The reason I created this web site originally was for the purpose of helping couples write their own wedding ceremonies. This is something that my husband and I did and we found very fulfilling. From the pages for wedding ceremonies, I then branched out to other ceremonies of life and love. Soon after I was led to the prayer requests and aid in spiritual growth. I added meditations because it's a hobby of mine. At the same time, so many people have shared jokes with me and what better place to celebrate humor!
The children on my site and the prayers for them fit in with the theme of this site because we cannot forget our children -- they are the heart of the celebration of life and love and my passion.
A little about myself:
I am an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church and the honor I love most is to be a part of a couple's loving wedding celebration! I will provide you with a unique and meaningful celebration that honors YOUR beliefs ... as my spirit holds. I was born in Detroit, Michigan and moved out to the suburbs when I was 5 years old. I went to Catholic school until high school, then taught Catechism for several years. From early on though, I questioned the dogma. First to the nuns and priests, then I "learned" to keep it to myself and call that "faith"! Still, I repressed this side of myself and grew to become very active in the Catholic Church as a Lay Minister, Catechism Teacher, and Prison Minister, etc.
Later, I moved to Missouri and this is where I enrolled in an intense
Ministry program of the Archdiocese where we studied in-depth:
- our own faith and beliefs (we had a very open priest teaching us!),
- various theological bases and implications,
- delved into our own personalities and growth - both practical and
spiritual implications,
- the helping relationship, care and help of others,
- communication skills,
- our spiritual journey and personal relationship with God,
- prayer styles,
- integration of life and ministry,
- spirituality,
- the bible,
- and much more ...
Our last year was spent in internships. Mine was the prison ministry. (I also have certificates in Grief Counseling and Crisis Counseling and presently work as Crisis Counselor). Most strikingly, these are the studies that finally took me away from the Catholic church and toward my own earnest spiritual journey and that continues to grow.
My husband's job has now taken us to Utah where I continue my work as a Crisis Counselor.
I have studied, and I continue to study, many different belief systems and religions in an effort to understand myself and others and I respect all beliefs. I do not impose my own beliefs on others.
I am always looking for new material to put on this web-site for ceremonies, meditations, humor, or any other web-site or information that may be of help to us in our spiritual growth and Ceremonies of Life and Love! Please come back often -- I would appreciate your comments and suggestions.
I have been most happy to start making acquaintances with other on-line Ministers and join the International Alliance of Internet Ministries. My deepest gratitude to Rev. Dr. Russell K. Elleven for giving me his encouragement, spiritual guidance, and the confidence for this undertaking.
It is my desire to see a more open dialogue begun to bring our planet closer together in peace. Most especially, for all our children who are growing up in a vastly different environment than we know now -- because of the torrential growth of technology and the spread of hate and violence around the globe. I firmly believe our collective prayers have the power to overcome ... and the time to pray is NOW. To that end, I am a member of the Global Renaissance Alliance.
IMHO, organized religions must stop giving abrupt answers to moral dilemnas never before faced based solely on "because that is what we have always believed." Society must open their eyes and their minds and begin a dialogue that will fit in with the new bio-technology and then make ethical and moral decisions regarding new life situations that we will soon be facing and quit judging others in a blizzard of media frenzy.
To sum it all up, however, my most solid and unalterable belief -- is in "love". If we can learn to unconditionally love ourselves, then we can truly love our neighbors. And when we can all achieve that, then we can have true world peace.
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it’s not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the light of the full moon, "YES"!!
It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
-The Ariah Warrior
Our Wedding Ceremony
TechnoVation
The Perfect You
Loving Labor Doula Care
Modern Maids & More
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