Spirit

Loving Restored Cars Has 3 Hidden Secrets To Aging Better?

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

Would you like a little psychotherapy with that fresh coat of paint?

white and purple vintage car on green grass field during daytime

I had never TRULY appreciated those old vintage cars, all fixed up, that are driven and maintained by older men on the edge of mid-life crises (and sometimes insanity).

Their world revolves disturbingly around these cars, and they attend old, restored car conferences every year to show off their efforts.

They distract themselves by talking about old cars to try to forget they are headed for the scrap heap soon, too, and they pretend that by restoring an old car, they COULD also restore themselves.

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At least that is what is happening beneath the surface for them. However, we may not see a ripple of these neuroses on the surface as they talk incessantly about missing parts and how to help give the exterior another fresh coat of paint to cover over some of the rust and warped frames. In other words, they are actually talking about themselves.

They don’t know it deep down, though there is sort of a hint, an inkling way down deep in their souls, which suggests this may be true.

They would never admit it. (That’s okay, actually. The truly wise know that sometimes, burying neuroses is not SUCH a bad strategy!)

As for me, I had never appreciated old, restored cars when I was young.

Now, I do for some reason that I can’t quite pinpoint.

I mean, the work!

And don’t you think those old cars are MUCH NICER LOOKING and therefore have MUCH MORE VALUE than those cheap imports? And SURE – the newer cars take a bit less work – but have MUCH LESS PERSONALITY?

I mean, I think so.

And so, what are the three hidden reasons why appreciating old cars helps us regain our sanity?

That’s easy:

  1. Appreciating old cars (and dragonflies) awakens us to remember that God is outside of our time line for our lives.
  2. Appreciating old cars reminds us that God loves to fix stuff, too.
  3. Appreciating old cars helps us expand our vision of WHAT God can do in the next season of our lives.

“In the Last Days,” God says, “I will pour out my Spirit on every kind of people: . . . your old men [will] dream dreams.

The Message

And that’s all I have to say for today.

Oh, and did I mention that God loves to restore old cars, too?

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine on us [in favor and approval] . . .

Ancient Text

This is good news, friend!

As the song below sings, “Now is the time for restoration with repentance with transformation,” what do you sense God nudging in your heart? What old dream do you sense rising to the surface again? May you ponder your dreams in times of prayer with God, friend, and may He boldly guide your steps into your next season.

May you have exceeding joy as you drive your restored Corvette with the top down into this next season, friend.

I’ll wave to you as we pass each other!

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What I’ve Learned About Being Amazing And This Is The way You Can Be Amazing Too!

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Ready to swap “BLAH” for “WOW” for your life, friend?

A cat sitting on a bed next to a window

I made this1 quilt.

Yup.

“Who made this quilt?” our friend asked, on visiting our lake cabin and seeing such stunning beauty in this fish quilt that her eyes could no longer focus on anything else, including the picturesque beauty trying to capture her attention outside the window, the sun2 glimmering on the water of the lake.

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“Oh, I did,” I mentioned casually, humbly.

“YOU?”

I tried not to be offended at her incredulous astonishment, as if it was IMPOSSIBLE that I could produce something like this.

“Of course!” I tried to divert her embarrassing incredulity with more of my humbly low self-assessment.

She stuttered and spat in an effort to talk, unsure how to respond.

Which brings us to THE POINT of today’s newsletter.

I’m amazing.

I am ALSO self-assured enough to admit, however much this admission is a drop in the ocean of my grandiosity, a BIT to my perceived or actual faults. (What my therapist called, “Neuroses.” Whatever!)

So that day, a few months later3, I let the judgments of other people affect my actual or perceived self-esteem.

You see, some people think that I waste every day of my life. For example, homeschooling our kids has much less value in our society than it could, as mentioned HERE, where every person I met at the party after I began homeschooling my children desperately needed to speak to someone ELSE at the party. When I had a culturally successful career, people gathered around ME (!) at the party to hear my stories. I will vulnerably admit to not being perfect soon (I’M GETTING THERE, OKAY?), but I’m still building myself up first.

It’s a well-worn strategy that works for me.

That day, about a year ago, I had been visiting a new friend’s house, and it was repleef4 with beauty created by inhabitants of the house who love to make things. There were improvements everywhere we looked, which spoke to the talent and eye for beauty of both of these remarkable people. You know the type – They’re sooo annoying that they make us feel immature! I’m sure you can relate!

My editor says I have to be specific here, so imagine this:

  • handmade railings with wooden details that a machine could never create
  • bits of driftwood carefully crafted into various animals as décor on the table (Made by THEM – the jerks!)
  • beautifully handmade curtains (I made curtains once! Just saying)
  • gorgeous quilts reminiscent of nature scenes and other indescribable beauty adorning every wall

And THE POINT of today’s Substack “Newsletter5.”

I found that my self-esteem had drastically plummeted after encountering this house.

“Why don’t I have quilts on every wall?” I wondered to myself.

My husband and I “do other stuff,” which is another way of saying we waste our time playing video games, and so our house doesn’t look quite as decorated with handmade beauty!

To add insult to injury, throughout the previous year and after this visit to the home, I continued to feel a nagging urge to write.

But at the end of every day of writing, I don’t have a beautiful new sculpture for my coffee table.

So, after I finished comparing myself to them and firmly grounded myself in a culture of competitively creating art (This is the culture that I personally value and gravitate towards), I was a lowly worm in the food pyramid of that worldview.

Until the next day.

Until I felt God nudging me to set my sights in the direction He was looking.

But that conversation is for next time.

THE POINT is that sometimes we don’t set our sights for ourselves in quite the right place.

And so, how do we become amazing? We trust God and follow Him on the adventure He has for our lives. True, we may not be amazing according to how others (I.e., quilt culture) see us, but if God and our Mom like us, isn’t that what matters, friend?

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

As the song below sings “show me who I am and who I’m made to be”, consider asking God how you may have inadvertently aligned your perceived value with what our culture values. How does God see you, friend? And in what direction, even if it’s a bit off-center, is He asking you to travel?

God, help us all to have eyes for you alone, we pray.

You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever

The Message

Photo Credit – A Quilt! (Not My Quilt – See Footnote 1) by Linus Belanger on Unsplash

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1 Actually I can’t find the picture I took of the quilt I made but who says I’m NOT organized?

2 Or Son – This type of beauty reminds me of its Creator

3 Unlike every other day when I am full of wisdom

4 Fancy word! – Wait, my editor says that’s NOT a word? What does she know! I like that word so it stays!

5 Ha! This is news? Haha!

Despairing? Focus On Cleaning Your Teeth (And More Right Thinking) To Be Surprised By Hope!

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Get our teeth cleaned or throw out everything good with the bathwater?

man in blue polo shirt smoking cigarette

Sometimes the bad things that happen to us (1) have a more straightforward solution than we realize, or (2) there is a silver lining of hope surprisingly close.

For example, that time I came back after three months in India and Nepal, my FRONT (!) teeth had a growing blackness to them. “Oh my goodness,” I thought. “I am rotting from the inside out!”

“Tea stains,” said the dentist.

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I did have a profound appreciation for Chai tea.

And so sometimes things aren’t as bad as we think.

Another time, I suddenly developed tooth sensitivity. My dentist had been warning me, asking me, “Do you feel sensitive yet in that particular area?” He told me I had root recession and that I would start feeling sensitive soon.

“There it is,” I thought that day. I didn’t bother going to the dentist because I knew this was coming. I thought, “Well, I guess I’ll have to suffer with this until I die!” I drank hot and cold drinks, and then most foods on one side of my mouth. When I finally went to the dentist months later, he said, “Oh wow, your filling fell out!”

He even repaired it for free because, I guess, it shouldn’t usually happen.

This filling was the best gift I ever got. A free filling! Well, the free filling wasn’t the gift.

The gift was a new lease on life.

I didn’t have to suffer for the rest of my life just because I was suffering a little now.

Older age wasn’t necessarily a slow march through increasing pain and suffering until we fall off the cliff.

We may need a new filling! Or we need the tea stains cleaned off our teeth! How can I not assume that my body is running towards hell and taking me with it as I get older?

What new aches and pains must be accepted, and which ones must be fought (or repaired or cleaned?)1

We may need to get our teeth cleaned or have a new filling placed. Or perhaps God will reach out his hand to heal, as many thousands have attested. But if the pain must be accepted, there’s always a hidden redemption in the pain if we know where to look.

That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

The Message

As the song below sings “This is the refreshing”, consider asking God, Where have I allowed despair to cloud my judgment? Do I need to get my teeth cleaned, or find an alternative solution to this seemingly oversized or insoluble problem? How do You see this challenge that I am facing from Your heavenly perspective?

Will you give me the strength to weather the storm, Jesus?

(His answer is always yes.)

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

The Message

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Photo Credit – Guy Choosing Easier Way Out Of His Problems by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

1 As a not-unrelated aside, Canada has got it wrong with its steep descent into killing each other as the new, favorite way out of the pain.

Lies Exposed: 5 Important Gifts Can Emerge With A Little More Suffering

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Why not swap pain for something better, friend?

a close up of a barbed wire with the sun in the background

At our prayer group, I whined1 about a new bunion I was developing.

At the end of the meeting, our Pastor told me he had a bunion, and when I saw it, it was a lot more advanced than mine. He shrugged his shoulders. He still goes for RUNS at age eighty-plus with a painful bunion and a bum knee.

Maybe a little pain is not the end of the world, as much we tend to believe.

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“Get over it,” he seemed to be hinting at me with his sparkling eyes. Maybe he’s right. Maybe we need to learn to live with a bit of pain, and this is not such a bad thing.

His perspective reminds me of the person twenty-five years younger than me that I work out with at the gym2.

She moaned about it being hard getting “older” because of the new aches and pains.

“Take heart!” I thought to encourage her. “ALL the aches and pains I had at her age are GONE!3

And sometimes, God even makes our bodies capable of healing from pain, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Who knows? For example, my friend offered the contact information of a specialist who helped her with her bunion.

Sometimes He gives us each other to help us find our healing.

Sometimes God simply touches us as we reach up our hand to Him and ask for this.

But in the meantime, how do we temper the storms of life as they come?

In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties.

Jesus Christ in The Message

The (relative) good news is that:

Suffering may be our opportunity to become who our friends and family have always longed for us to become.

In fact, at least five gifts can emerge if we partner with the suffering4 in hope.

We can become:

  1. A little more empathetic,
  2. A little more humble,
  3. A little more thankful for the small things we take for granted,
  4. A little more capable with increased capacity to weather the inevitable storms of life (Or, a little “tougher” my outdoorsy Dad would have said),
  5. A little more willing to stop slapping Holy Spirit’s hand when He reaches out to comfort us.

Lord, help us to allow the suffering that we experience to transform us, we pray. Please help us bear the sufferings we all experience. When it becomes too great for us to bear, increase our connection to You, that You may comfort us and be our crutch to help us walk out our days with Your strength, we pray.

And may your time with bunions or your time immobilized in bed be productive, in a surprising sort of way, friend.5

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

Photo Credit – Thorns and Sunrise by Josie Weiss on Unsplash

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1 (Only slightly, okay?!)

2 Yes, that IS an impressive statement! Check out THIS article and THIS one to be even MORE impressed with my gym “buff-ness” (Or at least perseverance – same thing!)

3 I have a lot of new ones that are MUCH worse, but the point is, we don’t ALWAYS have to worry about keeping the pain we have!

4 I know that the beginning of a bunion forming example is (only a bit!) pathetic. For a less pathetic example of suffering, check out this article, when I could barely get out of bed for a month, for more thoughts on the possible redemption of suffering.

5 As outlined in the numbered statements above.

New Lessons I Learned After 29 Days Of Bed Rest

/ Lori Lawe / 3 Comments

Sometimes essential life lessons come in strange gift packages, no?

a bench sitting on top of a lush green hillside

The first week on bed rest1 wasn’t too bad.

I was initially hopeful that my body would figure itself out, my back would crack in the right direction, and I would be up and running in no time. I opened an office on my bed, barking orders at my homeschooled kid, and attending meetings online. I forgot to tell one male teacher why I was in bed during the online homeschooling call, which was embarrassing in retrospect.

But I’ve done more embarrassing things2 in good health.

Click HERE to continue reading.

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Does Your Heart Long For A Wonderful Gift? (Hope)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
a small tree growing out of a large rock

Ah!!!

All of it – yuck! It clings to me, like a slime mold, slowly advancing. It climbs up my feet and legs, though I protest, holding my arms high in an effort to keep it away. I try to push it back, frantically, but it advances. The yellow goo, unfeeling, is slowly encapsulating me.

Click HERE to continue reading.

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Know You Need To Soar Instead Of Simply Watching Others Fly? 5 Tips When You Transition

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
a close up of a chicken with a blurry background

Recently, my husband and I took a course on transitioning with intentionality as we shift our priorities in a different life season.

The professor was Dr. Gordon Smith, who also writes on Substack HERE. However, please don’t mention that I sent you over there to him, as he may not agree with EVERY one of my life applications in this Newsletter, as I reflected on some of his comments. Plus, I wouldn’t want him to feel like I was showing him up! (I should humbly hint at.)

So if we want to live with intentionality, one thing we can do is read a book like this, which was required reading for our course. This book is entirely different from what I usually read. I typically read books on how to do things fast and faster!1

This book is different!

In one of the chapters (I forget which), Awakening Vocation hints that the book is intended for individuals seeking to discover meaning, purpose, and other similar goals. “Hey, sounds like me!” I thought. I’ve been trying to find meaning in life since the day I was born, but every time I pick up some old fluff on he ground that might be “meaningful,” it flies away on the wind again!2

And so, what did you learn, you ask us?

Oh, that part is easy!

Here are some of my scribbled sentences as I reflected on the content of that course:

  1. Our work is a participation in God’s work. Look around and ask, “What in the world are you up to, God?” (Application: I ask God that question a lot, so I am obviously very good at this! Just saying!)
  2. The more we do, the greater the impact we can make! (Application: The Professor may have meant this sentence as irony, but I forgot, and if so, I don’t fully understand what he’s getting at.)
  3. YOU are invited onto the stage into the drama of God’s redemptive work in this world. (Application: This part made me cry, but maybe that’s because I have always wanted people to clap for me on a stage and appreciate me and so forth. Wait. This tip is about God, I think, but it’s easy to mix up our ego with some of “God’s priorities” if we’re honest, don’t you find?)
  4. Let go of the need to control the outcomes of our work or endeavors. (Application: I’ve tried to let go of the need to control, but this is a LOT harder than it seems. So, if you skip this point, I don’t blame you.)
  5. We are always endeavoring to be in sync as much as we can with what God is calling us to do. (Application: YES! I GET this point! And God is calling me to write for some reason, and I am so excited to have coffee with you and get to know you better are we explore these ideas together – We will announce a regular Zoom connection time as soon as I am not so disorganized that I remember to look at my calendar and the commitments I’ve made, or at least when I stop watching so many movies at night!)

So friends, join us as we link our heads, hearts and spirits to the new priorities God is calling us to.

As the song below sings, “And I’ll search, I’ll search here for answers,” consider asking God, “Is the horizon of where you are asking me to walk towards further than I can see? Can you show me the next step?”

God, I pray that you help each one of us slow down and listen and then have the courage to fly into everything you are calling us to become as we press onwards, warmed by the light of the Son, we pray.

worms eye view photography of eagle flying across the sky

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles

The Message

Photo Credits – How Does One Soar? by César Ardila on Unsplash, Eagle Shows Us How by Rachel McDermott on Unsplash

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1 In fact, the best advice I ever received is that rather than trying to read a book fast, decide whether you should read it at all! Now, I don’t bother reading so many books, and that’s how I know I’m efficient!

2 Anyone else feel this way? No? SHOW OFF!

Eyes And Mind More Open To The Surprising, Wonderful Gift Of Remembrance Day / Memorial Day?

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
white table and chairs on green grass field during daytime

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada, also known as Veterans Day in the USA, and previously referred to as Memorial Day for a similar, earlier holiday.

The best thing about these days (all variations on the same theme) is that they force us to think about . . . wait for it . . . our own individual deaths.

(Sorry for saying it out loud. But good news follows! Keep reading!)

We are the Dead. Short days ago. We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie, in Flanders fields.

Canada’s famous Remembrance Day poem, In Flanders Fields by John McCrae

This thought is the one we close our eyes to and try to forget with movies, popcorn, and laughs with friends, and other healthy distractions.

This thought is one of the ones that bolts us awake at night just before we fall asleep with, “Oh yeah! I’m going to die!”

And then we frantically check our email and update our social media profiles to further distance ourselves from this thought.

“Oh! And what time is it?” Time to run off somewhere else and distract ourselves some more! But what if we sat with some tea and really had a good look at this irritating thing called “Death”?

For example:

  1. We are all rolling the dice every day, wondering if today is the day we meet our maker. Let’s add a little statistical reasoning to our end-of-life dice roll. Why not? What can it hurt? Try it HERE.
  2. Alternatively, we can wait until we are eighty-nine and a half years old to give the thought that “I will die someday” a little ponder, but I’m not sure that’s the best approach.
  3. A wise person thinks a lot about death. Why not swallow the fear and give end-of-life a little think-through, friend?

Oh! And I almost forgot to say that there is joy after the fear!

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.

Jesus Christ – The Guy Almost 1/3 Of The People On Earth Claim To Follow1

Photo Credit – Me, Too, One Day? Right! I Almost Forgot! by Selena Morar on Unsplash

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1 The guy might we worth listening to sometimes!

Sick and Tired of Destroying Your Marriage? Two Unusual Phrases For A Better Way!

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a couple of people riding skis down a snow covered slope

Earlier this week, I offered some excellent1 marriage advice on how to laugh together (at others)! Here’s some more unsolicited marriage advice! You’re welcome! Good luck!

We were preparing our family to go skiing for the first time this year.

Only two people had mini meltdowns.

Click HERE to continue reading.

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Are Your Spiritual Eyes Closed? (Open Them If You Want To Hear More Remarkable True Stories Like This One)

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person closed eyes

So, this is what happened that day several decades ago when the curtain was torn for me between the physical world and the supernatural world, and I finally began to see.

Because I finally began to believe.

I was seventeen years old at the time, travelling in Europe with my friend.

That day began like many others during that season as we rolled up our sleeping bags and left the hostel with a wave to the other youth travelers and set off on another day of adventure. This time, we were in Paris, a place I had longed to be for a long time. Years earlier, I studied the “Tour d’Eiffel and the L’Arc de Triomphe” from our sanitized classroom in Canada, the frigid winds blowing on the monotonous, nearly black-and-white landscape.

Not today!

We hiked up our fat, well-worn backpacks higher onto our backs. We pushed up our glasses and squinted, staring at everyone and everything as we passed, innocently looking away when we accidentally caught their eyes. This was our ridiculous effort to blend in with French culture as much as possible.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being “jubilant,” our combined average mood on this trip was a 10.5.

We were thrilled just to be there, and every crack in the sidewalk offered an opportunity to explore a new aspect of French culture.

Except for today.

Today, for some reason that I couldn’t pinpoint, my mood was objectively declining. From the people we passed, who seemed to glare at us menacingly (This definitely wasn’t the case, my friend worriedly assured me), to the landscape, which was donning hues more reminiscent of black-and-white, rather than the opulent, exciting colors that a new surrounding conjures, I was losing my exuberant mentality.

In fact, I was becoming downright weighed down by SOMETHING, some ominous feeling that grew heavier with each step towards the train station downtown.

Something was wrong.

What was going on?

My friend and I had carefully assured each other that if either of us ever felt the slightest bit uncomfortable while travelling, we would change course until we both felt at peace. No questions asked. In four months of travelling, feeling uncomfortable had never happened to either of us.

Except for today.

When our train pulled into the station, the feeling of ominous darkness grew within me until I finally blurted out, “I DON’T KNOW WHY BUT I CAN’T GET ON THAT TRAIN!”

“Okay, okay!” my friend assured me calmly, in a tone one would expect a Psychiatrist to use when talking someone down from a ten-story window ledge who plans to jump.

We sat in silence on the bench, watching our train depart. We didn’t speak, each looking in a different direction, my friend occasionally suspiciously glancing at me from the corner of her eye. Had I gone berserk?

After five, ten, and then fifteen minutes of sitting in silence, I felt the heavy feeling lift more and more.

After twenty minutes, I was about a seven out of ten on our “Jubilant Mood Meter” and climbing.

What had just happened?

“Look, I’m sorry,” I offered. “I have no idea what that was about.” My friend looked relieved that I had re-found my sanity and breathed an audible sound of relief. “Let’s just catch the next train.”

Which we did.

About one hour into that train ride, our train suddenly stopped mid-track. There were no stations for a long time. My friend and I looked at each other quizzically.

An announcement came over the train’s speakers, stating that the train ahead of us had been involved in an accident and that we would have to wait for a while.

Our eyes grew big.

But my heart also expanded that day, until it was big enough to fit God inside.

That experience was like a North Star within me, too precious to speak aloud. I shared this story with only a handful of people for the first few decades. Why?

Who would have believed me anyway?

(Except you, of course.)

Be prepared to hear many more stories like this, friend, as we open our eyes.

Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.

Saint Augustine in Confessions

As the song below plays, consider asking God how you may have accidentally let Jesus pass you by.

Photo Credit – Why Open Our Eyes? by Anita Jankovic on Unsplash

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