Holy Spirit

How To Actually Get Unstuck When You Are On The Hamster Wheel Of Life! (Surprised?)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

NOPE! DON’T simply “Build up your self-esteem”, friend!

silhouette of man crouching

A long time ago, someone said something funny.

I won’t say WHO because I’ve learned (the hard way!) that if I say embarrassing things about my friends or family online, they’re mad at me for a while, which is annoying. Also, none of us (always!) have enough tricks up our sleeves to restore the power balance. (For example, by being nice to them so you can be mean to them later, etc.)

Join people in sixty-seven countries who read this! (Look! I don’t know why people read this stuff, either! It must be because they’re cool, too!) Let’s journey together!

So anyway, this family member and/or friend and/or relative and/or stranger once looked at the clock before leaving in the morning.

“Great! I have time to poo today!” the person said, before leaving the house. I thought, but I DIDN’T say (See how wise I’ve become?), “Maybe you should wake up 2 minutes and 30 seconds earlier each day?” But I didn’t say that, because sometimes we get stuck in a rut or an unhelpful habit.

For example, I forgot to learn from my husband for 25 years in an area that would have really helped me.

There are other unhelpful patterns that I’ve been noticing – for example, a friend who has been stuck in the same relational problems for 30 years – different people over the years, but the same essential problem. “MAYBE your (potential) emotional wounds have something to do with these broken relationships?” I want to suggest, gently. She is not open to suggestions in this area. Luckily I AM! (See the mountain biking example above or HERE!)

So how do we get out of these unhelpful life patterns that all of us have, if we’re honest?

What have I learned? Oh! I’m glad you asked!

Well, unfortunately (for you), I still have (a FEW!) bad habits I need to recover from, including desperately striving each day to extract enough love from every passerby to fill my unending tank by seeking love everywhere I go. Still, I have been growing in this area! This is what I’ve learned:

  1. When I remember that I am (Me! Little ol’ me!) NOT perfect; ironically, this is when I can finally put down my busy work and rest awhile. So, the surprise is that it’s NOT in building up our fragile self-esteem where the healing comes. Instead, it’s in honestly (Hey! We know this stuff if we’re honest!) admitting we messed up again that the sigh of honest relief can be let out (finally!) along with our stomach fat.
  2. I come in this state, this NOT PERFECT state, and hold up my glass to Jesus. Can You please give me a drink?
  3. Then I swim in the deeper water of His love.

And the irony is that the more broken I am, the more healing is His love.

If only I could remember stuff like that, because USUALLY, I’m pretty awesome! (Not gonna lie). As the song below sings, consider asking Holy Spirit, “If I had time to rest, where would You want me to sit with nothing else going on, and take 5 minutes to receive a glass of Your comforting love and water from the deepest well?”

(What do you sense in the depths of your soul?)

And may you be transformed, friend.

Receiving a few more drops of the love of God MAY not solve all your problems (like setting your alarm a bit earlier, now that I think of it), but you would be surprised how much transformation happens this way! And hey – maybe you can even become a little more awesome! Like me! (just sayin’)

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

Let’s journey together.

Photo Credit: May The Light Light Your Path, Friend by Jaredd Craig on Unsplash

By your words I can see where I’m going;
they throw a beam of light on my dark path.

The Message

Hack: Spill Your Coffee On Purpose! It’s The Best Way To Make New Friends!

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

Try this new way of meeting people!

The stranger said she would buy me a coffee.

What? I had heard of people- mysterious people- somewhere ELSE, who would purchase a coffee for the next person behind them at a drive-through. After I heard that, I went through drive-through after drive-through, crossing my fingers that THIS time it would be me who got a free coffee!

Life is short. Why not laugh a bit more? (Wait! WITH me or AT me? Whatever!) Let’s journey together.

Nope.

Nada.

Nothing.

Until today.

I was sitting alone1 at the coffee shop at a table that could seat up to four people. So when a smaller table opened up, I thrust my coffee and other stuff over the barrier between the tables to quickly claim the table. To walk to the new table, I would have to walk AROUND the barrier, but what if someone else claimed my space?

Even if I AM thinking of others, to help ensure there is more space available for those who wanted to sit at the busy coffee shop, I wanted that table for ME before anyone ELSE got it – THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

But in my haste, my large coffee fell over, covering half the table and a similarly sized spot on the floor in my delicious beverage.

And I felt a bit dumb about that, as people around the table jumped to avoid the splash, and then made eye contact with me. I (obviously) was henceforth known to all as “The Spiller” of the beverage. But while I was trying to pick up my pride and self-respect (who CARES about the coffee on the floor when I have bigger things to think about!):

And oh – the “he”, “she” and “she” above were all strangers. Did I mention that part? That was also kind of cool.

I chatted with the lady whose eyes showed compassion for me (Who wouldn’t like a person like that?) and before long she asked me to pull up a chair at her table. Why not? She then shared some of the pain in her life.

Why not?

We all have pain every day. We might as well share it! And that’s what happened just before Rhianna (the 3rd stranger in the bullet list above) and I clasped both hands together and prayed together, tears flowing.

“It’s about energy flowing,” she offered. I agreed with her that God is love, and His power is carried on the wings of His love.

. . . let us continue to love each other since love comes from God

The Message

So we prayed together for another person she loves, and I do not doubt that God heard our prayer, whatever His answer may be. But while we wait, He is growing our hearts in love for a fellow stranger.

And that’s even cooler than a free coffee!

And so that “stuff” that only seems to happen “elsewhere,” like free coffee (!) and God on the move, and God knitting strangers’ hearts together in a coffee shop?

Maybe that kind of stuff can happen HERE too, where I am, because God’s Spirit lives in me (Oh! And you, too, if you love Jesus!)

Here is a prayer to help begin your journey with Jesus, if you haven’t already. Oh, and she also, this stranger, prayed a shorter version of the prayer above with me, as tears flowed, and we held onto each other’s hands for dear life, as the love we both needed to breathe pulsated between our clasped hands.

Maybe God’s power and free coffee DOES happen right HERE where I am (and by logical deduction – where you are!), too!

So, spill your coffee, friend! Do this on purpose! As people feel sorry for you, clean up after you, serve you, and buy you stuff, it turns out this is a great way to make new friends!

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

Life is short. Why not laugh a bit more? (Wait! WITH me or AT me? Whatever!) Let’s journey together.

Photo Credit – by GRAV® on Unsplash

Free Time Is Stupid!

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

There’s something even better than “free” time, friend!

a scrabble of words spelling use your gifts

I poured my heart out, wondering how to direct my (useful and helpful!) energies in this next season, since my kids had both recently moved out.

“Well, you can do crossword puzzles,” my friend offered helpfully. He was lucky I didn’t kill him right there. (I felt like strangling him).

Join people in sixty-five countries who read this! (Look! I don’t know why people read this stuff, either! It must be because they’re cool!) Let’s journey together!

If I had to do crossword puzzles for the rest of my life, I would probably just throw them all out the window and kill everyone who came near me.

Which reminds me of my dad’s first few weeks in the care home just after he had developed dementia. My dad hadn’t said anything that the caregivers could understand for three weeks. Then one day, my dad said, “Get me the ‘F’ out of here.”

“That was clear,” offered the head nurse.

So, doing crossword puzzles reminds me a bit of when they tried to give my dad crayons at that care home after his very clear words, above. My brother said, “I wouldn’t have liked to have been the one who handed him the crayons!” That’s exactly how I feel!

My dad is the only one who understands me, and he’s demented!

And anyway, how old am I1? But the point is that some think I’m at the end of my usefulness to society because my kids are old enough to have moved out? That’s not what the lesson of the dragonfly (and God!) taught me.

Read that article HERE because you probably didn’t bother to read it the first time, and you need to remember truths like this if you are floundering in your next season.

And remember, don’t do crossword puzzles for the rest of your life! Especially if that thought makes you feel like killing everyone around you! I hope that helps!

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

We showed you how to pull your weight when we were with you, so get on with it. We didn’t sit around on our hands expecting others to take care of us. In fact, we worked our fingers to the bone . . . And it wasn’t because we didn’t have a right to your support; we did.

The Message

As the song below sings, “nothing to gain, nothing to lose . . . nothing to prove . . . it’s right where I’m supposed to be,” should we consider pondering whether it COULD it be that the cultural gold medal of “early retirement,” or time “off” after 5:00 pm, could be another opportunity to step into the next phase of God’s plan for our lives?

Join people in sixty-five countries who read this! (Look! I don’t know why people read this stuff, either! It must be because they’re cool!) Let’s journey together!

Photo Credit: (Let God Show You How To) Use Your Gifts by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

1 I’m not telling – How dare you ask!

Advice: The Forgotten Thing You Need To Have A Well-Watered Spiritual Backyard

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

Are you watering or spouting, friend? You could be more like me!

I love pointing out the obvious inconsistencies in others’ lives.

Luckily, I don’t have any of those in my own life!1

In terms of how others are failing, so we can laugh at them and feel better about ourselves, check out the sign in the photo above.

Click HERE to continue reading.

Join people in over fifty countries who read this to gain valuable life wisdom! (Or maybe they’re just laughing at me? . . . Whatever!)

A Surprising Truth: The Most Remarkable Thing Happened – (People Liked Us!) Come And Listen!

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

I know! I was very surprised too that so many people liked Ned Flanders and his friends!

selective focus photography of woman praying

At church this weekend, thirty people turned away from their old lives and chose to embrace a new life of following Jesus.

Yup. Thirty new people of all ages and socio-economic classes. And the normal size of that church is about 150 people.

That’s a shocking amount of growth in just one week.

What happened?

Join people in over fifty countries who read this to gain valuable life wisdom! (Or maybe they’re just laughing at me? . . . Whatever!)

Well, we (about twenty-four of us plus about 10 visitors from the United Kingdom) put down our iPads and buckets of ice cream, which is how we all normally spend our Saturdays, and instead struck up conversations with strangers. We spent about half an hour per day doing this over three days.

Instead of a pie in the face, we were shocked by the incredibly warm reception we received.

“A couple of Christians stopped to help us after my brother was hit by a car right here at this intersection,” one stranger named Mark told us in the first two minutes. He gratefully and lovingly recalled the care shown to him by the Christians. Mark continued, “Then the Christians got mad at the person who drove right by without stopping, yelling, ‘Hey! Slow down! Why don’t you stop? Can’t you see this person needs help?’ ”

Mark continued with his story, “Yah. Those Christians were loving and fierce at the same time. No matter how the movies portray Christians, they’re awesome!” I stood up a little straighter.

I’ve never met this guy, and he already likes me!

“Hey, why don’t we pray for you?” I offered Mark. I probably looked exactly like Ned Flanders right then, eager and sincere (in fact, I usually look just like that!), but I didn’t care just then!

“No thanks, I’m fine. Thanks for the offer!” He waved, and we parted, friends. “Wow! People like us!” I thought.

I didn’t even know that people liked me!

And with another stranger named Joel, his blue eyes pierced my soul as my husband gently assured him that Jesus loved him, after Joel unburdened his heart in the first five minutes of conversation. “No, thanks, not right now,” Joel continued. He didn’t want to commit to becoming a Jesus follower right then1, but our hearts shared some love and some joy on that street, rather than the glance before sweeping past each other, as is the normal custom among strangers.

Why not share our hearts, our joy, and our excitement about following Jesus on a journey with a few others?

Oh! And Jesus healed two people as we prayed for them in Jesus’ name, as well, which was also pretty cool. But that story is for another time. (It turns out that realizing that Jesus has given us authority to heal others in his name cracks open a bit more of the gift of healing he offers to all who love Him. That’s also sort of a bit awesome.)

And so after a few of us put our phones away for that half hour three times that week, and Oh – after we purged our own demons from our souls in prayer and lovingly listened to each other and prayed for each other just before hitting the streets (That’s another story) – a bunch of new people joined us at the church that Saturday night, to have a little taste of God.

Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see – how good God is.

The Message

It turns out that when we shave away the extra stuff we add to Jesus, people are actually super hungry for the food Jesus offers.

Who knew!

Hey! Got time for church? Top tip: Don’t look for a church BUILDING but a church COMMUNITY.

Find one that is learning together, to find and to eat the food of love He offers to satisfy the soul, and then ask them for a bite! Because when we do this, and try to love each other and those around us, well, Hey! Heaven breaks out sometimes!

Like it did that Saturday night, as many of us took to dancing during one of the praise songs to Jesus. Why not? We have been set free!

We might as well dance!

And that’s when about thirty more people2, most of them plucked off the streets and invited inside after half an hour or less of conversation, experienced the love of God.

And they will never be the same.

And neither will we.

As the song below sings, “We cry out for revival,” consider asking God if the cost of “pure hearts” (I.e., forgiving the IDIOTS in your church and family that you know, for example) is a price worth paying for spiritual revival in this season?

(It may just be.)

Oh!

AND having a cool place to go after you die is another awesome reason to pick up the phone when God calls you!3

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

Thanks for liking me! I like you too! – Proven HERE, HERE, and HERE! Let’s journey together!

Photo Credit – Church is Cool! (Who Knew?) by Vince Fleming on Unsplash

1 We realized later that Joel DID want to become a follower of Jesus right then, but we misunderstood his French accent. Sorry about that, Joel! Better luck next time you pour out your heart to strangers, wherever you are in the world, friend Joel!

2 We have a picture of them, but I didn’t include it here because not everyone wants to be associated with my online writing for some reason! But please! I don’t ALWAYS say funny things about my friends and family online! “Have a bit of trust!” is what I told them!

3 (He is calling you, by the way.)

Focus! The One Thing You Need To Do To Become More Spiritual (Like Me!)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

Why not be a little more awesome? Or let God be a bit more awesome through you! Whatever!

man standing on stage in front of people

Well, everyone, I am starting this article by telling you that I am a very spiritual person because I am EVEN going to a spiritual conference!

It’s not even a spiritual conference in my backyard (so I can get there and back and check off “Spiritual Thing – DONE!” while my cookies bake). I am ACTUALLY even TRAVELLING several HOURS to learn new, MORE spiritual things! (I guess that’s because I must have already learned all the spiritual things there are in the place where I live.)

Join people in fifty-eight countries who read this to gain valuable life wisdom! (Or maybe they’re just laughing at me? . . . Whatever!)

Just sayin. Did I mention that I provide spiritual encouragement and that you can trust me – of course! – implicitly? A reminder!

The guy we are going to listen to has stepped into the spiritual “MORE” than many of us1 realize. For example, Jesus has used this speaker, Jonathan Conrathe, and his team to witness more physical healings (cool!) than many of us (also VERY spiritual and important people!) witness. That’s pretty cool – not gonna lie.

Oh! And for the doubters or those who have watched Steve Martin’s excellent and funny movie Leap of Faith, about a snake-oil salesman posing as a preacher and staging fake spiritual healings, don’t fret too much!

Remember that only things of great (real) value, like paper money, are counterfeited – So OF COURSE we expect counterfeiting of valuable spiritual things, too.

THE POINT is that SOMETIMES healings actually happen at these conferences, and sometimes, the whole thing is a fake, which we expect, too! (Choose your conference wisely! People are sometimes idiots, remember?)

After all, finding counterfeit money doesn’t mean that all money is counterfeit, either, but instead, hints at the opposite.

Also, HERE is a podcast of a guy who accidentally got swept up in a spiritual miracle (his brain tumor went away – coincidentally some say! – when someone prayed for him). He is spending his life using science to verify “supposed healings.” Oh, and he’s a Ph.D. and Neuroscientist. THIS is his Medical Institute, which applies rigorous methods of evidence-based medicine to study Christian Spiritual Healing practices, and this is his book. But that discussion is for another day.

(His work is also very cool).

Essentially, to one still doubting these things occur (that’s fair!), we know that God’s tangible presence sometimes invades the earth, like a hole in a balloon pushing air into the atmosphere at certain places and times and in ways that many more of us sit up and take notice. For example, read more about these events:

  • HERE, and
  • HERE,
  • Plus so many more that I haven’t had time to write about yet. Stay tuned!

Anyway, I wonder if maybe I can be like him, the speaker at the conference we are going to (Wait – I mean, I wonder if I can be a bit more like Jesus – It’s hard to keep theology straight!) But it would be cool to have a life that appears meaningful when people judge me! Wait – I don’t care what people think of me – I forgot!

So, anyway, I’m excited to go to this conference to learn some tips and tricks so that hopefully Jesus can use my life for His glory a bit more, too!

The only problem is that the last time I went to a conference like this, I sat attentively, my extra-sharp pencil ready to jot down every nuance. “It’s about holiness,” the speaker said, softly, simply. My pencil dropped.

That stuff is so boring!

It’s hard to do the hard stuff like forgive people (who are SUCH idiots!) and stuff like that!

I like to learn a lot and not apply it (the application part is usually boring!), like when I read lots and lots of books without applying stuff!

But not anymore! Now I am ready to obey God fully! Wait!

(I don’t think I’m QUITE ready to give up and (EVEN) forgive people in my church for being idiots.)

It will cost you everything. If you really want to know the price, it will cost you everything.

Kathryn Kuhlman2

That’s why we’re lukewarm.

So this conference MAY not impact my life as much as I hope, which, annoyingly, happens surprisingly often at spiritual conferences (The speakers don’t explain stuff in a way the audience can easily “get,” I find!). So this conference MAY not impact my life, but I’m obviously very spiritual because I go to spiritual conferences, and that’s a comfort to me, at least!

As the song below sings3, “I know it’s so hard, but out of darkness I choose,” is there a choice that God is nudging you to make, friend? Will you make it? The world needs a bit more “God” moments if we’re honest.

(Maybe me looking important to others isn’t QUITE as high a priority as I believe it should be?)

Nah! Anyway, I’ll update you after the conference! Stay tuned!

And oh yeah – What is the ONE thing you need to do to become more spiritual (like me)? Go to a spiritual conference, of course, preferably one that is far away! (And for some reason you won’t be able to understand, the people in your church may like it if you go to one VERY far away, as well.) Don’t fret too much about that, either! They HAVE to like even you!

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

Thanks for liking me! I like you too! – Proven HERE, HERE, and HERE! Let’s journey together!

1 And that’s saying a LOT, because as you know, I already learned MORE spiritual things once too!

2 Excellent biography HERE

3 I also saw this singer recently in a concert in PERSON! (More proof that I am the kind of person who associates -at least! – with people in high places! Which doesn’t matter – of course! – but I say that humbly!)

Advice: Stop Being Afraid Of The Wrong Thing! Become Fearless (By Fearing This)! Part 1

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

Feel like trading in some of your fear for more joy or peace? (Why not?)

man standing on hill digital wallpaper

When she was in the hospital, only a few days before her death, my fierce, feisty, incredible but aging grandmother fixed her intense blue eyes on me and said the one thing I never thought she would say.

Click HERE to continue reading.

Join people in over fifty countries who read this to gain valuable life wisdom! (Or maybe they’re just laughing at me? . . . Whatever!)

Hack: Want NO (Or A Bit Less?) Worry? You, Too, Can Actually Be Amazing! (As Amazing As Me!)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

Come over here with me and be amazing!

A silver award trophy stands on a table.

So I woke up this morning in a tizzy. A tizzy of frenetic brain activity. Some might even be so low as to assume that someone of my high spiritual caliber was struggling with worry.

Join people in over fifty countries who read this to gain valuable life wisdom! (Or maybe they’re just laughing at me? . . . Whatever!)

I poured out my heart to my empathetic husband, tenderly giving him glimpses and opening my heart to him this morning, as we sat next to each other, coffees in hand, neither of us quite awake yet.

His sensitivity to me pouring out my bleeding heart in front of him was on full display, evidenced by what he said next.

He said only two words: “YOU? Worry?”

Wait. Was that mock surprise? Could that (possibly!) be sarcasm in his voice?

No, it couldn’t be!

But was that a slight smile on the corner of his lips that he couldn’t quite repress? Impossible. But, yes, I do find myself worrying a smidge about a few things (every day).

Was he making fun of me?

Well, maybe, but sometimes that’s what we need each other for. In this case, however, he was wrong. AS IF I’m the kind of person who worries every day!

Well, my editor says I need to be more honest as I write articles, so there might be a twinge of truth in what he hinted at.

And when I went upstairs to my prayer room to begin my day (See! I AM spiritual! I don’t care what they say!), I wondered if Jesus would agree with my husband that I tend to worry a smidge more than necessary.

“Oh, you of little faith,” is the thought that comes immediately to mind, on repeat, whenever my mind quiets or when I begin my prayers lately.

I think this is a term of endearment in how God speaks to me with these words, but you can interpret them however you like. (If you have even less faith than I do, for example, you might take the words literally.1 ) Then, I wondered if Holy Spirit was perhaps reminding me to number each of my worries and then to lift each one to Him, one by one.

Yeah, I know this kind of stuff.2

#1 – I listed a problem. I lifted my problem to God. “What did I already say?” was what I seemed to be reminded of in my heart. Oh yeah! Holy Spirit had already been nudging me towards action in that area.

#2 – I listed another problem. I remembered that God has the whole world in His hands, and so if my hands aren’t big enough to hold the world, that’s okay. He’s got this.

#3 – Etc., Etc.,

“I got out of worry!” I jubilantly announced as I walked downstairs later that morning.

My husband didn’t look up from his phone.

My daughter didn’t notice me.

My dog, however, looked up at me, expectantly, tail wagging. At least my dog wanted to hear what I had to say! (Or maybe he really wanted breakfast?)

My (human) family was less impressed with my newfound wisdom and clarity because this is what happens often (more often than I care to admit, actually).

I accidentally take on all the cares and worries of the world on my back, again.

It feels amazing to me (swapping a twinge of suffocating anxiety for a smidge of sanity), but it happens every time that I remember to do this exercise.

So my family simply ignores me. This ritual has become a part of the mundane. But it is a transformative mundane, nonetheless.

And that has some sort of value.

“You aren’t solely responsible for the entire cause of and solution for climate change,” was one of the thoughts that clarified my thinking in the prayer room one morning. True story! And so I could live a little freer, with a little more joy.

I remembered some stuff that I already knew, but I had forgotten again.

And I’ll probably have to do that tomorrow. And the next day, too. And probably every day.

Are you feeling a bit heavy today? As the song below mentions the lilies and sings, “if I listen closely, I can hear her sing to me,” try numbering your worries, one by one, lifting them to a God who loves you and loves the world and has a plan for you. What do you sense in your heart as you do this today, friend? And I pray you will also soar (like me!).

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

. . . when you yield to the life of the Spirit . . . you will . . . be . . . soaring

Ancient Text

ducks sitting on a dock

Thanks for liking me! I like you too! – Proven HERE, HERE, and HERE! Let’s journey together!

Photo Credits: Carrying The Cares Of The World, Too? (That’s Too Hard A Way To Be Amazing) by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash, Why Not Soar, Little Ducks? by Rachel Fang on Unsplash

1 Ha! Spiritual neophyte!

2 I just sometimes forget stuff I once knew.

Finding God’s Unexpected Path To Healing May Actually Be Easy?

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

What if being healed might be as easy as finding your ears?

man in black shirt sitting on chair

She was a shell.

She was skinny and sickly, often lost in her little world. Her stomach racked her in pain. Friends were elusive.

She was unhappy, never having (even once!) exploded in childhood giggles that should have been her right.

My husband and I oscillated between worry and confidence that she would grow out of “this.” One of us, either he or I, carried the ball of fear for this child. The ball of concern never went away.

Click HERE to continue reading.

Join people in over fifty countries who read this! (What? Hey, I don’t know why they read this, either! I think it’s because I’m cool.)

What To Do When You (Actually) Notice Weird Stuff Happening? (2 Mistakes, 1 Best Response)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

Got time and strength to notice the awe?

Sunlight streams through clouds over cityscape and cityscape.

I was introduced to the world of the weird (for lack of a better word) by my grandmother, a person everyone considered strong in her faith.

Join people in over fifty countries who read this to gain valuable life wisdom! (Or maybe they’re just laughing at me? . . . Whatever!)

I was a child.

My grandmother, a devout Catholic with no vocabulary for “hearing from the voice of God,” but instead an intuitive inner knowing that could not be verbalized, was bothered one evening. She told me that she had been thinking about her dear friend all day and could not get her friend out of her mind. She wasn’t sure why.

In the end, my grandmother decided to telephone her friend.

A phone call is a no-brainer for us, but phoning to talk was not done by my beautiful grandparents, who lived through the Great Depression. Phone bills at that time were calculated by the number of minutes spent on the line. Once, I called my mom from their house to ask her to pick me up, and my grandfather paced behind me, quietly cursing me under his breath in Italian (I knew THOSE words!) for taking four minutes to say what could’ve been said in two minutes. In his opinion, this was extreme wastefulness on my part! It would be another half hour before my grandmother could calm him enough for him and me to resume our card game.

And thus, my grandmother, fighting the same inner resolve against wasting money on an unnecessary phone call and listening to my grandfather pacing back and forth next to her, cursing, phoned her friend.

After my grandmother said a few compassionate words, she hung up the phone again. “Mrs. Cabianca found out today that she has cancer,” my grandmother informed us who were waiting near the phone.

Mrs. Cabianca was shocked by this diagnosis, as she was as healthy as a mule, or so she thought.

“That was weird,” I thought, staring at my grandmother.

I resumed playing cards with my grandfather, and my grandmother resumed washing the dishes, apparently unperturbed by this usual unusual occurrence. I guess this sort of thing wasn’t uncommon for her. But God had planted a small seed of faith in me that day.

Was there more?

What do you do with the “weird stuff” that you have heard about or (Heaven forbid!) has actually happened to you?

Do you:

  1. Brush it aside, assume THAT CANNOT BE, and go on eating your lunch and being distracted by the games on your iPad – I, for one, would never do that. Just sayin’. (If so, your ears are lying on the floor, friend. God wants to speak to you through them. Do you have the courage to try them on even for a few minutes? Then you can put them back on the floor again, until you are strong enough to try again.)1
  2. Do you hold one ear up to your head for an instant, and then quickly dispose of it, like bathwater? Even though your ear never QUITE touched your head, you ASSERT STRONGLY that THERE WAS NO SOUND. You know you are right. (I would never simply assume I’m right! Just sayin’.)
  3. Do you hold up your ear, and give it a listen? Do you shake out the cobwebs in your ear and in your head before giving it a go again tomorrow?

Are you longing to hear?

If so, I have great news for you, friend:

Those who are hungry and thirsty to be right with God are happy, because they will be filled.

Ancient Text

As the song below sings, “everything here ain’t quite what it seems, there’s more beneath the appearance of things,” plead with God to help you hear. That’s when the fun begins, friend. God, help us pick up the clues we stumble upon in this life, and help us want to find you and open the door to the greatest gift of all, you, Jesus.

Thanks for liking me! I like you too! – Proven HERE, HERE, and HERE! Let’s journey together!

Photo Credits: Is That Heaven Opening? by Qiu MinFeng on Unsplash, Baby Birds Know How To Ask For Food! by Sandi Mager on Unsplash

1 That approach is just fine by the way! We are babes in these things, but if you are taking steps on our journey, however small, you can be sure God is pleased with you, friend. (Keep walking)