Holy Spirit

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.

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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?

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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.

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

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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)

How To Be Amazing (Because The One Giving The Best Advice Is Amazing!)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

Got time to hang out with God (Oh! And me, too!)?

a monkey with its mouth open

“Yeah, I don’t even know how I found her,” I mentioned to my husband offhandedly, as I distractedly finished my lunch. I had forgotten.

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

We were talking about my chiropractor, who was like a gift from God, healing my back with her expertise.

The next morning, my prayer group reminded me how I had found her. Years earlier, a friend had some trouble with her foot. She mentioned the name of the person who is now my chiropractor.

Her, Holy Spirit seemed to nudge my heart.

My friend was reluctant to share her contact information with me. “I have no idea if she even adjusts backs,” she cautioned.

Her, Holy Spirit seemed to repeat.

I was in a phase of rejecting all therapy at that time.

Everything I tried, every physiotherapist, chiropractor, masseuse, and others had made me worse. Much worse. I was afraid to try anyone else.

“I’ll just have to solve this on my own,” I had thought.

But with a nudge from God, I made the call. I was tense and nervous in her office that first day. But she became the gift God gave to me.

And I was thankful for her.

Until I forgot about her (Hey! It happens!)

Months later, I hobbled around, one hand on my back, bent over and twisted.

Even though it had NOTHING to do with my ego, an inadequate assessment of my own strength, or trying to impress others, I did (a teensy bit!) too much in my new CrossFit class that week.

Aside: This is a picture of me at the gym so you can be suitably impressed with how strong I am!

a woman lifting a barbell in a gym

Wait – I meant to put in this picture1, below – Whatever!

But on that (annoying) day, after my too-intense workout, I could feel my lower back muscles clench, pushing me into a C-shape. “This strain will probably get better on its own,” I thought. I was in denial, again, but my body kept slowly bending me over.

The name of my chiropractor popped into my head.

Oh right! But we were leaving on holiday.

I didn’t think I had the time to see her, and she is normally booked weeks in advance, anyway.

I continued to pack, holding my aching back. But again, and again, the chiropractor’s name went through my head that morning, as I was thinking of other things. This is one of the ways God speaks to us.

He reminds us, again and again.

We don’t always pay attention to the first few2 times.

I finally called the chiropractor, the one I hadn’t seen in five months, the one I had somehow forgotten about after a season of happy back. She surprisingly had one cancellation that morning, which worked perfectly before we left on holiday. Her touch was like the hand of God.

I don’t mean to be overly dramatic, but that is how it felt to me.

My body obeyed the chiropractor’s touch and re-aligned. My posture was upright. I (carefully) went about my day, and in only several days, instead of several months, I was running again.

I could run faster, complete the triathlon, and horse around with the kids again sooner, much sooner.

(There is another and another who helped my back a ton as well, but those are different stories.)

God walked with me in my pain, and His Spirit guided me to a person who used her skills to allow God’s healing through my body.

And I have remembered, now, to be thankful to God for her, too.

If I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me.

Ancient Text

Need some advice?

Ask!

God, you long to give out treasures, but we so infrequently come to You to receive. Help us, Jesus, to run to You as a small child in distress runs to their parent, longing for an embrace. May we trust You more deeply with our headaches, heartaches, body aches, and spiritual aches.

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

Photo Credit – Yeah! I Feel Like That, Too! by Thomas Oxford on Unsplash, Me! by Random Person Standing Nearby, and Wow! She’s STRONG! by Marvin Cors on Unsplash (No Wait – Reverse The Order Of Those Last Two Photos – Whatever!)

1 What? WHO said that’s a “Training Bar” and “Training Weights”! You can’t prove it from that photo! (To my editor: Can they?)

2 Hundred

Hack: Online Connection Actually Begins Tonight (Why Not Soar Together?)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

Got time to learn to fly, friend?

This photo is me on the day I won FIRST PRIZE at the craft fair for the sunflower shirt I sewed! (See Footnote 11 for why I subtly placed that fact here). Oh! And I HAPPEN to be wearing that EXACT shirt today!

That is VERY auspicious for our online times together.

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

I talked about it BEFORE. It’s finally happening, starting TONIGHT: online connection, finding our ears to learn to hear the nudges of God together, and tea.2

Note that no one needs to speak during the prayer (unless you want to). Oh! And stay afterwards for a connection time, to get to know each other, if you have a few minutes.

Why not?

Let’s learn to soar together, friend, as we practice connection with God.

Let’s journey together!

WE HOPE YOU JOIN US

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Thank you for your response. ✨

1 That’s how you know I am an exceptional person (and therefore you can trust me!).

2 Bring your own tea. Everything else is provided!

Fix Your Broken Shopping Cart (And Life)! 3 Helpful Reasons Why

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

How much do you also simply tolerate, friend?

a black and white photo of a shopping cart

I was pushing my shopping cart in the grocery store. I was in a hurry (Of course!) and pushing more on one side because the thing kept veering off to one side as I walked, trying to smash into every aisle. “I. Only. Have. To. Get. A. Few. More. Items,” I grunted begrudgingly, pushing hard with both hands on one side of the cart.

I don’t want you to go through life like this. I thought I sensed God whispering in my heart.

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

Spiritually Asleep As You Live Your Life? How To Awaken

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

And while we’re chatting, do you want another cookie and to join me in playing a game on my iPad, friend?

Man yawning widely with hands behind his head.

The sun peeked through the darkness.

city skyline under gray cloudy sky during daytime

The storm was lifting. Hope filled the air along with the fresh scent of life, stirring, awakening with the rain. It was a new season.

Today.

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

I stretched, removed the covers from my bed and sat up, looking around me blankly. What would this new day, this new season bring, now that this storm was lifting, I wondered? I poured my coffee and asked these questions of God, and his whisperings startled me.

person holding white ceramic cup with hot coffee

There is so much in my life that He is longing to awaken. How about in yours?

Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?

The Message

And how do we awaken, if we, like Sleeping Beauty, have been spiritually resting for a few years?

Try this: As the song below plays1 and as you sit with your morning coffee, pondering this new day or this new season, what stirrings in the dry soil of your heart, of seeds coming to life, do you sense?

Oh! And she sings of repentance in this song, but I wouldn’t recommend THAT or anything! In my humble opinion, there doesn’t seem to generally be any need to travel down any spiritual path as far as repentance would take us.

Please!

I definitely recommend turning back and hanging out with the rest of us who don’t want to walk THAT far! And anyway, the part of the song about repentance doesn’t apply to me, thankfully! (It may, however, apply to you, of course.)

True repentance [is] not merely . . . sorrow over sin, but . . . a “sweet sorrow” arising from a new, awakened delight in the beauty of God.2

John Piper – Desiring God

PS – I’m not sure exactly what John is talking about here, but it sounds deep, and it seems to fit, so I thought I would include it!

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

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

Photo Credits Me! (Except I Look Different) by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash, Is That Hope? by Etienne Boulanger on Unsplash, No! That’s NOT God Speaking! That’s Steam! by Clay Banks on Unsplash

1 She’s a little serious in this song. You’ll want to offer her a cookie and tell her, “Hey, Lady! Relax a bit!” (At least I do.) The point is that it’s good to wake up spiritually. She gets that part, so we can at least learn that bit from her!

2 And may you awake a little more with each poke repentance gives our sleeping form, friend.

Do You Hear The Birds? (Hack: How To Be Awakened Spiritually By Their Song)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

Got time to watch the movie going on right next to you, friend?

A bird is perched on a thin branch.

The bird flitters from branch to branch.

It’s a yellowish green. It has yellowish-green feathers and a little white circle around its eye – a flycatcher. This family of birds has built its nest here for at least a dozen of its little bird generations, for as long as we have visited this summer cabin.

We didn’t notice them for the first few years.

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

We only heard them, the little “Whew-it!” sound, rising at the end, every two minutes or so. “Just another bird sound,” we thought, eating our food at the outside table and distracted by the food and by each other. But that sound sure was insistent.

Could there be more to this incessant sound than just another bird flitting around nearby somewhere?

“Can you pass the peanut butter?”

And we forgot about them again.

Until the baby bird fell out of the nest that summer and flapped pathetically on the floor right beside our table outside.

“Whew-it! Whew-it!” We heard that same sound now, but more intensely, more insistently, louder.

It was the Father bird calling, imploring the little bird to stretch its wings, give flying a go, insistent now.

Our eyes had finally awakened to EXACTLY WHICH bird made that insistent sound, and was the nest far away? Directly above where the little bird was flapping, we finally noticed the obvious – a nest in the rafters just above us. The birds flitting above us as we ate our meals several times per day were the parents. They were doing their little bird jobs, telling the babies to wait a bit – they would bring more food once the scary demon humans had eaten their meals and finally cleared out. The birds were flitting and making noise above us as we were eating our meals.

A lot was going on that we didn’t have eyes to see until the unusual happened.

A baby bird flapped, and its Father called next to our feet as we ate our lunch that day.

And when we got up from the distractions of more food and of each other, and took a closer inspection at this bird, and then followed the clues to notice the bird’s nest above our heads, finally, we were awakened to a whole other world that had been going on right next to us for years.

And in precisely the same way, God wants us to open our eyes to see the realities of the spiritual dimension, happening right next to us every minute of our lives.

Sometimes we see something remarkable, something that makes us rub our eyes and say, “What now?” kind of like a baby bird flapping at our feet during breakfast.

Sometimes we hear a sound, repetitive and gentle, kind of like the “Whew-it!” sound of a flycatcher repeatedly calling to its young while we distractedly eat breakfast.

“What was that?” we wonder, but then all is quiet again, and maybe it’s just another bird in the trees doing who-knows-what, we think, returning to our breakfast cereal.

And so, how do we awaken to the physical and the spiritual unusual? We linger, we listen, we allow the questions of our soul to surface, and we watch a bit longer. We attach our ears, and we take off our blindfolds.

Then it’s a little easier for God to surprise us with the unusual.

The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance!

Ancient Text

Got time to open the door, friend, have a cup of tea with Holy Spirit, and start an adventure?

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

Photo Credit – There’s A Whole Other World Out There by Vijayalakshmi Nidugondi on Unsplash

Suddenly, An Unremarkable Event Instructs Us In Hope (Need Some?)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

Sit by me, friend! I found some hope to share today!

purple and white flower in close up photography

I was startled when I saw it.

It was a mundane circumstance for those without eyes to appreciate it.

But my heart quickened many beats. God seemed to be whispering in the ordinary, calling me to see something more profound than this mundane object. Would I have ears to hear? Did I have time to listen? Was I too busy to notice?

Here’s what happened.

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