Willa White's Blog

I am often struck with INSPIRATION in everyday circumstances.  It is as if the clouds part and a beam of light enters into me and I see a positive message in my situation.  I gratefully accept these spiritual insights.  My children often are part of my discovery, gratitude, and inspirations.  Thomas Kelly in his book “A Testament of Devotion” talks about (page 45) how the “last fruit of holy obedience is the simplicity of the trusting child, the simplicity of the children of God.  It is the simplicity which lies beyond complexity…and on the yonder side of sophistication… it is the beginning of spiritual maturity…and the mark of this simplified life is radiant joy.  As Kelly describes it, “We are called to put our hands trustingly in His hand and walk the holy way, in no anxiety assuredly resting in Him.” “According to your Faith, be it unto you.” My children have a book titled “Tractor Factory”. It is a pop-up book with moving paper parts.  Over th...

A ball of string.  My three-year-old found a ball of string and unrolled it all throughout the downstairs of the house saying he was "making a road."  It's just like the little boy with the dash Trail from the Family Circle comic.  Or a cat... He is so delightfully occupied that I think we can safely return all of his Christmas presents to the store now.  But we should probably keep the cardboard boxes.  *smile*

The summer Season flew by sooooo fast!   Those ten weeks felt like two!! My life seems to go by at the speed of light because it is full of family, clients, and various commitments.  And my life is full of many blessings and moments I cherish. I find myself studying my childrens' hands, faces, voices, and more because they are growing and changing each passing day.  Later on, when they are older, I want to remember the delicious moments of holding them in my arms , helping them with their shoes and homework, laughing at silly things, exploring in the woods, floating in the lake, taking walks and splashing in puddles ... And when I am with clients, time blinks by so fast.  We become so involved in our conversation with their spirit loved ones that we frequently lose track of time.  To me, a half hour feels like five minutes and an hour feels like 15 minutes.  I believe this is because when I am serving as a Medium I am com...

I am chuckling because I just got done untying a knot in a blanket.  While tidying up the living room, I discovered a tangled mess that is supposed to be a large rectangle suitable for covering the top of a bed.  My older son enjoys making his blanket into a superhero cape.  He ties a good knot, so even with the thickness of the blanket material I have trouble tugging the ends apart.  As I pull and wheedle the blanket free, I envision my wonderful boy dressed for the part: my Superhero Son.  He jumps from his bed with purpose.  He enters the room with confidence.  He delights in his role. Sometimes he uses a camouflage blanket for added stealth.  He cloaks himself for full body invisibility by tucking the 'cape' and becoming a lump on the floor or couch.  Other times, he goes about his normal business of playing and he is his normal Clark Kent-self. And as I manage...

Last summer, I served on the Lily Dale summer Season platform with my father William White at the Afternoon Auditorium Service.    We are often paired together and we both enjoy this.  He was the Featured Speaker and I was the Featured Medium.   My father spoke about the importance of the development of the Soul.  Those who only view life from the Five Senses are missing important experiences and understandings.  Materialists live from this standpoint and ignore the Web of Existence.  Living from the standpoint of the Soul helps us to exhibit altruism, to experience the beauty of the 'unseen', and to be open to Infinite Intelligence and more.   Dad also mentioned something about me.  *smile*  When I was five years old, as he was tucking me in bed for night, I asked "can we talk about life, Daddy?"  From a young age, I was interested in understanding my Soul and Life.    I find this to be tru...

I am fortunate enough to be a Mother.  Every day, many times a day I am reminded of this blessed fact.  And in this rare moment when I can write a blogpost (currently during a naptime), I find myself thinking about my children.  For you see, silence takes on a whole new dynamic when you have children.  Quiet moments are marked by naps, bedtimes, and times they are out of the house under the care of someone else. When my children were babies, I would enjoy (for many reasons) the time when they would fall asleep.  Usually, they were in my arms and they would drift off after nursing with blissful smiles on their faces.  Nestled in my arms, their eyelids would flutter closed, breathing slowed, and time stood still as I watched all their muscles relax into trustful slumber. On days when I had pressing obligations and responsibilities to attend to during their sleeptime, I felt this tug to stay in this precious moment with my sleeping b...

My family and I were enjoying a walk the other evening.  The weather was warm and thunderstorms were predicted.  You could feel the water hanging in the air waiting to be released. As we approached what seemed to be a stone in the road, it moved.  Actually, it hopped.  "A toad!" my son said with delight.  We continued on our walk.  Several feet later up the same street, my husband said, "There's a toad!"  And my son spotted two more nearby.  Each street we walked had toads in the road like stony sentinels of the evening.  In the semi-darkness of our twilight stroll, we greeted many toads.  It became a festive game of who-can-spot-the-toad-in-the-road first.  Their bumpy skin is so reminiscent of a stone in the darkness until they hop for the sides of the road, scrabbling to the safety of the grass. "Why are there so many toads?" my son asked.  "It will rain soon.  And they like the rain, " I replied....

Have I mentioned we have a vegetable garden?  We have a small plot in the Lily Dale community garden area so we can grow food for our family.  It is our space to nurture plants and experience the joy of reaping what we sow.  I agree with Gertrude Jekyll (a British horticulturist, garden designer, artist and writer): "A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust." Tilling, planting, watering, nurturing, and weeding all take time and effort.  Waiting for the plants to grow over the course of two or three months takes patience and time.  While I do this, the children play and dig in the dirt too.  My older son enjoys noticing the seedlings emerge from the soil, the white of the cauliflower peeking out among the leaves, the sweet pepper growing bigger on the plant, and the tender lettuce growing.  He ...

This morning, my husband was saying goodbye before heading off to work when my son said to my husband, "Goodbye, I love you and I'll miss you!"  Then, my son turned to me and self-corrected himself, "Souls don't miss anybody.  They only love."  How simple and sweet from the mouth of a child.  Love unites the Universe and keeps us connected with our loved ones.  My son has it right: We are souls and we love.  They love us and we love them.  Period. All other expressions of anger, fear, worry, and lack are illusions.  Souls only love.  Our higher self knows this at all times.  It is the human ego side of us that fears and feels like something or someone is missing.  Love is the essence and nature of everything. And YOU are loved at ALL times. 

My five year old has been learning to read.  Gone are the days of my husband and I spelling words in an effort to have private discussions about matters pertaining to playgrounds, toys, p-i-z-z-a, and other fun things.  He finds words everywhere and reads them. This year, we have focused on increasing his understanding of the word sounds and sentence structure.  It is a delightful process of choosing books from the library that will positively challenge his growing reading abilities and then reading those books with him, encouraging him to increase his reading fluency and word recognition.  I enjoy hearing his observations about language and the written word.  He grasps many of the 'rules' and defends his pronunciation along with the rule. "Mommy, why is it .... when it should be ...."  Words such as: what - looks like w-hat such as you wear on your head, but we pronounce it w-hut such as a dwelling place great - appears l...

My baby son is 10 months old now and one of his favorite pastimes is climbing up the stairs.  More and more frequently, he heads to the stairs for his climbing exercise.  Sometimes we head him off at the pass and sometimes we allow him to climb with supervision.  I let him go at his pace, but I am his safety net for now. As I hovered behind him during one of his stairclimbing adventures, he stopped halfway up.  Usually he climbs up as fast as he can go.  He climbs with a smile on his face and jabbering his excitement as his ascends each step. This time, he paused to examine his pathway.  He intently studied the light and dark variation of the wood grain, touching the pattern with his little baby fingers.  He was fascinated by the knotholes in the wood, tapping at them. As he examined the steps, I found myself thinking about how we as humans often use the ladder or stairway as a symbol for spiritual development....

Every school day, I bundle my two children and walk/drive/run to the school bus stop in order to get my kindergartner to school.  Sometimes we are hurrying to the meet the bus.  Yesterday morning was such a morning... After some delay, we arrive - whew!  While I chat with another mother, my son is playing in the snow.  He didn't want to put his gloves on at home and now he hands are freezing.  We put he gloves on, but they are still cold.  He bursts into tears just as the bus pulls up.  "I don't want to gooooooo!" he wails and refuses to get on the bus. A very human part of me wants to yell, "get on the bus!  It took us a lot of effort to get ready and get here in time. The roads are snowy and icy, I need to nurse the baby, and I don't want to drive you to school."  But I refrain from such a speech of monster proportions, and instead I say "let's talk about it in the car", and bustle him back into the heated veh...

I feel it is important to actively participate in my children's education. Once a week, I volunteer in my son's Kindergarten classroom for a couple hours.  For me and my son, there are many benefits.  Once a week, I have the valuable opportunity to: help the teacher by running learning centers and by being another helping hand in the classroom get to know the other children in my son's class understand the way the school functions see what my son is learning and how he is learning it, so that I can reinforce the methods at home Most of all, I get to be another positive presence in school.  I never thought of myself as a "kid magnet", but when the students sit on the rug for group learning I become the "human couch".  My son is usually on my lap and three or four other children are leaning on my legs and arms, eager to cuddle and learn.  The other children (even the shy ones) shift closer to me and smile big beautiful grins as they learn math, re...

Overheard at the playground A group of children are playing "soccer".  I use this term loosely because half of the kids are goalies standing inside the goal and a few are milling around and a few others are actually chasing the ball that rarely makes it near the goal. A 3 year-old girl  approached the kids guarding the goal and announces, "I want to be a goalie."  Another girl (a 4 year-old) rebukes her, "You are too small." "I can too," she defends, pointing one finger straight up into the air.  "I am THIS tall."  Perhaps she is referring to her aura?

Throughout the long winter, my son (in his excitement about the impending arrival of the baby) would ask almost daily when the baby would be here.  It is difficult for a four year old to understand the concept of months when he is still learning the days of the week. Eventually, I hit upon a way for him to know when the baby would be here.  I said, "the baby will be here in the Springtime".  I further explained that we would look for signs of Spring, such as when the snow melts, the flowers start blooming, the birds return, and the weather is warmer.  So then it turned into "is it Spring yet, Mommy?"  And we would reviews the signs and my sweet boy would be say "I wish it was Spring now so the baby could come". Now, the signs of Spring are in full force.  And he is noticing them! While we are taking a walk: "Look, Mommy!  The flowers are blooming.  That is a sign of Spring and the baby is almost here!" While he is playing in the front ya...

My son is in PreK now, so I am a regular parent volunteer in his classroom.  Under the heading of "parent participation", I enjoy a morning among preschoolers reading books, singing songs, learning ABCs and letter sounds, reviewing geometric shapes, doing craft projects, putting together puzzles, playing, helping with coats and bookbags, and (of course) snacktime.  In my efforts to provide them with healthy snacks on the days I am visiting, I bring clementine oranges, baby carrots, and sugar snap peas.  Yesterday, with the approval and encouragement of the teacher, I brought my popcorn air popper and demonstrated this method of preparing popcorn. I took a survey among the children and none of them (except for my son) had seen a popcorn air popper before.  They thought popcorn came from a microwave bag.  They were very excited to see the popcorn suddenly burst over and funnel into the bowl.  Their giggles and enthusiasm were wonderful! ...

On a day when the snow was melting in the early February sun, my son and I were walking and enjoying the thaw.  We admired the rare blue of the sky and the sunshine on our faces (at least the parts not covered by hats and scarves).  Glancing up, I saw a group of clouds with a small opening where the sun was bursting through.  I immediately turned to my son, pointed to that part of the sky and said, "Look, the eye of God!"  I'm not quite sure why I have always considered that phenomenon in the sky His Eye, but I have.  On those rare days that I see it, I feel calm and joyful and protected.  God is watching over us through that heavenly aperture. He said, "The eye of God?"  "Yes, do you see that hole in the clouds with the sun beaming through?" I responded.  "When Daddy and I got married, we saw the Eye of God in the sky watching us at that very moment,"  I told him. As soon as he saw it, he gave a joyful greeting "H...

I am thrilled to say that the Lyceum program is up and running again in Lily Dale.  What is Lyceum?   Lyceum is the Spiritualist's version of Sunday school.  The formation of Lyceums in the United States and the United Kingdom was inspired by Andrew Jackson Davis, an American visionary and lecturer who, in 1863, spoke of the benefit of training youngsters in both worldly and spiritual matters.  Not long after his lecture, some inspired members of the audience established the first 'Children's Progressive Lyceum.' The word 'Lyceum' comes from the garden in ancient Athens where Aristotle taught philosophy to his followers. And in America, during the 1800's the word 'lyceum' meant a "literary institution, lecture hall or teaching place." Children's Lyceum classes are designed to create healthy-minded "free thinkers" and include lessons in Spiritual Natural Law, the Golden Rule as well as many others. The purpose of the ...

Well, perhaps I should say "Housebuilding".  My little guy likes to build little houses inside our house.  His preferred building material:  throw pillows and cushions.  Like an industrious beaver, he searches the house for pillows, carrying them back to his selected location with glee.  He usually chooses a space that is already somewhat enclosed, such as between two pieces of furniture along a wall.  Then, he uses the pillows to fill in the gaps to make a front barrier, reminiscent of a retaining wall of sandbags set vertically.  Sometimes he props the pillows up to make a roof or lays a blanket on top to create a tent effect. Creating the space and being in the space are so enjoyable to him that he can play for long periods of time.  Sometimes he is an animal in his den and he playacts various scenarios.  It is so cute to overhear his chatter and to see his imagination at work. Invariably, a pillow shifts o...

So often throughout the day, I find myself in awe of our son.  At age four, he is an entrancing mixture of creativity and sweetness. And tonight is no exception. In our home, we say table grace at meals. We randomly take turns offering the prayer with no set rotation. And tonight, my son wanted to say it. He offered this beautiful prayer at dinner: "Now I know my soul. When I wake up in the morning, I can't wait to be alive. God bless this food, God bless this family. Amen." After grace, he ate a few bites and said, "I don't know if I will remember the prayer that I just said.  But I hope that I do remember."  Then, he smiled what I call his 'little angel smile' and the joy I had felt during his prayer continued to expand to every part of my being. Often, he is the one who helps us to remember to say grace at meals. I think he enjoys those brief moments of bonding with our family, friends, and the Divine. Along with giving thank...