Welcoming God
Hey spiritual seeker! My name’s Sarah Haykel and I’m the host of Welcoming God, a podcast for spiritual seekers.
In this podcast, I’ll be sharing the goodness of Welcoming God back into my life after years of rebelling against the God of my Catholic upbringing and years of honest seeking on a personal spiritual path. I’ll share my consistently evolving understanding of God and what I’m learning on the path, to help create a God accessible to the every day person.
We’ll have honest and sometimes hilarious conversations about how to go from being a “spiritual” person to a God-loving person. Understanding God as a benevolent guide. What does it mean to have a relationship with God? What does it mean to surrender to God? Cultivating a spiritually mature understanding of God. Learning how to discern God’s truth and will for our lives. How to cultivate the most important relationship you’ll ever have, with God, on a daily, moment to moment basis.
Come along on this spiritually rEvolutionary journey where we get to know God.
This podcast is marked as explicit because there may be swearing or content appropriate for mature audiences in some of the episodes.
Welcoming God
When Strangers Become Angels: A Roadside Miracle and Its Ripple Effects
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A flat tire becomes a gateway to a beautiful, miraculous moment when a group of strangers enthusiastically changes Sarah's tire without being asked. The experience sparks a beautiful exchange of kindness that continues when Sarah promises to bake them a cake as a thank you and then actually feels God's guidance to follow through and do it! Their mutual astonishment at each other's generosity creates a profound moment of human connection that transcends the ordinary!
This unexpected roadside encounter opens up deeper reflections on how God's love manifests through human kindness and the importance of discerning divine guidance in our daily lives. Sarah explores the nuanced difference between following social expectations to "be nice" versus responding to specific spiritual promptings. Through this simple yet profound exchange, she discovers that "we are God's Love in action!" – that divine intervention often wears human faces.
The story challenges listeners to slow down their awareness, notice what lies beneath surface reactions, and cultivate deeper discernment about when and how to respond to the presenting needs around them. Sarah shares how practices like centering prayer, meditation, and various forms of divine contemplation create internal space to hear God's guidance more clearly. The flat tire incident becomes a parable about the unexpected ways divine orchestration weaves through ordinary moments, revealing that "not everything is as it seems." When we remain open to these sacred surprises, we participate in creating ripples of goodness that extend far beyond what we initially perceive.
Visit WelcomingGod.com to sign up for our newsletter, download the ebook companion to season one, and connect with Sarah directly through the contact form. How might you recognize the divine guidance flowing through your everyday encounters today?
Music by Song Channel Music. Listen at SongChannelMusic.com
Feminine Power is a course I took many years ago and had a different set of teachers then. But, this link goes to one of the main teachers info about the current version of this course, which I know nothing about!
Lee Carroll's Kryon Parable, The Journey Home: Michael Thomas and the Seven Angels
Tempo: 120.0
Speaker 1Hey everyone, sarah here, just to let you know. Sometimes I do use swear words in these episodes and we may at times discuss adult content. In case you happen to be listening around, little ones or people that won't appreciate that. Thanks so much for listening and let's get right into it. Hi, and thanks for joining me on Welcoming God. Hey everyone, sarah Haeckel here.
Speaker 1I have a special story to share with you today. Something really unique and special happened to me this past weekend and I'm wondering, even using the word unique was it unique? I don't know, I think these things happen all the time, but it felt special to me and I want to share it with you because I think there's a lot of goodness to reap from this experience that I had. So on Saturday I went to an event with my aunt and when I pulled up my check, tire light went on. One of the tires pressure was off, tire light went on. One of the tires pressure was off and I turned the car off and then I turned it back on again to see if the light that warning came up again, and it did. But then it went off immediately. So I thought, oh okay, no problem, there's nothing wrong. But an hour and a half later when I got, or two and a half hours later when I got back to the car, the tire light came on again and I thought, ok, I better check, because there's no reason why the tire pressure should be off. And sure enough, one of the tires was flat and I just was like, oh, what a bummer. I really just want to go home right now. And now I've got to call AAA and see when somebody can come out and fix this thing.
Speaker 1So I called AAA and they said it was going to be like an hour and a half for someone to get there. And I'm thinking, oh my God, I do not want to be hanging out here in this place. Like I was kind of in an industrial part of town and there was an event still going on until 10. But I was like I do not want to be hanging out here until 10, 15 pm. So I started walking around. I'm like maybe there's someone who can help me fix the tire, and I didn't see anyone that I felt comfortable asking. So I went back to the car and I called my brother and he said he just wasn't feeling great so he wasn't up for coming out to help me. But he said I'll talk you through it.
Speaker 1So I got the spare out of the trunk with the tools that come with the spare tire and put it next to the tire that needed to be changed. And I'm looking at these tools and I'm thinking I don't know if I have everything here to fix this tire. I don't know if I have everything here to fix this tire. So I hung up with my brother and I went over to the store that I had been at just before I got into the car to leave and there was a man in there that looked like he might know how to fix a tire, but the store looked closed when I went back over there. So I was walking back to the car and I noticed this group of people kind of close to the front end of the car, which is where the tire needed to be changed, and I was looking at them and they were looking at me as I was approaching and said, hey, is this your car? Do you need your tire changed? And I was like yes, and they're like all right, we're on it. And they just totally jumped in and changed the tire so enthusiastically.
Speaker 1It was a few young men, like probably in their 20s, maybe early 30s, and they were so enthusiastic about it and they said we almost just started changing it because I had left the spare there with the tools because I didn't think I had all the tools. And they said we almost just started changing it because I had left the spare there with the tools because I didn't think I had all the tools. So they were just sitting there right next to the tire that needs to be changed and they're like, we saw the tire and we almost just started fixing it. You know anyway, but we thought maybe we shouldn't touch someone, someone else's car, without asking them first.
Speaker 1So it was such a beautiful, heartfelt moment of just human generosity and I felt so filled, so full of love from their givingness to me and just their sincere desire to be of help, to be of assistance. It floored me and it filled me with so much joy. I was really overcome. Like, oh my God, I cannot believe this. You guys are my angels. Like I literally said that to them. You guys are my angels, I can't believe this. Oh my God, this is amazing. And they fixed the tire. They had, like several other people in their group, just hanging out right in front of the car and they were just the sweetest things in the world and I felt so grateful and I said I am going to bake you guys a cake or something sweet to eat. I can't remember exactly what I said, so they gave me the address of this woman that is connected to their group, who was with them, and she was really fun as well, just like talking with us and hanging around.
Speaker 1So the next morning I woke up and I was like so the next morning I woke up and I was like am I really going to bake these guys a cake and bring it to this address? Like I don't know these people. I, you know, is this safe? Is this crazy? Like, and I just really listened to the guidance from God, just tuned in inside, and by like 8.30 am I was like it's time to bake a cake. I just felt it and I baked the cake and I went to church and came back and put the icing on, and then I just felt like around 3 pm was the right time to leave, to head over there, with this donut still on my car, by the way and so I went over there. No one was home, so I dropped the cake off at the side door and left a note and I didn't leave my phone number. I left my email address but I wrote out my full name as well, and so I was like I don't know if they're going to be able to find me or reach me, like I hope they get the cake, what if an animal gets to it, whatever. And the next day I got a Facebook message on Messenger from the woman whose home it was and she said they could not believe that I had taken the time to make them a cake and bring it over. They were just floored by my act and I was floored by their acts and it was just such a heartfelt, beautiful moment. And then I did end up going to pick up the plate that the cake had been on and I met, formally met one of the guys that helped fix my tire.
Speaker 1And you know, I tell you this story because this, to me, is God's love in action. This is the Holy Spirit, this is the greater goodness of God's love, guidance, energy, spirit moving through us. When we feel that authentic urge to do something, we don't do it because we think we should, we don't do it because we feel that we have to, etc. That, to me, is God's flow coming through us and when we just respond to that enthusiastically especially, it is such a gift. It's such a gift to ourselves, to others, to life itself.
Speaker 1And I think sometimes I know I can get confused, like, oh, should I help every person that I see that needs help? Should I donate to every homeless person? Or give something to every person that's asking for money or food on the street? I mean, sometimes it can feel overwhelming, like how can I help everyone? And at least in my experience, I know that God is guiding me specifically and I can listen to that. And I've been experimenting with this over the past several years. Like God, do you want me to donate to this person or not? So I just listen and I donate when it feels right, and if it doesn't, I trust that it's just not for me to do that.
Speaker 1So you know, I know, sometimes I think we can get caught up in, like quote unquote, being nice or being kind or doing the right thing. And, of course, yes, I believe that being a nice person, being kind, doing the right thing, is absolutely important and necessary. However, it does require discernment, because there are times where I'm not going to sound so nice, but it is. What is truth coming through me? Or someone might not perceive me acting nice because I'm not giving them what they want, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm not being nice or kind. Also, there are times to help and there are times that it's not correct, at least in my understanding so far in life. You know God is speaking through me, I believe, specifically, guiding me specifically in what to do, when to do it, what not to do, who not to connect with, etc. That is how I understand this so far right now, and that could change.
Speaker 1But I know for myself in my own journey of listening to discern the will of God, the true guidance of God in my life. It does require me to really get nuanced about it, like I was just on a call with Thomas Hubel yesterday in his Mystic Cafe and he talked about slowing down. Slowing down our meditation, slowing down our noticing, starting to notice the nuances, the other things that are present in what we're feeling, maybe in our body sensations or in our emotions or in our thoughts, even like what's behind that, what's underneath that, what else is here, instead of just the presenting thing that's so loud, you know the presenting emotion or thought or body sensation. Well, what else is here and that really helps me more fully discern. What does God want me to do? Where does God want me to go and how can I truly be of service here, be the greater goodness of God's perfect will in life, in action, right now. And I just experienced what happened with these young men and this family and I the other night as being a part of God's perfect will, a part of God's synchronicity, a part of God's greater goodness manifest right here, right now. I'm not like you know, making it up or waiting for something to happen, it's just happening, it is, it is.
Speaker 1And I was on a call last week and someone said something like you know, the grace of God is in us. And I was like, oh my God, yes, it's just like feminine power where they'd say we are life's greater goodness manifest. We, us human beings, we're it. We are life's greater goodness manifest. If we're waiting for it to come from somewhere else, we're just going to keep waiting. It's actually up to us to be life's greater goodness, to actually act that, to be that in life, and that's how it manifests through us responding to God's. They didn't say this in Feminine Power I'm adding this part. But we become God's greater goodness in life by listening and discerning what God is asking us to do and responding to it to the best of our abilities.
Speaker 1And you might be asking how do I do that? How do I discern God's greater goodness? How do I discern God's will? It's not always clear. I'm going to tell you what. And just like the parables of Jesus, sometimes the guidance it is not exactly what I think it is and I love that. From the book Michael Thomas and the Seven Angels, the Journey Home, the Creon Parable from Joe Carroll, I think his name is, this theme throughout the whole book is not everything is as it seems. And that's God, that's life.
Speaker 1Sometimes I think God is saying one thing, but actually, if I really unpack that guidance or that thought or that belief or that feeling, it's like, oh wait, actually it could mean this and I never thought about that before. That's when I know, okay, I think I'm onto something. It's almost like a veil lifting moment where a new understanding of a common guidance or a common phrase or something that seems so obvious, like don't do this or this is for you, but it's like, well, wait, what does that actually mean, and I'll have some new insight about that. So I feel like I'm getting off a little bit on a tangent here, but I'm going to bring it all back just by saying you know, god is moving through all of us. I mean, we are God's greater goodness, manifest in life.
Speaker 1We should, or we have to, but to truly create, cultivate this every moment connection with the one true source that is literally feeding us what we need in each and every moment, and that may not be always super clear. It may mean that we need to wait because we're not sure exactly what to do next, or we don't know how to totally discern and understand this particular guidance or impulse or message, and then we pray about it. God, are you asking me to wait? God, I don't know exactly what you're asking me to do here, and then we just can use our tools, get quiet, use some centering prayer or meditation, use some Lectio Divina or Audio Divina Visio, divina, nature Divina, to center ourselves and create more space inside of us to fully hear, listen, discern what God is guiding us to do with any particular situation or in the moment in our lives.
Speaker 1So I just wanted to share that with you and I thank these guys and their aunties so much for just being a part of my life. I love you guys. You have filled me with so much joy and goodness and just love and care. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. I love you and I wish you all the best, forever and ever Amen. So thanks for joining me here today and definitely check out welcominggodcom. You can sign up for our email newsletter, get the new ebook that goes along with season one of the podcast, and if you have any comments or questions or you want me to talk about anything on the podcast, go to welcominggodcom, scroll to the bottom of the page and send me a message from the Get In Touch section. Until we meet again. God bless, aloha Nui Loa and many, many heartfelt thanks for listening and sharing this podcast with your friends and family and community. Until we meet again.
Speaker 1Bye for now, hey everyone, sarah Haeckel here from Welcoming God, a podcast for spiritual seekers. This is a legal disclaimer to say that this podcast is not a substitute for therapy or professional help. I am not a trained therapist. I also have not studied theology in a formal setting. This podcast is purely for educational, inspirational purposes, to share the goodness of welcoming God back into my life and all of the things that I'm learning on this journey. So thank you for joining me here and I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. You listen and consider leaving us a review, as it helps more people find and benefit from this show. Music by Song Channel Music. You can listen and hear more at songchannelmusiccom. Until we meet again, aloha nui loa, take care, and God bless, thank you.