By Lois Hewitt

It’s the mid 1980s and I’m in my mid 20’s. Newly divorced and ready to Mary-Tyler-Moore the world…make my own way and all that.  It was the time to go…vegetarian!

For years I worried about the rainforest and the whales.  I wrote letters to Congress about environmental issues. I wrote checks to Greenpeace.  And I felt eating meat was destroying the planet, so I stopped.

My idea of a healthy breakfast, at that time, was a Coke in a glass bottle and a couple of Pop-Tarts.  Basically I knew nothing about nutrition. The only vegetable I liked was corn, so I ate bowls of corn, all the time thinking I was now a vegetarian.

Needless to say, this was a very unhealthy trend.  It wasn’t long until I was off the wagon, so to speak, and was in full-blown food addiction for many years to follow.

I did marry a real vegetarian a couple years later but I never really grasped the lifestyle fully. I wanted my fast food and my junk food. I could not seem to stop and my health reflected my lifestyle.

I could barely go three weeks without a sick day.  I looked worse than normal. My emotions were all over the place.  I was angry, quite literally, all the time.  I was miserable for decades.

The years before 2020, were spent mostly dining out.  Not only is that unhealthy for your body, it also makes your wallet ill.  We were spending loads of money we didn’t have to eat food that made us sick.

Then came the lockdown and I was afraid, because of my health, to go anywhere. That’s when I reconnected with Jesus and I started to learn and research how to eat and how to heal. 

This will be my fourth year of being a true vegetarian, well 95% of the time anyway.  I could never have dreamed that I could change.  I never dreamed I could feel better.  Now, I have damaged my body over the years with what I ate and the alcohol but the improvement is astonishing!

Last year I think we dined out less than 10 times the entire year.  That and cooking from scratch has eased the burden of bill paying too. Truly win-win.

So why do I bring this up?  I, and a few other people, thought I was a lost cause. I tried half-baked ideas (like the all corn diet) and always failed…until the day I didn’t.

Am I now perfect?  Oh my friend, so far from that but I’m better and I’m getting even more better (sorry that’s terrible grammar lol).  If a lost cause, like me, can heal and change, so can anyone.

All I can say is do NOT give up on yourself. You want to heal and be better?  It is inside you!  You are SO much stronger than you know.

Failure is part of the process. Lessons learned from failures are the ones that stick like glue. You remember them and they push you to that better place.

The only failures are those who never tried.  Be strong and know you are a warrior. You can be healed!  You can feel well again!

My faith in Jesus has spurred many of these positive changes. Do not be afraid to examine His teachings.  The world we live in discounts faith, but the world isn’t living my life and therefore that opinion has no relevance for me.  He saved me, literally and figuratively, and He longs to do the same for you. All you have to do is open your heart.

By Lois Hewitt

Wonder…feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.

Wonder sounds amazing, doesn’t it?  I remember the wonder I had as a child for a new box of crayons, they were magical and beautiful to me.  I remember the wonder I had running through the freshly cut grass on a summers day.  I had wonder for so many things.

Then life sort of pushed wonder out of the picture. I didn’t feel much like having wonder. Somewhere along the way I gave up on having it again.

I had happiness and enjoyed beauty but I learned to not be surprised by it. I didn’t look far outside my bubble for it either.  I became complacent.

In my life, complacency killed wonder. I was so used to being overwhelmed all the time, I shut down in order to just function.  I have learned this is not unique to me, but many people feel the same.

Every morning I get up and make breakfast for my husband and myself. To do that I have to go out on our porch to dump old coffee grinds over the railing. Our little basement apartment has the most spectacular view of the nearby mountains.

On this particular morning just a few days ago, I stepped out to see the most beautiful array of colors in the sky.  Colors that reminded me of a new box of crayons.

Pinks, purples and blues filled the sky with the amazing outline of majestic mountain tops.  I stood not too long and was greeted by the most glorious beams of yellow sunlight.

The temperature was chilly and the gentle touches of sunlight warmed my skin instantly.

The entire thing took less than a minute but it left me breathless.  As I walked back into the apartment, I thought about the last time I was really caught up in the wonder of this beautiful world.

Focusing on troubles and discontentment is so easy to do nowadays. It is everywhere.  I write a lot about how despondent I become when my view is on the happenings of the world.

Aware, we must be. But maybe too aware is not always good.  I have found focusing on the negativity stifles wonder. Fear stifles wonder.  Anger stifles wonder.  Exhaustion stifles wonder.

God created the most amazing sun rises. Their show plays out every single day and I thought of how many passed without earning any of my attention.  Too many I am afraid to say.

How many bird songs have I missed?  How many flowers have gone unnoticed?  How many chances to see the beauty in my fellow man lost because I had my head down thinking of my to do list.

As I get older, my soul longs for wonder.  I want to be in awe again.  Even my relationship with Jesus went through a desert season.  I did not have wonder and awe for all He has done for me and all the beauty He provides every day.

I want to linger in my life now.  I want to drink in the beauty. I want to be childlike when I see a bird or a flower. I want to be in awe of people and not afraid. 

I want to be in awe of my God who brings forth a bounty of goodness every day.  When I say God is awesome, I need to mean it and not just say the words. I need to feel the awesomeness and fall in love with the wonder.

Jaded, I have been too long. Now is the time to release those feelings in exchange for wonder and awe. What a sweeter life it shall be to see the beauty all around.  Amazing, I feel better already!

Let the wonder of God’s gifts and goodness cover you like a blanket, warm and safe and cozy.  Let’s bring wonder back!

By Lois Hewitt

Where is my hat?  I cut my hair today…very badly I must say.  Professional haircuts are few and far between in my world.

I have a myriad of phobias that go with haircuts…don’t like being touched, feeling judged for my lack of concern over how I look and just an overall anxiety about my bumpy head.

The last professional cut I had was probably right around late 2020.  Seems longer though.

Most of my life, I have fretted over my looks and hated everything about them. I’ve been too thin, too fat, bad teeth, thin hair, a cockeyed smile, bit fingernails…i have just never been thrilled with my looks or sense (or lack) of style.

Now that I’m older, it’s much easier. I’m not trying to keep up with unrealistic expectations. I’m really more about comfort now.

In my youth, it was more about ego and how things looked on the outside. With age, comes the glorious realization that youth and beauty fade.  It is and always has been about what’s on the inside.

Unfortunately for many years my insides were as messed up as my outsides. That’s a bad combination.

I used to read little pick me ups that spoke about how I was made in God’s image and how much He loved me. How could He love all the ugly?

What I didn’t know was that inside of me was a beautiful soul, everyone has one, but not everyone knows it.  I did not for a long time.

Once I allowed myself to believe that, my life changed. No longer was I envious of others.  No longer did I use a skewed ruler to measure myself.  No longer were my expectations out of reach.  Finally peace.

God so loved us, each and every one of us, He gave His Son to die for our sins. In His physical death, He bore our ugliness and took it to the grave.  When He rose up on that Sunday, He left behind His bruised and battered body and our bruised and battered bodies also.

Anewed we are through the blood!  What a joyous gift!

Today, if you are not feeling very pretty or feel like you don’t live up to some unrealistic metric, think about this.

You were, most definitely, made in the image of God.  God never makes mistakes. We are all different. Beauty is very subjective.  Accept yourself and when you do, you will experience a peace that transcends all the other hype.  It is beautiful, just like you are! Please start believing it today!

With that said, in all my self-awareness, I’m still going to need that hat until my hair grows back. But that’s ok, I’m ok with it.

By Lois Hewitt

Thought of the day..

I must keep my eye on God
Or
I will lose sight of what is important

By Lois Hewitt

Many times we think of doing God’s work as actual physical work.  Feeding the hungry, warming the cold, healing the sick and other acts of selflessness.  Acts that require a physical sacrifice.

We think the words we say cannot possibly be God’s work.  Working in a soup kitchen is definitely more work than saying an encouraging word, isn’t it?

I do not believe that is always the case. We are called to the Great Commission (Matthew 28). Where the resurrected Jesus calls His disciples to take the Gospel to the nations (the condensed version).  To me that sounds like a huge endeavor. And I tend to feel guilty as I am not up to that task.

But here is the beauty part.  There will be some who run into battle and there will be some who stay behind and take care of others.  Both are equally necessary.

All my adult life, I have felt like the man behind the curtain.  Pulling strings, taking care of those things most never notice and helping to keep it organized. Most of my life, in doing these things, I have felt less useful in God’s Kingdom.  I constantly question my value.

But God doesn’t question my value or yours. He knows we are all called to different duties.  As Christians, we are ALL warriors. It is just that our battles are different. 

You may be furthering the Kingdom by some generous act of selflessness or you may say an encouraging word to someone you do not even know…your kindness may be the only kindness they see today.  In that light you can, hopefully see, that no matter the perceived size of the work, it all matters when done in the spirit of God.

Kindness is kindness no matter the size of the gesture.  I think too many Christians, myself included, feel less valuable, less necessary.

That is why Jesus uses the illustration of all the body parts working together to make the body function. He explains how, in 1 Corinthians 12, one part of the body is not more important than another. All the parts are needed in order to make the whole work.

If you are feeling not as worthy today, please allow me to encourage you. If you have a heart toward God, you are already worthy. And if you take whatever skills you have, forget measuring and comparing, and do your best to show others God’s love, then you are fulfilling God’s word.

You may even find your gifts grow.  Just remember this is not a competition.  We cannot demonstrate our worthiness through just good works. We must also have that ever important relationship with Jesus. He will then show you the way.

Please do not ever discount the importance of a kind word, a gentle hug or a smile to someone who is in need. Saying a prayer is the strongest of all acts.

We may think it what we do is unimportant. But if you are staying true to God’s word and are faithful to Him, you are a true warrior. 

By Lois Hewitt

Silence is golden, they say. Silence calms the storm. Unfortunately silence is not in my arsenal and is not part of my skill set.

Oh how I long to be silent. Especially in a world that is never quiet for all the opinions floating through our consciousness.  Everyone has an opinion on this and that, and that includes me.

Sharing viewpoints and having meaningful conversations about important topics is absolutely necessary for the furthering of the human race. But….its become less about sharing insights and more about dominating the conversation.

I have ADHD and Social Anxiety Disorder and discussions with actual human beings scare me so much.  Did I speak out of turn?  Did I speak inappropriately?  Did I speak too much?  Was it too much about me?  These conversations play out in my head all night, every night.

That is why I prefer silence. If I could just keep my mouth shut none of those worries would be materialized. But I don’t and I just keep talking. 

Communication is a major part of being human. It is the way we find connections, ideas, knowledge and understanding. All of those components form and shape a better, healthier society.  A society that thrives and grows and cares.

Today, in our society, I do not see those components in play on a larger scale.  Ideas different than theirs are marginalized and ridiculed.  I see others literally screaming while others are trying to speak.  Their opinions are the only ones that matter.

I have lost many people I thought were friends because they just could not agree with my ideals.

So here we are in a post-modern world. I look around and see separations and divisions everywhere. Communication has changed in nature. My opinions do not feel as necessary.

So I think it’s time I learn silence. I must learn to accept that my believe in God is going to be suspect by some. That the way I see things based on the teachings of Jesus, which  I believe in, are cringe-worthy for some.

I have strong political ideals also, but I am a Christian first and foremost. Both ideals are marginalized in today’s society.

So today I will strive for silence. I listen and catalog all I hear and use God’s gift of discernment to make my life choices. I will speak when it is necessary.  I will not be afraid to stand firm in my convictions. But for all other things, I choose silence. One less voice to muddy the waters.

I’m still working on how to live in this new society of ours. I’ll keep you posted.