. You wondered what that glow in the Western skies is? Umm…that would be my home!
I am unable to attend because of trauma and drama in the lives of my loved ones. In seven days, for various reasons, nine of my friends have lost their homes and are being forced to relocate by the end of August. With tremendous compassion, I have opened my home and could potentially become “tent city,” giving them refuge. I know this situation is occurring everywhere. As much as I would love to “come out and play,” see Barb Barnes-DeGroff and so many others … my place is here, for now. I will look forward to updates on Facebook.
Being a cup half full – and being the little eternal optimist – I visualize a wonderful experience for all of you!
I believe, with God, this world will be turned right-side-up and we will become a civil humanity,
Thank you for the invitation. To the team who organized it all – you get an A+ and ten stars: **********
Enjoy! HAVE FUN AND BE SAFE!
Sincerely,
Gloria D. (Hale) Benish, Ph.D.
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Changes in plans have occurred all through August for others and myself. You have to just “go with the flow” as it is all occurring . . . letting go and just being “along for the ride.” God is placing His kids in exact positions of where He wants them to be.
My daughter had company arriving and called last week asking me to help by being a “White Tornado” and getting her home cleaned quickly, with a guest arriving for a week. Momma came to the rescue.
Later that evening, she called to thank me, “Momma, I just wanted to thank you for coming to my rescue and handling the parts of life that I am a failure at: cleaning my house and home-schooling my kid.” I assured her, “You are NOT a failure Danielle, it takes a village to support one another through this life.” I ended the conversation by saying, “And by the way, I just hope I am smart enough to get Kathryn graduated from the 5th grade! I had to ask Google what “predicate” meant on the first day of home-schooling because 57 years have passed since I have ever even heard the word and learning what it meant.”
Personally, I have planned for a month to have the Montana CONNECTING CONSCIOUSNESS Coordinator and her husband in my home for four days this week. Along with their visit, I would be hosting an all-day workshop, a prayer ceremony at Lolo Pass, and my regular monthly face-to-face gathering in my home for 15-20 participants. It was a plan set in stone. Or, not! Yesterday, through a series of circumstances, the entire week was cancelled. It was a “God-thing,” because it worked out to the highest good of everyone concerned.
Talking with a friend this week in Phoenix and sharing the stories I have just related herein; she responded that 1,800 people A DAY are being evicted from their homes. It made the amount I am attempting to help feel miniscule. She also said that so many illegal immigrants in Phoenix, with lack of police force to stand up against the crime has Phoenix being a Hell Hole. I find myself feeling blessed that He put only 9 on my doorstep and heart to help!
It is the times we are in. It is the time for which we were born to live our spiritual understanding, not just talk about it. We were each born for such a time as this. To lighten things up with the Presence of God that shines through us.
God’s Hand is in all of this. Not done as a punishment, but to place us each where He wants and needs us to be.
I tried for years after Kirk died, to leave the Bitterroot Valley. Every attempt failed and I remained here . . . exactly where He wanted me.
I have one of my friends parked on my curb in a camper, one living in my home. It is yet to be seen whether I become a “Soup Kitchen” and “Tent City,” but I will be a safety net for those in need. I don’t think for a moment “that it’s NOT my job,” because it is. It is every one of us to have it be our jobs to be that “Village” to help support one another.
I am not the Savior/Rescuer – but I AM the teacher, transferring my knowledge to others of “how to plug in Directly to make that personal connection.”
Years ago, I was having a discussion/argument with God. I cried out, “I can’t feed that many people.” He used the back of His hand to push my human personality out of the way as He said, “I CAN.” He also asked me to do something else I didn’t feel qualified to do and I said, “I can’t do that, either.” A second time, He used the back of His hand to push my human personality out of the way and said, “I CAN.” He spoke with authority, I can only BELIEVE and TRUST.
Like many others, I too live on a fixed income. He has CONTINUALLLY demonstrated that I have everything I need, usually before I know I need it. People drop off unexpected groceries, someone sends an unexpected donation, someone gifts me with boxes of clothing because they don’t know anyone small my size, or a man shows up on my front curb and fixes my housemate’s vehicle (with no out-of-pocket expense) for her.
The signs and wonders are all around us, we just need the eyes to see. I AM the rock, the stable stone on which many depend. It isn’t the human Gloria I am talking about, please understand. That Divine Presence within me unfolds daily and dazzles even me, giving me the energy/the words/the sustenance for others and self (only as long as I am willing to share) and He shows me that none of it can be depleted once you make that connection.
We are on the cusp, getting ready to make that giant leap, the one we have all waited for. The transformation is happening. Watch, look, and listen to that inner voice and obey.
I seldom give unsolicited advice, but I feel compelled to say it anyway. STOP making plans and you will save yourself unnecessary disappointment. Make your connection first thing in the morning and if you find yourself lost, reconnect for two minutes on the hour, and watch where He will lead you. Also, BE WILLING to BE THE VILLAGE of support for one another – they aren’t taking “from you,” they are drawing on that infinite source WITHIN YOU.
Until next month, take care . . . I care . . .
Always,
Gloria D. Benish, Ph.D.
Alias: Dr. Glo-bug – Just here “to lighten things up”
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