VOLUME 1
ISSUE IX

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to a happy and prosperous New Year. I spent Christmas with my daughters, their hubbies and my grandkids, and had a wonderful time. The highlight, of course, was seeing the sparkle in my grandchildren's eyes as they turned a beautiful array of presents into a heap of new toys and crumpled wrapping paper.

Now we are into 2005, it is time to think about our goals for the year ahead. Forget the resolutions - do we every really keep them? Well, not me anyway! lol I have set my sights on what I want to accomplish in 2005 and boy have I got a lot to do! First on my list is the completion of my sequel to "Glimpses" True Stories of the Paranormal. So, if you or someone you know has a great story to share, be sure to let me know before it's too late.

This month's story is by Catherine Ross, who lives in Tamfield, Connecticut. Since she had a near death experience in 1998, her views on life, death and the importance of both have changed tremendously. She now sees the world with new eyes, where everything is wonderous, just as a child would see. She takes nothing for granted, lives a fuller life and no longer fears death. Her experience, as you can already tell, had a profound impact on her. Here, she tells what happened in her own words.

Spiritual Parenting
by Catherine Ross

What is spiritual parenting?
Spiritual parenting has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with the development of spirit in our precious children. When we speak of spiritual parenting, we are looking to nurture that most precious part of our children, that which will remain with them -not only in this lifetime, but at the very least, where they will go when they leave this world of form and matter.
I will talk a little about my own spiritual experience in order to help you understand spirit as I know it.
Just before Christmas of 1998, I collapsed in a heap at the side of my car after experiencing severe heart palpitations. Although I had collapsed, I maintained consciousness. Now I cannot tell you if I was conscious to an outside observer or not. I really don’t know. But I knew I was fully present and that I was residing in my body yet separate from it - the way one gets in their car and drives, yet does not become the car. The ubiquitous white light was indeed present, had come in a beam straight into my left eye, and lit up my head within. It was a bit like being in a sunshine-filled ballroom. God was there - absolutely, unequivocally.
Without an exchange of words, I knew that I walked a line at that moment; the choice to live or die was up to me. All I had to do was make the decision. I was given to know that all would be well if I chose to go, that my children would be fine. I knew my transgressions were unimportant, that all was forgiven, and like a child who has stumbled and skinned their knee, God was there with open, loving, compassionate arms to comfort, protect and guide me home. But I wasn’t ready to leave, so I said, “God, can you help me out, please?” with the intention that I wanted to live. At once, the light disappeared, my palpitations stopped, I got up, got in my car and drove home.
What I was most aware of after I regained consciousness (if in fact it was lost) was that I had been fully and wholly myself, even at the cusp of entering another dimension. The degree of profoundness that I experienced in days following cannot be undermined. I had met God. There is a place we go when we die. I did not go there, but it had been offered to me. We take everything we are with us when we die - our thoughts, feelings, desires, past actions, our baggage - and all of this is completely separate from our bodies.
In the following months, I had many extraordinary experiences. I awoke each morning with an understanding of the world that was so much deeper than I had ever known before, even sometimes more then I had known just the day before. I became aware of spirits, which I’d had some contact with before this event, but now became so much more than just a glimpse. They were my guides; they whispered, and sometimes shouted in my ear as I slept. They swept around me as I prayed at the beach. The wind became the kisses of angels on my cheek. The leaves on the trees glimmered with life. The trees stood still, as if with only one foot, they were planted as solidly as dedicated soldiers. The stones on the beach sucked energy from me and replaced it with peace. The very air sparkled, and the sound of the waves crashing on the tiny stones of the shore was like the magnified sound of rain sticks. The sun appeared so miraculous I cannot even write about it.
One night, I walked outside into the cold brisk air of January in New England and was startled because God was settled like a clear haze over the whole of my backyard. The whole world was alive with the Grace of God. And in that particular moment, I understood that God was indeed everywhere, in everything, just as it says in Genesis when it is written that God moved like a spirit across the waters*. I also knew that God was within me, and that I must do everything I could to allow that to shine through.
I am not special. I have perpetuated my share of what we might call sins and I continue to make mistakes. I have done nothing to deserve this glimpse of the other side. I only know for certain that it exists.
When babies are first brought outdoors, they cannot express to us their wonderment and joy at the most minute, and to us ordinary, details of nature. At best, they can bounce and point and babble excitedly. We smile at their newness. Through my experience, I was reborn. I again saw the world the way a baby does. My wonderment of the simplest things awed me. And I have never taken a flower, or a waterfall, or a bird’s song for granted since. I have learned to listen to children because they come to us with a purity of vision, one that is unclouded by mundane life - of life that is bogged down with bills and schedules, all of which takes us so far from God. Through our children, we can see what wonders God has brought us and we can relearn to appreciate, and never ignore, that which makes life so extraordinary.

About The Author: Since her near death experience, Catherine Ross has worked primarily with children in many aspects. She has taught lessons in school, in Sunday school, and to the friends of her own children who have voluntarily come to her for answers their own parents could not provide. Many times, their parents have often sought her advice as well. Catherine has no background in education or formal training in Seminary, but her views have been hailed by ministers as captivating and bearing much of the truths found in the Bible. Her greatest supporters are the children themselves, who teach Catherine on a daily basis the lessons she herself needs to learn.
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NEWS

1) Due to an initial mix-up at the publishers, the ISBN number for my children's book, Talking To My Angel, has changed to: 1-894936-28-0. Speaking of ISBN numbers, apparently all numbers will be changed in 2006. If you would like more information on this, please let me know.
2) I am pleased to announce that my special son from Camaroon, Africa will be an author any day now. His book, God of the Valleys, is due for release any day. Congratulations Johnson! I am so proud of you.
3) My new web site is now up and running, and I invite you all to take a peek. In fact, stay awhile and browse, as I have added some books by special friends of mine on my site. There are also a couple of special offers and some free stuff.

MY SITES

New One: http://www.freewebs.com/paranormalbooks
Others: http://www.authorsden.com/glimpses
http://glimpsesoftheparanormal.bravehost.com

RECOMMENDED SITES

What a past life reading, but don't know where to go? Why not try it yourself or with a friend for just $14.95. Go to: www.astralware.com

Hey, my home town has its own paranormal group that actually goes out to investigate hauntings:
http://www.hamiltonparanormal.com

Want more ghost stories? Try this site:
http://www.hauntedtimes.com

Now here's a fellow who's really into capturing ghost voices, officially called EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon):
http://franksumption.tripod.com

This site was brought to my attention by Maree Agland and I thought you might find it interesting, as this woman prophecied things many years ago that have come to pass. Mother Shipton's Complete Prophecy. Thanks Maree!
http://www.myusm.com/usm327992.html

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Have a great month and I'll be back in February. All the very best to all of you during 2005!

Martha
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