In This Issue:

Free To Have Fun!

Namaste Beloveds!
Here's hoping this finds you floating free gently down the stream ... merrily, merrily, merrily .... life is but a dream. And so it is if we make it so. And so is everything else. And so here is your Second Sunday New Thought Families Newsletter coming on the Second Monday this sunny July along with the admission that I have found myself more or less in a bouncing river this summer rather than the gentle stream. Despite last month's attention to the pace of grace, this New Thought Mama has been more at the pace of race or the pace of haste. Soooo.....stop. Breathe. Let's talk freedom. Let's talk fun. William Glasser says, "We are driven by five genetic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun." Sounds like a well rounded way of being, right? Then why is it in the midst of our merry streams, we often find freedom and fun eluding us? At least, that's where I seem to be ...
We had a fun day yesterday, we were blessed to be in the sacred Sierras. Jeremiah and I sang at Unity at the Lake in So. Lake Tahoe. It was an honor to be able to bring some joy there especially at their time of healing. Many in their congregation have lost their homes in the fire. Our path didn't take us where we saw any signs of the fire except for we saw many, many signs of gratitude for those who had served in that devastating time. Most of the signs read, "Thank you firefighters". There were variations like "Thank you all" and "Thank you Lake Tahoe Community We Rock!" The signs ranged from slick professional looking banners to bedsheets that had been spray painted. These signs of gratitude were a beautiful testimony to Glasser's 5 genetic needs; they came from the survivors who had strengthened their community's sense of love and belonging, which necessarily empowered them. They used their freedom of expression to touch others like us in a way that was, among other things, fun! When "disaster" strikes like with this fire, it is an awesome way to re-align with the truth of who we are. And at the heart of that truth is freedom. "I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery And if you doubt for one minute that someone who has lost their home, can still have freedom in thought, remember Viktor Frankel: "Everything can be taken from a man but ... the last of the human freedoms - to choose ones attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose ones own way." Gratefully, I can say that I am so blessed in so many ways not the least of which is our home which so far has not been threatened by fire or foreclosure. My sense of love, belonging, and power continue to deepen as I nurture my faith and connection to Spirit. I am also happy to report an amazing increase in detachment to outcome and subsequent freedom. I really credit adding EFT to my morning practice; Emotional Freedom Technique has truly helped me shift into more freedom and happiness. EFT is found with a free manual online at www.emofree.com So that's all good and there's still the pace of race and this Sunday newsletter on a Monday ... Through EFT and other modalities, I have let go of much of the judgment of myself and others so that is key to happiness and freedom. However, I am aware that I have a deep seeded, unconscious driving force to "prove" to myself that I am not enough. Hence, I will put more on my list than is humanly possible so that gremlin within can say,"Aha! I'm right! You're not enough!" What's changed is my growing awareness of the pattern and my EFT smile that says, "The truth is I'm more than enough so let's re-align with that and make a list that moves at the pace of grace and not the pace of race." Like all of us, I am working on living more of my truth and that means with more awareness and then subsequently more FREEDOM and more FUN! What if, as Hicks and Abraham teach that our true purpose really is to have fun? That by living out our heart's desires, we give our best gifts and live our highest purpose. I've made a simple 40 day commitment to freedom and fun called Freedom For Fun Formula and it's outlined below ... right after the latest and greatest on the Feathers of Faith Family FUN Retreat ... which you have 40 days left to register for ...

Freedom of Cyber Voice

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err." - Mahatma Ghandi

Our New Thought Families web site has pretty much been on hold for another month as my first web site, www.lauriesstories.com and it's Super Summer Reading Program consumed me. Libraries in 41 states are using the "Get A Clue" Reading Theme so our program is "ABC Mystery" with weekly mini-mysteries for our readers to guess what the treasure is and who has it. Check in on Mondays for weekly free content through mid-August; there are free Laurie Stor-E Books, interactive word play games and videos. And as mentioned, our first video is up on the New Thought Families as an invitation to the Family Retreat. Will there be more videos on the New Thought Families site? It's in the mystery ... in the question ... As any of you who have been reading this newsletter or staying at least mildly interested in the site, there are MANY facets that have been started and aren't completed. Yesterday Jeremiah had the somewhat startled exclamation, "We forgot about Joy Boy!" I smiled my EFT smile and said, "Joy Boy is just stuck in the illustration department. Not forgotten." Originally, the vision for the site was that it would be a place that lots of folks of all ages would contribute to but so far it hasn't unfolded in that way. Maybe it still will or perhaps it will just keep developing in it's own other ways. I have done away with the blog, at least for now. I will keep listening to Spirit in the next 40 days as I affirm focus on freeing my desires into joyful service of myself and others. There are many wonderful plans for this site and your energy, ideas, input is still very much welcomed. www.newthoughtfamilies.com is a place to play and pray and celebrate life's goodness with childlike passion, fun, wonder, and reverence. Join us! 
"All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom." -  Albert Einstein 

Stay Fine Tuned for the Site's development!