With the weather being unusually chilly, I thought you might like something warm and filling in the morning to get you through the day. These oatmeal and compote recipes are delicious, high in fiber and will keep you fueled up all day.

Baked Oatmeal
This tastes great cold the next day if there are any left overs.
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 cups quick oats
1/4 cup wheat germ
1tablespoon ground flaxseed
2 tablespoons shredded coconut
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground kelp
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1 1/4 cup milk (you can add up to 1/4 cup more milk if you want a thinner consistency)
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup applesauce
1 tablespoon pure coconut oil or butter

In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Thoroughly blend the eggs, milk and applesauce in a blender or with a whisk. Add the wet mix to the dry mix and stir till combined.

Put the coconut oil or butter in a 9x5 or similar dish and place it in the oven until the oil/butter is melted. Take out the pan and coat the bottom and sides with the oil/butter. Be careful, the oil/butter will be is hot. Pour the oatmeal mix into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown or firm to touch.

This tastes delicious with the hot apple and prune compote or your favorite fresh fruit.

Ingredients:
2 large apples, peeled, quartered, cored and sliced
1 cup dried prunes
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Dear All,

This is a message I received from Spirit that I felt moved to share with you. Therefore, it may not be written as one might expect. I hope you find it helpful and enjoy it.

Beloved,

Know in the heart of hearts that love is what you are. Only love, that is the truth of your core being. Awaken to that truth within you now. I am that I am, is at the seat and center of your heart of hearts. The light I am, shines so bright in you and always has. Allow yourself to connect and recognize this, as it is essential to your awakening to the truth of who you are. If you believe in any way that you are less than that, open your eyes and heart to another possibility. Release your guilt. There is nothing, dear children, to be guilty of. Each of you play such beautiful parts to help each other grow, as there is nothing to be guilty of.

Forgive yourselves for holding on to old habits and beliefs from past times whether recent or long ago. Release yourselves from carrying other's opinions around with you on your shoulders. It is not your responsibility, it never has been.

This is the time to rise from the ashes like the Phoenix. Spring time brings the opportunity for all every year to burst out of "old clothes of habits, thoughts and beliefs" and ascend into the true Spirit of who you are. Raise yourselves from the lower bodies of conflict, into the body of your hearts and allow yourselves to live from the heart of love you are. The heart where you are to be rooted from. Shed the robe of Winter, let it fall to the ground and wrap the robe of Spring around you. The robe of new beginnings, love, power, trust, faith, innocence and joy. Feel the ever flowing Spirit of joyful anticipation rise within you like the bubbles of laughter as children in awe and delight of the world born anew. Choose love over fear, for there truly is nothing to fear, when you are connected to your heart and I at all times.

I am that I am.

Scars - Physical and Emotional - Can we Change Them? If so, How?

On an emotional level, I had a terrible experience when I was in third and fourth grades. I actually had a pedophile for a teacher (unbeknownst to anyone) who I initially liked so much that he was my favorite teacher. I wanted to curry favor with him and made an announcement to the class that he wasn't going to the Korean War and was staying with us. However, in so doing, I instead garnered nothing but his ire. After that, he would regularly hold me up to ridicule before the class and he made me feel very much like a fool many times. Worse yet, my parents never believed me that he was making my life miserable while I was in school. I was only eight at the time and remember to this day, not wanting to go back to school each day as I went home for lunch and crying or "getting sick" in order to avoid going back.

Even worse, when my parents finally went to see the principal, they were told that he was one of his best teachers and they came home with disbelieving eyes all over again. I lived with the issue for over a decade when he committed suicide and left a note admitting all of his actions. I was a senior in college and finally felt vindicated, but when my parents took little notice when I pointed it out to them, it was very unsatisfying. I've working on that issue for another couple of decades It was only recently when I finally cleared it from my mind through tapping that I was able to write about it openly.

The purpose of telling you of my "scars"is only to highlight the issue of why some of us hang on to certain of our scars for a long time while others fade away quickly. Why do we scar and why do some scars hold on for years sometimes?

Obviously, physical scars occur from a physical trauma to the body which results in a "permanent" disfigurement of that body. The only problem with that theory is the body is constantly regenerating itself. Our skin replaces itself daily. Our hair and nails continuously grow to the point of having to be cut regularly. Our blood is completely changed about once a month and our large bones even change completely every two years. At one time, scientists insisted that the nerves and brain never regenerated, but they are now acknowledging that they do so.

So, why do we maintain scars on our bodies? My explanation is that we want to hang on to them because we refuse to let go of that particular trauma in our minds and our bodies follow along and conform to our thoughts. Why do I say this? Because, a simple trauma like a severe cut to the hand or finger, while traumatic, doesn't change the DNA of the body so that the hand becomes something different than it ever was before. As most of you know, DNA is the body's roadmap to making itself on a cellular level. Every cell holds a three foot long chain of DNA that can make up the entire body from that one cell. That's a simplistic explanation, but for our purposes, it will do for now. So, if the DNA doesn't change from the trauma, how is it that our body parts continue to reflect a traumatic scar when new cells are taking the place of old dead or dying cells each and every day?