Today is my daughter’s birthday! Thirteen years ago today, a long , no —  a very, very long battle with infertility (7yrs) ended and my heart began to heal with the birth of my first daughter. Today is a day for celebration. A day for grace and gratitude.

This quiet evening became less of a celebration and more about the feeling to circle the wagons and bring all my loved ones close. Once again, discrimination has reared its ugly head

I can appreciate that my “job” is less than conventional. I can appreciate that my gifts are not for everyone, and if the truth is that what I do is not for you, then that’s perfectly fine. I’m not here to recruit anyone to a more spiritual way of life. I’m just here. If you want to tag along, then Great! Let’s go! And if not, then go in peace. I wish you well either way.

My middle daughter, Avery, is in the 5th grade. Like all 3 of my daughters, he has been raised spiritual and Christian. We have attended Unity and Unitarian Christian churches and also spiritual churches. We are completely comfortable in either one.  Avery is like me in a lot of ways. She is going to be her own person, and if you like her, great! And if you don’t, then go in peace.

But tonight, Avery told me that one of her school friends, we’ll call this girl “M” told her today that she cannot be friends with her anymore. Furthermore, Avery has been uninvited from a sleepover at her house and M can never come here ever. When I asked Avery what brought all this about — Avery said that M’s parents found out about what I do and they have a problem with it.

Seriously?

Let’s say that this girl’s mom does have a problem with intuitives – why does that have to extend to my kids? It is wrong and cruel to discriminate against children because their parent has a job that you do not like.

I have NEVER told my children they could not be friends with a classmate b/c of their family’s faith or occupation (unless they were child-sacrificing cults and then yeah, I might have a problem with it). Professionally, my husband and I are both college educated. I devoted more than 5 years of my professional career to advocating and caring for abused and/or neglected children. My husband ran the youth programs at the YMCA for more than five years. We have smoke detectors in every bedroom and hallway. We have a carbon monoxide detector and we keep all chemicals stored away from living space. Seriously — this is a perfectly SAFE house for children. We work tirelessly to ensure that. And I have NEVER once read for a child without the request and presence of his/her parent. And I don’t read for people during family time anyway.

My point is that it is WRONG to say that a 5th grader cannot be friends with my daughter because of what I do. Interestingly enough, this girl, nor her parents, have ever met me or had a single conversation with me. They cannot say that they know me any way, but yet, here in the bible belt, many people would probably say this type of discrimination is justified.

Right now — intuitives are popular and there are countless TV shows about mediums, psychics, and ghost hunters. However, there is not a single one that tells the story of being a Light Worker in the midst of the Bible Belt.  Unless you live here – you don’t know this story.

Do you know that feeling when you are in a great mood and you are having a great conversation with the person sitting next to you in the waiting room (or maybe the check out line 0r the parent pick up line at school), and when that super friendly person asks you, “So, what do you do for a living?”  — your mood suddenly sinks. Most people probably don’t have a mental crisis when a neighbor asks “what do you do?”  Unless, of course, you are a drug dealer or hit man, but what do I say? How should I reply?

If I am following my heart and living my truth, I will look right at that person and say “I am an Intuitive Coach and Energy Healer.” The last time I gave that answer was when the mom to Piper’s (my daughter) playdate asked me what I did for a living. Funny  — Piper was never asked back over again. I knew with how her demeanor and attitude changed that she would never be okay with me.

And last year, Avery was having some girls sleep over and they had all RSVP’s yes, when one of the moms asked me about my job. I told her I was an Intuitive healer. She got quiet and hung up. About 30 seconds later, I got a text saying that they had something come up and her daughter couldn’t  come over afterall. And for the next hour, I got similar texts from every other girls’ mom. Not a single girl came to the party.

Now, I just say I am a minister and life coach. But they still google my name, read about me in the newspaper or see me on TV, and then they know. They will find out. They always do. And because of the outright discrimination against intuitives in the Bible, folks in the Bible belt think it’s perfectly fine to forbid their children from being friends with mine — or accost me in Walmart to tell me that I am going straight to hell for doing the devil’s work.   Even my own  grandmother recently told me that she knows that I work for demons and have taken the mark of the beast.

Friends – THIS is the story.

This is the story that needs to be told.

There is a price to being an Intuitive in the heart of the Bible Belt. The price is steep and the penalties are generational.

I promise you that the next time you watch Long Island Medium that no one is going to be threatening Theresa safety because of her gifts. You know how when she reads for someone without asking – they are thrilled to receive the message and are happy? yeah – that doesn’t happen here. Oklahoma is an open carry state. If I were to approach people how Theresa does, there is a good chance I would be shot! The next time you watch Michelle Whitedove, you aren’t going to see her car keyed and a religious pamphlet left on her porch. But if you were to walk a day in my shoes, this is what you would see. And you would also know the pain of your children being ostracized and discriminated against because of a life purpose that is bigger than you.

And let us not forget – my husband was actually bullied, harassed and discriminated against in his former job for two years! At no time was he ever reprimanded for his job performance, but he was reprimanded for “His wife Leslie’s FB and website” – which were both part of my ministry as a lightworker. And they got away with it too! Bible Belt Politics.

One time, I was checking out in the grocery store and the woman in line next to me started telling me all her woes. (This is common as a lightworker.)  She told me that her dr thought she had MS. I told her that I had MS but was better now. She asked what I did to heal. I start.ed telling her and she then explained that she wasn’t feeling well. Could she have my phone number and call me sometime? I said sure. I couldn’t find a pen in my purse, but I did have a business card with my number on it. I handed it to her and said “just give me a call.”   She stared at the card for a moment and asked me if I was some kind of palm reader. I said nope and explained that I didn’t want to sell her anything, and just ignore everything on the card but my phone number. She kept pushing. What was a lightworker? And what exactly did I do?  I told her that I talked to angels but that all I would talk to her about was the MS part of my journey.  This woman, who had been talking nonstop and even leaning on me for more than 10 minutes suddenly mustered the strength to stand upright. She ripped my card in half, threw it on the ground and stomped on it. With fire in her eyes, she told me that Jesus had taught her better than to talk to the likes of me.

This is the story — and it needs to be told.

Norman is the only place in Oklahoma I could ever live, and it is true that Norman is the cultural and open epicenter of Oklahoma, but even here, some people think it’s okay to discriminate against me because they think the bible tells them to.

And to them I reply with one simple phrase: ACTS 2:17