Quaker Street in South Haven, Michigan is the home to an unfancy locally owned flooring place. It’s creatively named, “The Carpet Shop”. While I waited for my chance to inquire about their offerings, I exercised my right thumb by doom-scrolling through X, which quickly gave way to a peek at my Facebook page. I clicked around a moment or two on my profile just for funsies, then Chris came in and I tucked my phone in my coat pocket.

Hours later, when I my feet hurt from removing all the trinkets and trash in site off the table tops, dressers and shelves in the old cottage on Oak Street that I’d ordered carpet for, I flipped on the fireplace and the television. Picking up my Snapple and my phone, I noticed that I had 100 likes and comments on my Facebook page. That seemed startling to me, considering I hadn’t posted anything in weeks, maybe months. Then, I saw it.

My much younger, better looking, nearly flawless skin was staring right back at me. I had posted a new profile photo. Evidently, it’s not hard to do, because I had no idea that I’d even done it. AI Shelly has much thicker hair than me, and she appears to have had her makeup professionally done. EVERYONE was so affirming that it was downright insulting, ha!!? Also, that’s super creepy.

I couldn’t stop laughing when I noticed all the compliments. This, folks, is called GROWTH.

Way back when I wasn’t in my mid-50s, I am certain I would have been mortified. Oh my gosh, real life me looks so wrinkled and puffy in comparison. I wish I wasn’t so….(fill in negative self talk here). Or, maybe I’d be worrying that folks might be thinking I was being dishonest (or disingenuous) at the very least. The great thing about the gift of aging is that one simply cares a lot less about the judgements of others. Mostly, I was grateful that I can laugh at myself, my thinning hair, age spots, and most of all my own lack of technical expertise. My oldest son, Nick, is the one who helped me come to grips with the reality of my information technology deficits a couple of years ago. I remember the lesson quite well.

The two of us had stopped at T-Mobile to upgrade our phones, which were both in sad states of decline. When the sales person asked what kind of phone I wanted, I quickly replied, “I love my iPhone 8. I’d like to get another one just like it.” I had my reasons. Nick instantly retorted, “She’ll take the iPhone 15.” He followed that up with, “Mom, your brain cells are quickly dying off. At this moment, you are as capable as you will ever be of learning new things.” Hahaha! There’s nothing like a 20 something to cut you to the core.

Here's the point. Our eyes and minds deceive us. One day, we wake up and everything has changed. Nothing is what we thought. I’ve spent considerable time growing and transforming over the years, thanks to God’s grace. A spoonful at a time of prayer, at regular intervals, is all it takes to mold our minds and hearts in a positive, life-giving way. People full to the brim with sunshine and awesome sauce taught me this by their example. There are lots of words written about them in my blog archives. We can, and should, change and improve our emotional and spiritual well-being. Then, we’re tasked with lighting up the souls around us.

Let me be clear. I’m FAR from a finished work. I’m ALWAYS EDITING. Currently, I’m on version 53.75. I wish I had known as a much younger person that everything that I think is electric—either positive or negative—and that being full of positive vibes is the way. We CAN choose it, and we can feel it. So can those around us. Our positive energy is love. Love is STRONGER than the negativism that gets hurled at us by the world every day.

The world is a hot mess. Billy Joel taught me that a long time ago. “We didn’t start the fire. It was always burning since the world’s been turning.” No one has ever been more correct. Check any news channel to fact check me.

There will always be time to improve, learn, heal, hope and laugh. It’s never too late. Nothing would ever be accomplished if I waited until I could do things as well as I wanted. The Holy Spirit whispered this to me last week. He really wasn’t even whispering, honestly. He’s been talking in my ear for months, and I’ve been ignoring Him. Fear of failing, making no difference at all for anyone—I cannot let it keep me from trying to convince myself and those around me to use our collective gifts for eternal good—for ourselves and those God puts in our path.

So, to all the enthusiastic supporters, scrappy souls, and messy souls who repeatedly get it wrong. Here’s my new website. I had to ask for help to get it working – and many thanks to the amazing people at UENI.com for the assist! It’ll soon be filling up with Christ-centered posts, resources, an interactive prayer request list, links and bits of awesome from people wiser than I am.

I’ll be exposing my fault lines, and ideally, you’ll be left feeling good, or at least a bit encouraged. I’m loud and messy in person, so probably that’s what you’ll experience too. Contact me anytime and feel free to comment and offer honest feedback.

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Smiles,

Shelly