Why Americans Should WANT To Be Losers Sometimes

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
yellow and white trophy

I said the one thing that no one thought I would say.

These five words, said quietly, into a rare moment of stillness at the boisterous party quieted every heart in the room.

The silence lasted for a minute, which felt like an eternity in that boisterous room full of shouting and laughter only a second earlier.

Here’s what happened.

They were loudly recounting the tale of the guy* who was poised to win a gold Olympic medal in the sailing competition at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

Instead of sailing to glory and sitting atop an Olympic podium with his medal, the guy changed course to help fellow COMPETITORS, who were in an overturned boat for 16 hours and were in imminent danger of dying at sea.

“[Insert name] won that race,” the storyteller at my party continued, taking another swig of beer.

“Yeah, and what was the name of the guy who abandoned first place to help the other guy?”

“Who knows?”

The crowd exploded in laughter.

When it was silent again for that millisecond after the guffaws, I spoke up quietly, “God knows who it was.”

Then, there was silence, continued stillness, and awkward shuffling of feet.

Who speaks next, they wondered?

One person sidled up to me after this party, seeking me out for friendship. I had reminded her of something important, something she knew inherently but had forgotten for a while. Something her soul knew, deep down, it would be important to remember in future.

And that’s how I made a new friend that day.

And it’s good to have another friend who will sail over to help you get out of a bind when you are in a sailing race, for example, so you don’t perish at sea.

And there was the time when I was 8 years old, the 12-year-old said, “Give me all your candy!” And I gave it to him, of course. He was ABLE to win, but SHOULD he still do it? All of us know the answer to this question.

And then this week, in the news he said, “Let’s destroy our friend’s economy, an economy built on the pillar of trust in friendship because if we do it, we can win.” And yes, they CAN do it. And, yes, they CAN win.

But having another friend who will come and find you when you are overturned in a boat and imminent danger of perishing has some sort of value, too.

I hope you aren’t caught feeling ashamed on the day when our souls leave our bodies, and we meet God face to face, stripped of all the earthy medals we’ve won.

I’ve been pondering the trade war, started this week between our friends, The Americans, and us Canadians.

Yup, you CAN win.

But what SHOULD you do?

Is it RIGHT?

Thankfully, I don’t need to know the answer to that question.

(That’s between you and God.)

If you are considering exchanging a trophy or two for the kind that last a bit longer consider pondering this statement:

you let [your goods] go with a smile, knowing they couldn’t touch your real treasure

The Message

What is your “real treasure”?

Maybe being an (unconventional) loser sometimes has its perks.

For detailed advice on winning the races that matter and thus learning to grow into an even bigger loser, click HERE, HERE and HERE.

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

Footnotes

*Canadian Larry Lemieux

Photo credit: Trophy by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

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How To Remember You’re Lost So You Can Find The One Thing You Actually Need

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
woman sitting on land

Last time, we talked about offering to God those hints of angst that have no words.

For example, while floating in the hot springs pool and minding my own business, I randomly asked God the meaning of life.

“What did it all mean, God?” I found my soul exclaiming, revealing the angst within, if only to my thoughts and to God.

I got no answer.

So, I kept floating and enjoying my life and my family. I forgot I had even asked the question. But I received my answer later that night.

That night, when it was dark, I found myself floating on my back outside in that lonely hot springs pool. As I floated, my eyes gazed heavenward at the wondrous starry display above me. It was calm and quiet, and I was floating – Who knows where?

I found I was wondering if this floating feeling:

  • this slightly disembodied feeling of resting on the water,
  • this wandering feeling of the wind moving me somewhere (Where?),
  • this wondrous, expansive feeling of the starry night just above me . . .

. . . if this was – perhaps?- what it would feel like to be close to death, to be in that “not-quite-here” but “not-quite-there-yet” expanse?

I remembered feeling something like this once before when I had nearly finished my degree.

I had to decide WHERE to move to next, to begin my job. I felt like a fish in a directionless fishbowl. Where WOULD I go? And did it matter? Indeed, I could move to the same hometown I grew up in, to my parents, but that wasn’t a given, necessarily, nor even a necessary possibility given employment prospects.

I had no roots to tie me or to pull me.

“Which way do fish in fishbowls travel?” my heart frequently wondered in that season.

Luckily, I married and gravitated to his world, so I didn’t have to think too long of this angst, but that . . . unattached . . . feeling surfaced now and then.

Like all of us, I had been a fish in a fishbowl that generally gravitated toward people I loved. In this way, I was like a small magnet in a fishbowl that would gravitate to a magnet on the side of the bowl. But what if these people are torn from me, like a kid moving out or on, or another relative or friend suddenly moving on or passing on?

Then what?

And that’s when I realized that there is one who is holding me even now, helping me float on my back like my dad did when I was a child. He has always been holding me. Even in the waters of the womb, He held me.

. . you formed me in my mother’s womb . . . Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

The Message

And I suddenly understood what it means to be grounded, to have a foundation.

And the people we gravitate towards?

We are attracted to those we love and those who love us – that’s all.

We receive and give love where we can because we are held in the arms of love.

Love for and from others are magnets that we drift towards.

Your love, God, is the trunk that grounds us.

. . the younger son . . . undisciplined and dissipated . . . had gone through all his money . . . He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. . .”

When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. [His father’s] heart pounding, [his father] ran out, embraced him, and kissed him.

The Message

And your love, pursuing us, holding us as we float through life, is what grounds us like the roots of a great tree.

And so, I felt a little less lost as I dried off and exited the swimming pool that night.

Try it, friend!

I hope you feel lost sometimes, too.

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

“How can we remember our ignorance, which our growth requires, when we are using our knowledge all the time?”

Henry David Thoreau

When the lyrics of this song whisper, “You’re the strength to carry on,” how do you feel? Can you express your thoughts to God? (He’s listening.)

Photo credit: Person lost by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

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How To Find Heart Healing (Say What Can’t Be Said)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

I was at the vacation place when my thoughts took me in a direction I didn’t want to go.

“Come back!” I yelled at my thoughts.

“I just want to let my brain think about NOTHING and enjoy my holiday here today, okay? Do I HAVE to go over there with you?” Yet my thoughts beckoned me again and again as I relaxed, floating on the surface of the waters of this glorious hot spring.

I couldn’t help but remember that my grandfather had visited this same vacation spot decades ago.

And then he and my grandmother brought my mother, then a small child.

Then, my mother and father vacationed here with my brother and me when we were small children. (YES! It IS an AMAZING PLACE! NO! I’m NOT going to tell you where it is! That would be for when I know you better – a LOT better! We like that it’s not too crowded, okay?)*

And then I vacationed again with my husband and our small children years before, and now one of my babies ALREADY LEFT HOME (Of course I’m okay with that! WHAT – Are you accusing ME of being maladjusted or something? I would NEVER admit to that! Or BE that. Whatever.)

Anyway, here I was at this same glorious place, with our youngest child, who was already almost a young woman. (No! Why WOULD I be crying!)

I suddenly realized that these people, many of whom had been deep anchors in my life, drawing me near with their love for me, had moved on or moved out or passed by or passed on, yet the younger generations were continuing our tradition and….

“What does it all mean, God?…”

I finally allowed my soul cry out.

“[let] God know your concerns”

The Message

I am learning to bear my heart, to lift my questions to God, for Him to analyze like a well-trained Physician. I am having trouble describing my symptoms in words, but this doctor can assess the situation himself. And He knows exactly what drop of medicine my heart healing requires.

He didn’t give me words to make this angst go away with one breath of wind, but I did sense Him draw me close, lean His head against mine, and kiss the top of my head with His love.

Exactly how, I will tell you next time.

For now, I am learning to open my heart to allow the questions that have no words to be lifted to the One who can read the deepest longings of my heart.

Even the soul questions that can’t quite be articulated.

Knowing that He hears me, that He is listening, that He speaks comfort with His love when words aren’t enough is the first step of my journey.

What questions do you have of God? What questions that have no words does your heart long to ask? Let’s help each other lift these feelings of angst to the One that exchanges our mixed-up emotions for His peace.

But being honest about the mess inside was already releasing some pressure.

As the song below plays, when you hear the line, “Days of my youth – Where you going now,” what feelings in your heart can you offer to God as a gift that He so longs to receive? What gift do You sense He longs to offer you in response. Will you take what He is offering you even now, friend?

Footnotes

*And did you know that people from 25 countries read this newsletter? Yeah! I didn’t know there were that many people with nothing to do either! I mean – ahem! – so many people that get such wisdom to run their lives from me! (Or whyever people read this stuff. How would I know why?)

Anyway – You’re welcome! Good luck!

Image Credit: Person floating by Jernej Graj on Unsplash

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3 Hints For Authentic Relationships (Ignore The Dog Barf!)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
adult chocolate Labrador retriever

Once, when I was a child, I thought everyone was laughing WITH me until I suddenly realized they were laughing AT me!

Wait, that still happens to me, and it happened just last week!

(On reflection, I don’t know whether people were laughing AT or WITH me last week, but does that part REALLY matter, anyway?!)

Click here to continue reading this previously published post.

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Everyone Can Learn From Snails – 3 Lessons

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
yellow snail on purple flower
Photo by Dustin Humes on Unsplash

There was a snail on the inside of her forearm.

She was our waitress and the sight of the snail was jolting.

But luckily, I FULLY “get” modern fashion trends, including tattoos of snails!

(The snail on her forearm was a tattoo, not a real snail, if you haven’t figured that out yet. Don’t you like my artistic writing? Sometimes, you are completely confused when you read this, but that’s called “art,” not “bad writing.” I’m surprised you don’t know the difference!)

As proven here, I FULLY understand all contemporary styles, including tattoo trends, of course! It’s not like I don’t! But I still thought, “REALLY? – A SNAIL?”

Anyway, I tried to shake off the vision of the weird snail tattoo and order my lunch like regular people who don’t care about that stuff.

That’s when I noticed it.

On the wall of this restaurant, next to the beautiful, artistic photos of the “regular” animals – foxes, bears, salmon, killer whales, eagles, there was a painting of . . . you guessed it – a snail.

(There was also a prominent human smiling skull above all these photos, but OF COURSE, we expect that! See here for a CLEAR explanation of this type of fashion trend. You’re welcome!)

“What the deal with the snails?” my mind pondered, against its will.

I researched snails on Wikipedia – or I mean – I used my innate fashion wisdom to begin to unravel this enigma for you. Fertility symbol from ancient Egypt? Greek symbol of hard work?

“Why the heck do you have a SNAIL tattoo of all animals!” I accidentally blurted as she distractedly approached to take our order. Her eyes were fixed on me, not unlike when we turn a camera lens dial, trying to get it to focus. She was assessing whether she should bare her heart or smack me upside the head.

I suddenly and regrettably remembered the last time I asked a person, “WHY did he have THAT tattoo!” He very firmly told me to (equivalent of) stick my head up my rear end (what a WEIRD saying!) and not to ask such personal questions. “But the tattoo is THERE – for all to see!” I wanted to protest. He was bigger than me, so I nodded, took my coffee from him, and looked down submissively.

But a SNAIL!? Really! WHO can keep their curiosity at bay!

Luckily, this stranger opened her heart to me after sizing me up.

I’m not sure why. She did HAPPEN to be smaller than me. Perhaps I intimidated her with my ( – what it that Trump has? – ) POWER LOOK.

Photo: Regular look
Photo: POWER look

Or maybe she could inherently sense that I was lost on this journey of life, too, and could use some direction.

“Well,” she gushed, “I feel that a snail fits because I am always rushing around and want to slow…”

Rest. God reminded me as she spoke. My word for the year was Rest.

And our hearts melded into one – this stranger and I. It wasn’t the first time this had happened.

two white-and-black birds flying
Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash

I excitedly told her about last month when our church was celebrating its fifteenth-year anniversary. The year Fifteen, God highlighted somehow in my Spirit. I was to research this.

Two ancient feasts that symbolize Rest occurred on the 15th of the month. Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb on the 15th, symbolizing Rest. However, this is not a rest as in doing nothing, but a rest that comes as a bulb in the spring gathers water and warmth from the soil before it does what it must – produce a bloom, creating life from death.

It’s a rest that comes from sitting close to the One we love, listening to His whispers, picking up our shovels in response, and then doing some gardening.

Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

The Message

(Everyone can learn to slow down to listen to our hearts.)

And so, what are the lessons we can learn from snail tattoos, if we are listening?

  1. We are all sailing together on this crazy journey of life and encounter the same storms, though we may not have the language to talk about our travails to each other. (Do you also need a snail tattoo?)
  2. There is more, there is more, there is more . . . (Do you also need to slow down a little, friend?)
  3. Jesus is sipping coffee even now and waiting for you to join Him. (Do you have time to exit this reality for a few minutes to find the water your soul needs to grow its blossoms?)

As the song below plays, consider taking a few deep breaths and then asking God, “How do I need to slow down a little, like a snail?”

Jesus is handing you a sandwich. Got time to take a bite? (May you, too, find your inner or outer snail.)

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Overwhelm Threatening To Suffocate = This One Surprising Opportunity

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

men's white top

Head in hands again. Trying to shut out the noise. The kids with their needs swirling around me.

We are homeschooling in February.

Continuing this thankless task in February becomes my annual despair, one shared with all homeschooling families (Except for the perfect families we all hate. Don’t feel jealous. They’ll crash and burn out too. I’ve been homeschooling for a while, so I’ve seen a few things.)

If you are not homeschooling in February, what is your despair?

We all have the odd despair that tries to attach itself to us like an unwelcome leech.

Anyway, I sat on the couch, my overwhelm consuming me. Do I declare (another) fun day and take the kids cross-country skiing?

Should we call all our homeschooling friends and organize (another) hockey party on the free outdoor ice rink?

Do I give them as much “independent work” as I can and try to tackle the mess of stuff in the basement, the pile that seems to have acquired a life of its own and that roars at me as I pass like a Yeti in the basement?

Or do I confront the emotions in my heart that are spilling out onto the couch next to me, a mess I am trying to hide but that is emerging despite my best efforts to pretend I am confidently steering this homeschooling ship?

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to hide behind the fun. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that our home is so disorganized that we can no longer find pencils to do our math. Or that no one cares. “I like using a green crayon to do my math, Mommy!” she asserts.

She is not trying to make me feel better. She is genuinely happy. Her needs are met.

And mine?

“I’m not worried about the kids,” my husband would assert. “I’m worried about you.”

So I offer you tea and a listening ear, dear friend, and ask:

How are you?

Not how are your kids?

Not how is the state of your home (We know it’s a disaster. You homeschool!)

How are you?

People who suppress feelings experience less positive and more negative emotions.

APA PsycNet

And then your tears, and your head in hands, and I put my arm around you to comfort you.

And as we:

  1. Admit to first ourselves and then another, through our tears, that all is not well . . .
  2. And after we put the ridiculous plans we cling to for creating super kids off the shelves of our egos . . .
  3. After we slow down and watch our kids learn for a while (Healthy plants in healthy soil grow. Similarly, healthy kids in a healthy environment learn, even and especially when we don’t beat them with rods to “encourage” them to know exactly what WE want) . . .
  4. Then we’re finally ready…

For what, you ask?

To learn the one most important lesson that overwhelm teaches us, which is that:

When we feed ourselves with unhealthy food, our tummies won’t feel very good for a while.

However, This is GOOD NEWS because we can go to the store and buy carrots today!

And how does this relate to homeschooling, for example?

If you follow the crowd and eat whatever they eat (50% highly processed foods), your tummy will get a bit upset afterward. Similarly, if you follow the crowds and set up your homeschool to mimic public school goals, for example, you’ll find that burnout is as certain as feeling bad after eating an entire box of Oreos.

Overwhelm is the blaring red light that tells us that letting our minds and actions drift with the crowd isn’t a healthy option.

There is a better way, friend, and overwhelm, our teacher and friend, unlocks a higher path.

a bird flying over some rocks and grass

More on the first step of HOW to get out of overwhelm next time.

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Image Credits: Man Upset by Dmitry Vechorko on Unsplash, Bird Soaring by Kshithij Chandrashekar on Unsplash

LIKE Yourself By Receiving Champagne Poured On Something New – You!

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
A man in a bathtub drinking from a bottle
Photo by Antonio Araujo on Unsplash

Yes! I pressed the “like” button on my previous post to “like” my post! Now, before you throw rotten tomatoes at me and throw me off the internet, watching me spiral away like a free-floating astronaut, hear me out! We agree that we are ALL (sort of – not REALLY me*, but I have to say it for humility’s sake) losers, right? (If not, see HERE).

But being a loser, if displayed with enough gusto, can ACTUALLY become part of our superpower! Let me explain. That loser-ness contributes to our awesomeness because we know who we are so that we can relax!

We no longer have to spew boasts describing ever so covertly our successes in attempts to impress people.

And this is freedom.

Maybe we didn’t find gold stars all over ourselves when we dressed this morning. Or perhaps our stars have rusted and fallen off. (Does NO ONE care anymore that they voted ME one of the best dressed in my red-necked high school? It was a BIG THING back then. I’m just saying.)

silhoeutte of woman making a jump shot
Photo by Mesh on Unsplash

I guess no one cares anymore.

But that proves my point!

We can, in our best redneck attire, STILL pat others on the shoulder with love to encourage them, even though we sometimes (in theory, and I speak of OTHERS MOSTLY here), have a big “L” on our forehead for “loser”.

And we can “like” ourselves too because we are just little bundles of love dressed up in whatever old rags we could find as we wandered through life.

And love is enough!

So, if you don’t have any gold stars that our culture handed out, or if you were late for the lineup for these accolades, don’t worry!

The stars wouldn’t stick to our old rags anyway.

If we find we have stars, tearing them off is still the way to true freedom. Because in the dark of night, just before we fall asleep, more often than you’d like to admit, friend, your esoteric anxiety startles you for a moment with, “What AM I doing on planet Earth??” (It happens to the best of us! Even the wisest of us are SOMETIMES confused!) In those moments, our gold stars earned in high school or passed out to us last week don’t satisfy us. We know this stuff, but saying it aloud helps us understand who we are. You’re welcome.

And now that you know your true state (You can take the “L” off your forehead now), we can all stand together and hold hands.

And what’s next?

Let’s stand here in a circle and … sing. Yes, sing.

We praise the one who IS the standard of the world’s excellence. We wonder at Jesus (He’s the guy 1/3 of the people on the planet claim to follow – Know him?) and find that as we gaze at the One who is genuinely excellent, he gives us new clothing, too. We can throw away our old torn redneck outfits and other cultural achievements because he has new clothes for us – the stuff princes and princesses wear when we become children of the King, his dad – God.

The point is that He is pleased with us.

And so you should be, too.

So you can “like” yourself!

You can even “like” your own posts.

Whenever, though, [we] turn to face God . . . we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

The Message

God, help us to see ourselves the way You see us, both in our true brokenness before we turn to You and in our glorious attire as we fix our eyes on Your beauty. Help us to “like” who we are becoming by Your grace, we pray. As the song below plays, take some deep breaths and then ask God in the quiet of your soul: How do You see me?

If you knew who God made you to be, you’d never want to be anyone else.

Pastor Bill Johnson

Footnotes

*(My editor said I should write that part about me being a loser, too, so that you feel there is someone you can relate to.)

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

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Advice: Your Bridge To Hope After Your Kid Moves Out

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
green trees near brown wooden bridge during daytime
Photo by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash

I’m mad at you! At all of you with a child over seventeen years old who left home! I hate you all! Why didn’t you tell me it would be this hard to say goodbye when they left for college!?

And all of you with babies too, babies that are older than my oldest baby, I hate you all too!

Before we had babies, why didn’t you tell us that looking after babies would be so hard!?

Ah, yes . . .

It is because we wouldn’t have believed you even if you would have spoken up.

And if our teens truly understood the depth of our loss, many of these kids wouldn’t leave home. They are good kids. I relayed these thoughts to my husband, processing them aloud through my tears.

“And we want them to leave,” I cried out. “Yes, we do,” my husband comforted. Then he shoots me a sideways, knowing look. I remembered that this morning, our teen was DEFINITELY right when she was DEFINITELY wrong, and instead of bursting into tears, I burst into laughter.

I feel some joy mixed with some sorrow.

And so, “Goodbye!” we say as we wave.

Except it’s not kindergarten, and they are heading to school on a bus. We homeschooled, so we missed that milestone. It’s 600 km away, and the tearing, the necessary, painful cleaving continues.

Reflecting God’s nature, He created them male and female. . . Therefore, a [person] leaves his father and mother

The Message

I told you it would be that way, Jesus reminds me softly. Many years earlier, in prayer, Jesus showed me a picture of my daughters, one after the other, ready to board a plane to soar off on their journeys of independence. He began preparing my heart to say goodbye many years ago, even then.

Many of us homeschooling parents pushed the love boundary of our hearts a little further than expected when we cracked open those brand new math texts on day one of homeschooling.

The depth of love surprises us all and surpasses the boundary markers we set up to protect ourselves. If we love what we know, we will get to know these kids, and our love for them will transform us. Love always does.

I’m not saying that homeschooling is one domino after the other of perfect days.

I have homeschooled for 4,745 days (I’m convinced you don’t have enough math skills to figure out how many years I have spent homeschooling- Who does?). Of those days, I have NEVER yet had one perfect day.

Nope.

Not one. Just daily joy mixed with daily sorrow. Master storyteller J.R.R. Tolkien explains it this way:

The possibility of [sorrow and failure] is necessary to the joy of deliverance . . . giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.

And so saying goodbye to the teen as she flies off to college is just another homeschooling day: some joy mixed with some sorrow.

We are used to that. We’ve gotten stronger over the years. It’s just another part of the daily homeschooling rhythm.

We will be ready because we have been practicing daily for this: some joy and some sorrow, repeat tomorrow.

We’re going to be OK.

And so, as we watch them soar, we nurse our grief a little and then flap our baby wings and listen for the call from Him into a new adventure.

And in the same way that we invest in our future by putting aside a few dollars each month, is He asking us to invest in our spiritual future by putting aside a few minutes each day to listen to Him calling us, comforting us, asking us to set aside the old, and to pick up the new?

How is he calling you to wake up?

Where to next, God?

I can’t quite fly yet, but I am sensing another adventure.

Yes, I’ll follow!

(How about you?)

Social Media Consuming Your Joy? (May You See Breakthrough)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
person holding clear drinking glass
Photo by Anastasiia Voitenko on Unsplash

I was flying, soaring like a bird, arms outstretched.

Not paying attention, and then AH! – What is that there in the sky? – And a sharp turn that spun me in circles as I nosedived. I was spinning and spinning, the hard ground beckoning closer.

And life sometimes feels like that, with the highs, lows, and pitfalls to avoid and crashing out of control.

One second, a youth raising my hand with all my effort, in fervent desperation to be picked for that promotion or opportunity.

And then, decades later, I’m too, sitting by the side of the road, homeless and friendless, holding my donation cup and wondering if I can find a few coins or some hope to get me through today’s dark night.

(Actually, I’ve never even been close to being homeless, but sometimes my interior life feels just as jumbled as their exterior life appears visibly.)

What do you do when life spins out of control and takes you with it?

Social media is good at depicting the moments in life when we are soaring in the sky like an eagle, enjoying the ocean view. And we’ve all had a few moments like these. But where do we go when the rain comes, we get kicked out of our nest, and our wounds and brokenness keep us stranded, exposing us to the weather as we sit and wait and wonder what to do next?

And as we hold out our cup seeking donations and hope like the other homeless people, as we look through the busy people rushing by us, we finally have the eyes to see that Jesus is crouched beside us, holding a blanket and a snack and offering his arms for a hug.

Got time for some comfort?

After writing the above, I went for a walk with her, the new friend.

She said this:

“Like everyone else, I was enjoying my life and had many good times.”

I imagined her Facebook and Instagram pages as she spoke.

“But then I suddenly crashed, realizing that my social drinks after work couldn’t easily be set aside, though I tried everything I could using my own strength. When I finally turned to Jesus and asked for help, things suddenly didn’t get easy, but He gave me the strength to put that dark chapter behind me. I am six years alcohol-free,” she continued.

“And people say I have fantastic strength to do that alone, but I know it wasn’t on my own – God gave me the strength.”

Her story fits here, that’s all.

What do your social media pages say, friend?

How are you really doing?

If you’ve recently crashed too, got time for a drink?

Jesus . . . cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 

The Message

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