Spiritual

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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Hack: Choose God Over An Extra Cookie! Here’s How My Life Got Better!

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
person holding round copper-colored coin
Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash

His t-shirt said, “Do what feels good.”

With only a bit of reflection, this worldview may have some flaws. For example, eating whatever we want whenever we want would feel good – wouldn’t it? But I think my knees would feel rebellious about that mantra if my weight increased without stopping, correlating to food consumption that “feels good.”

No, this worldview doesn’t quite line up with reality.

We all know that short-term joy can lead to long-term pain and vice versa. There must be a wiser worldview than this one. For example, Jesus said, “WHEN (emphasis mine) you fast . . .”

When.

Ouch. I had been a Christian for 30 years, and the time hadn’t seem to have yet come when I needed to fast! I didn’t want to create a bunch of rules about how to live!

Being a REAL Christian is not about ticking off a bunch of boxes!

We have the advantage of being modern, so we know now that the early monks and nuns from centuries ago got a whole BUNCH of theology COMPLETELY wrong!

“Fasting weekly or taking longer fasts sounds like archaic Christianity!” I admonish, crumbs from a half-eaten box of cookies spewing from my mouth. I hear the notifications binging on my phone – just a minute.

Anyway, we know what spirituality REALLY is because we’re moderns.

“Huh? What?” I accidentally spew more crumbs in my effort to talk. Sorry. I gallantly wipe crumbs off your shirt.

“Do you think the early monks and nuns may have gotten some things RIGHT that many of us don’t do today?” I scoff and wait.

“Yes. The monks and nuns fasted regularly,” you continue.

Every time I read my bible and get to the part about Jesus saying that we WILL fast, of course, I feel a pang of guilt.

Why didn’t I fast, anyway?

So, that day, I started fasting.

I decided to start with fasting to sort out some global mishaps. I would pray about Ukraine and Russia – stuff like that.

World-changing stuff.

I put away my cereal and milk for an hour one morning and had a go at fasting and prayer.

And Jesus was pleased.

Me?

I wasn’t so pleased with myself. I fell flat on my face. I was distracted, hungry, and then gave up after half an hour. What’s the point?

Get up, Jesus seemed to be saying, holding out His hand to me. Try again. He gave me a smile and a hug.

How could He be pleased with me?

The following week, another fall, a big, lamentable flail. And the next and the next. Jesus helped me up each time, and His pleasure grew with my impending sense of failure.

The two are not unrelated.

My strength comes into its own in your weakness

The Message

Finally, I asked a friend to pray with me, to fast breakfast together, and to encourage one another. He prayed that I could complete this most pathetic of tasks. And I did it.

Not with a conspicuous finish, like a victor, sweeping across the finish line, grabbing the trophy before heading to the winner’s platform.

But more like a worm slithering in the rain, some worm friends encouraging me, “Keep going!”

a close up of a worm crawling on the ground
Photo by Julian Zwengel on Unsplash

Ultimately, I didn’t pray about world peace or anything outside myself.

I prayed, “God, help me to fast breakfast this morning!”

And God was very pleased.

Because I was beginning to realize my need for God to grow spiritually and therefore to live well.

Well done, He said, the Father embracing the teen longing for affirmation.

I became more aware of my understanding of who I am and my feeble state. No, I’m not a bold warrior, with God blessing me so that my superpowers can help solve world crises. I am pathetic and can barely delay my breakfast without His constant help.

And He is pleased with me.

And who will we become as we rely on God to help us to have the strength to learn to pray?

Demons quiver at the thought.

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How To Hear God’s Invitation That Will Make You Dance With Him (Part 2)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
person's hand
Photo by Billy Pasco on Unsplash

It finally clicked in that God was speaking to me about this person, and then I wondered if God wanted to say something to him through me. I quickly remarked about his T-shirt and rambled on, trying to connect. I couldn’t get eye contact, and his back remained to me, a grunt in reply.

“Oh, wait. I need to stand back a moment.” I thought. “If God wants to speak through me, I need to listen to God to see what He wants to say.” (!)

It was a moment of genius when I remembered that God doesn’t need me to be a little goddess for him by letting my mouth run away with my brain. Instead, what is He saying?

I felt God say to ask him where he goes to church.

Now, I live in a community where less than 4% of adults go to church regularly. And by regularly, I mean once at Christmas.

The exponential growth bell curve for “churchgoers” is reversed for teens, so exponentially fewer teens in our area attend church than even the infrequent adults. I was about to change my question to this youth, slightly, to WHETHER he attended church instead of the incredibly obnoxious WHERE he goes to church.

I sensed again a nudge from the heart of God tugging at my sleeve, asking him WHERE he goes to church.

I guided the topic as naturally as possible, from Las Vegas, the city name on his hoodie, to our small local community, “Isn’t it better to live here than in Las Vegas?” I attempted lamely. He grunted in reply. “Better opportunities exist for a good community here, and I have found a church community. There are so many great churches with amazing communities.” I had crossed the bridge.

Would I end up on his side of the road? “So, where do you go to church,” I asked as non-violently as possible. My husband did a double-take, and I could almost see him rolling his eyes under the coffee cup as he sipped it.

The young man said that he goes to the Gospel Chapel when he goes, but he hasn’t been in awhile. A land! The airplane landed! A connection was made.

I had several experiences with that church, so we bonded over these experiences for a bit.

Tell him what I told you, I sensed. Was that God, or no? Well, I was in this far…

“You know, as soon as I saw you, I felt God say that you are one of His,” I began. This teen, who purposely put his back to me as often as possible earlier and issued only a few grunts for conversation, glued his eyes to mine. He leaned forward.

Again, I felt an overwhelming wave of God’s love and perhaps empathy – for that young man. It was a sense that God understood him, understood his struggles, and loved him so very much.

“I feel that God loves you so very much,” I tried to spit out. I was nearly crying, and the emotion overwhelmed me. “He is pleased with you.”

Adding a notch to this weird experience, I sensed God nudging me to ask to pray for him. So I did. And he accepted.

And it was the most natural thing in the world for a woman in her forties to pray for a teen recluse she had never met at a random coffee shop.

It’s not weird. It’s perhaps, a glimpse again of authentic Christian living.

I was thirsty for more.

The need to worship was overwhelming, and I needed to do this before speaking with my husband. We drove home together. He and I were side by side in the car, sipping our Americanos.

“What was that about?” he finally asked.

“Nothing weird. Just a glimpse of authentic Christian living,” I replied, taking a bite of my energy ball. He nodded, and we drove on.

Where to next, God?

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How To Hear God’s Invitation That Will Make You Dance With Him (Part 1)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

girl twirling around room
Photo by Laura Fuhrman on Unsplash

“That’s crazy!” My husband responded.

But we are trying not to use that language. So we corrected each other. “That’s normal life as a Christian,” we corrected ourselves.

But deep down, we thought, “That’s kind of crazy.”

The crazy hasn’t become routine yet, though if you peruse through this writing, some published and some not (I’m working on it!), you may see hints, blips, or sparks of true Christian livening peeking through the darkness of this writing.

You may see moments where He has been showing up.

And though it is not every day that such experiences happen, they are happening more frequently, as we have been pressing into Him in prayer, scouring our Bibles like thirsty drunks, and asking more profound questions of others in our community.

As we surrender more fully and squeeze moments to pray from the busyness of the day, we have noticed His tangible presence more often. He is always with us – yes – but perhaps a more mute version of Jesus is who we expect. And actually, it is not that Jesus is mute but, more accurately, that we’re deaf. The volume of the noise of our life is turned up so high that we can’t hear Him for the headache-inducing drum beat.

Anyway, here is what happened.

I paid for my to-go coffee and snack.

Leave a tip, I sensed the Lord nudge as I hesitated on the “Add a tip” button.

It was a to-go item. Do they need a tip? I sensed God’s compassion for the barista for a moment. What would it be like to work in this cafe that hardly anyone comes to, and people are brisk all day as they get their coffee? He looked downcast, and I unwillingly felt my heart go out to him.

I had just quickly snipped that I wanted X decaf coffee with one pump of X syrup, and . . . I was in a hurry, ok?! So . . .

I didn’t leave a tip.

Did I hear from God? Maybe not. How can one REALLY be sure anyway and . . .

After paying for my coffee, I handed back the Interac machine, and my mind involuntarily returned to the growing rush of to-do items coming at me during my day like an ever-increasing tsunami. But then, I again sensed that still small voice, gently and patiently. Leave a tip. He spoke again as if I hadn’t just ignored Him. That’s when I noticed a tip jar.

I am trying to grow in obedience, and if I’m honest, all that change in my wallet is a drag, so I dropped one of the heavy, annoying coins into the tip jar.

Immediately after this, I felt a profound wave of God’s love for this young person working as a barista. I felt God say the word Mine, and I knew this young man was one of God’s children, whether he realized it himself or not. At the same time that I heard those words, I felt God’s love for him, which was overwhelming. It made me want to cry. Of course, theologically, this is only a tiny bit of God’s love for this person, but that small amount felt so overwhelming to me.

And that was enough.

Sensing more love for another is enough. God showed up. Love was passed, invisibly, imperfectly to another because God showed up.

But there was more.

And there was a surprise. But perhaps these surprises should become less surprising because we are learning to dance with God. And I’ll finish this story next time.

For now, how do we accept God’s invitation to dance with Him?

  • We expect God to speak, not only at church but even and especially in the most mundane of places. (Did you hear God asking you to dance?)
  • We get up after we fall. That day, would I tip the second time He nudged me? (What is God patiently whispering to your heart again?)
  • We obey the nudges of His Spirit. We get up and dance. (Will you rise from your seat and take His outstretched hand?)
  • We open our hearts to God’s love for others, as our hearts overfill with His love for us, as we are held close to His cheek, dancing with Him. (Will you let God open your heart to sense his love for those around you?)

As the song below plays, consider giving some thanks to God and then ask Him, “How are you asking me to dance? Do I hear Your invitations?” Sit quietly as the song plays. What does your heart sense?

God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will.

Expect love, love, and more love! . . .

You’ll resume your singing,

grabbing tambourines and joining the dance.

The Message

God, help us hear your invitation to dance with You more clearly, we pray. Clean out our ears. Clean out our hearts to notice the people You love all around us, we pray. Help us learn to touch them with the love for them that You want to pass through Your arm, to our hand, to touch their hearts, we pray.

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Two More Funny Things They Said About Nature And Growth That Will Make You Laugh (NOT at ME!)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment
Two autistic friends sitting outside using stim toys and laughing at their phones
Photo by Hiki App on Unsplash

My family, it seems, is seeking some sort of revenge because of the embarrassing things I wrote about them and posted on the internet this week.

But I don’t think that kind of attitude is a very Christian response! We are supposed to forgive those who wrong us! Wait – Let me find the right Bible passage to support my cause.

Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.

The Message

You see?

I am right. And what’s the big deal about posting embarrassing stuff about them on the internet, anyway? I mean, just because there are 5 billion people online, it’s not like everyone is going to read it ALL! People are so sensitive and get easily offended nowadays!

Since that post, my friends and family have been looking for the notebook where they wrote the embarrassing and stupid things that I said last year, but I lost it.

Or – I mean, THEY lost it.

Whatever.

Well, I think I’ll publish a few more silly things they said because we all should learn to have a bit thicker skin in life!

Here’s another bible verse that also, coincidentally, supports my cause!

The fear of human opinion disables . . .

The Message

We’re all learning and growing together, in love and good will, which is what matters most anyway!

May you be blessed with many fruitful and supportive relationships in this year, too!

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

On Appreciating The Important Things In Life

I heard one family member loudly yelling, while he was still a long way off:

He said: “NATURE IS . . .”

There was a long pause as he searched for a an exact word to express his strong emotion –

“. . . STUPID!!!”

(This happened the day the mice chewed through the rubber bottom of our garage door, the bear destroyed the new apple tree we planted that year, and he opened the barbeque to discover a rat looking sweetly up at him.)

On Learning New Things

We’re all learning new languages on Duolingo

A family member shouted one day: “Hey, I can understand everything!”

He thinks momentarily and then clarifies, “But I can’t say much.”

He thinks a bit longer and then says: “No, wait. I can’t understand anything really, yet either.”

Happy New Year!

May you learn a lot of new things this year, too!

a large fireworks display with a castle in the background
Photo by Joshua Kettle on Unsplash

Another voice: Oh yes! I know how to publish on her blog when she isn’t looking. She did the same thing to me one year by publishing her stuff on my blog when I wasn’t looking!

Here:

Kyah: “Mom is very good at apologizing.”

Me, feeling pretty good about myself!

Kyah: “She’s very good at being mean and then apologizing.”

I was upset: “I just got a big food stain on my new yellow sweater!”

Andy: “You do too much work around the house to wear clean stuff like that!”

Me: (!!!)

Andy: Remember when you started crying when the other people took the last hummus at the grocery store?

Me: Yes, but what’s the point! They eventually gave me the hummus because they felt sorry for me!

Me: There were FOUR DIFFERENT FLAVORS of hummus!

Esther: “That movie character* reminds me of you.”

Me: “Oh really? Why?”

Esther: “Well, she’s really sweet and wise, but she’s also a bit of a spitfire, and her kids are kind of afraid of her.”

Me: (!!!) Huh?!

*Mrs. Weasley in Harry Potter and Edna in The Incredibles

Andy: “You’re so wise. You’re like a female version of Gandalf.”

Me: (!!!)

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Advice: Toss Christmas Booze! (Try Drowning Sorrows Here Instead)

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

I looked for a regular Christmas picture of our family (so I could prove to you all how proper we are and suitably impressive in demeanour), but all I could find were these photos.

Our kids are SO wiggly and annoying that they wouldn’t stand still long enough to get a proper photo!

Yes, that’s me on the right. (Why do you ask?) Well, I guess this one below will have to do.

Merry Christmas!

Oh – and just a little bit of advice – I know that’s why you read this stuff, after all!

Ahem . . .

If you are tempted to turn to the Christmas booze or whatever your vice* of choice is today, remember – try God instead!

Then you can have the enviable advantage over others** of being perceived as (relatively) “regular” like us!

You’re welcome!

Good luck!

Footnotes

*PS – All of us carry pain within, friend. Seriously, God has a path out of the mess. What’s your next step?

**The point of life is to look normal! (Isn’t it? It’s too bad my editor has the day off, or she could fix this.) “What is the point of life?” I wonder. Well, I’ll tell you the answer next time, friends! In the meantime, I wonder if I should get some booze for this growing existential angst I’m feeling today or … wait – I’ll ask God!

But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously.

The Message

I hope you take another step towards the One who quells your chaos, too, friend.

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