By Lois Hewitt

OCD makes it difficult for me to accept change. I like when I have worked through a system of doing things.  It comforts me.

But I have had to learn that nothing stays the same for too long.  I remember the day a few years ago that I proclaimed I would never set foot in a kitchen again. I hated cooking and was not going to do it ever again.

I did just that for about 2 years. I only ate fast food or processed meals already made. 

Then one day, I realized the toll that decision took on my health and my wallet.  I slowly started cooking again now it is one thing that brings me immense joy.

Nothing stays the same…especially when you add the word never into the proclamation.

I went from a point of brokenness (I did not even care enough to nourish my body) to a point where I care about what actually nourishes me.

We can all look back on our lives and see similar examples of change in our lives. I could write a book on all the things in my life that have changed.

What’s my point you may ask.  Just this…if you are feeling stuck in a bad place, remember it is going to change. I was stuck in the “desert” for a very long time, due to my own pride and stubbornness. But it eventually changed.

I thought God had left me alone and no longer heard my prayers. But He never left, He just waited until I was stronger and a little smarter before He made my change happen.

If you are wondering where your better day is, it is coming. I lived wishing to just not exist any longer to a place of real peace. I never dreamed it would happen but it did. Hang on, your change is coming. God has not abandoned you.  His timeframe is not like ours.

Praying for my friends and family today for patience during the waiting season.  Keep looking up and it will keep you from falling down. 

By Lois Hewitt

The other day I saw something on FB that made me very upset. I then started to write a scathing reply to what I had read from a person I did not know.  I stood my ground with every emotion-filled word I could think of.  I wrote how they were wrong in their assumptions of an entire group of people and that the words they so carelessly wrote were not helping the world today.

Then I thought for a moment. Odds are that person will never read my rant.  And was I much different from them in my ranting?

The volleyball game we are all playing with words, assumptions, generalizations and a touch of anger are not helping to heal this very unhealthy society we are living in.

Scolding someone for mean posts is not going to change that person from believing what they believe. They happened to believe that all conservatives were inbred. I happen to know for a fact that is not true.

So how do we change views like that and other seriously hurtful ideals without demonstrating the same attributes?

I truly believe in my God and His Son.  I know the power that changed my life. But if I stand on a soapbox with a big rock and scream incoherently my views while hitting them over the head, have I made anything better? Attacking their attack seemed like a path I did not want to go down.

Then you think silence is the answer.  That is not true because silence can be interpreted as agreement. I have been silent in the past and the results are not good.

God calls us to love one another. I have to be honest, it is hard for me to love someone who says absolutely horrible things about God or who calls me an inbred or any number of other phrases used so commonly today.

Is being kind the answer?  After a stop at CVS the other day, I barely encountered a kind person.  All were mad and short in their tone.  Impatient is the new norm.  Would kindness counter all that rage?  I am just not sure.

Jerry Springer used to end each of his hate-filled circus acts of a show with some very profound words. “Take care of each other.”

It’s what we are called to do. I have to work everyday on not becoming the person I am fighting to not be.  Anger is the worst disease because it is so very contagious and spreads so fast. Prayer is my vaccination against it so I will continue to pray for this world that is so hard to love. I will take care of who I can and be compassionate even if I have to bite my tongue.

I have said it before, this life is hard. We can all do better and I will pray for the strength to be better.

PS. It just came to me, a truth I should have known…i cannot make the changes on my own, only through God’s light through me.

By Lois Hewitt

The sun rises in its glory every morning.  Yet we forget to see it.

A butterfly dances in the yard from flower to flower.  Yet we forget to see it.

Blessings surround us and abound in us.  Yet we forget to see it.

Many of us live each day as if it were a race.  Get up, race to work, race to get the work done, race home, race to bed and do it again tomorrow.

Many of us live on a treadmill where our only view is what’s ahead. We forget to stop.

The stop is where you see the sun rise or the raindrops.  The stop is where you hear the silence. The stop is where you feel the wind graze your skin.  The stop is where life is.

It’s hard to stop, isn’t it?  We might miss a deadline or a commitment.  I have found as I get older, never knew this in my youth, that it’s the stops that feed the soul.

It’s ok to slow down.  It’s ok to catch your breath. Work is important but so too is rest.  We cannot live by busyness alone.

Allow yourself to enjoy something beautiful today, my friend.  Feed your soul and drink in God’s glory. It will do you good!

By Lois Hewitt

I haven’t had much to say lately. No inspiration has come my way. Then last night I had a dream about a road we drove on during our long journey to find a new life.

The road is a long two-lane blacktop in the southwest, maybe Arizona. When we drove it seemed to go on forever.

In the dream I am driving on this road and I look in the rearview mirror. Where I have been looks small and far away. I remember where I had been and the experience but it wasn’t my main focus.

The road ahead was pretty straightforward but I could never be sure what I would encounter way up and I knew eventually the road would stop being straight and I would experience twists and turns but it wasn’t my main focus.

The part I needed to concentrate on was where I was in that moment. The past only offered experiences already had. The future was totally unsure. But where I was in the moment was the priority.

In the moment I had choices. I could leave the road and get lost in the desert. I could stop and not make any progress. Or I could stay on the road and remember the past, look forward to the future and live in the lane I was in.

I have lived looking in the rearview mirror. That is a troubling way to live. So many things done wrong, so many missed opportunities and so many loved ones that are so very missed.

I have lived waiting for that elusive better time to come. The corner you turn and everything changes. I have spent years waiting and waiting for the future to become the present. But it never quite turns out how I thought it would.

Now I live in the moment I am in. I remember lessons from the past and have anticipation for things to come. But I realize now that I can’t do anything about either one of those. But I do have my hands on the wheel right now. So I pray for guidance and try not to go off the road. I am learning to enjoy the scenery right now. Because soon it will be part of my past.

Right now, my friend, is all we have. Nothing we can do can change the past and nothing we can do can cement the future. Right now is our focus. It may be good or it may not be, but we will all eventually drive through it into a new right now. 

Hang on to faith, it will give you strength. Hang on to grace, it will ease your pain.  Hang on to God, He will be faithful to you, He promises. Life is a journey, good and bad.  Enjoy the smooth roads and endure the bumps. God is with you always!

By Lois Hewitt

I can’t believe I got duped! It’s all my fault but it happened. I only needed a few groceries. I usually shop on line at Whole Foods but this week I wanted to go a little cheaper. So I run into the discount grocery (mistake 1) and go to the oil section, which isn’t brightly lit. Grab a bottle that says largely on the label Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I look at the price and it comparable to the 365 Brand I usually buy, so I assume it’s ok (mistake 2). Also, the label looks similar to a big name brand (mistake 3). I throw it in my basket and grab a few more things. I get home and start dinner and I see the label. It says only 20% olive oil. Turns out it’s sunflower oil which is highly inflammatory and something I always avoid.

Manufacturers do these tricks so that busy consumers do not notice the shortcuts they have taken. We need to remember that Big Farm is only concerned with big profits and shareholder dividends. Why else would the new food chart show Lucky Charms as a healthy whole grain.

We all have to look out for the foods we eat. No one else cares what you and your family eat as long as the money keeps coming in.

I know it’s a lot of work. I do. I spend a whole lot of time thinking about food ingredients and studying additives and such. Not everyone has the time or inclination.

If you want to eat healthier, you have to read labels. There is no way around it. I’m fairly good at that and I got tricked because I did not look close enough at the label.

I’m not preaching, I just get so angry that for years, decades really, we trusted people and companies we should not have with our health. They just don’t care.

I was using a cane to walk a few years ago, I was so weak and anemic. My diet was pure poison. I changed it completely and it’s like night and day now. No cane. No anemia.

My point…this is important. Please be careful with what you buy. Be your own advocate.

I know food is expensive. My experience has been once I cut out the processed food, I had more room for better foods. Plus I batch cook…but that is for another day.

Food can either heal us or kill us.