Lorie Hartshorn

Lorie Hartshorn is a lover of Jesus, her family, and the local church. Lorie is the Co-host of the 700 Club Canada daily TV show. As an international speaker and author her primary passion are to make Jesus known. She loves to see people grow in faith and experience spiritual freedom. Sunshine, books, cottage, food, and conversation, bring her joy! I ask Lorie about life, changing careers, marriage, motherhood and becoming a grandmother.

Lorie, welcome to my women of wisdom series. Please tell my audience a little about you?

Well, I wear many hats!  A woman of faith, wife, mom of grown children, gramma of 2 baby girls (my favorite), speaker, writer, TV Host, Pastor, Leader, Educator, Fundraiser, Teacher… that sounds exhausting!  LOL

The truth is, what I do is a part of who I am.  It just looks different from season to season.  I love nature, long walks, reading, sharing food and conversation with others, spending time at my cottage and campfires!

Walk me down your career path from a teacher, to an executive, to a minister and now a TV anchor?

I’ll take you back to my childhood when I would set up a school in my basement and make worksheets for all the neighborhood kids to fill out!  My dad installed a chalkboard, so I was the coolest teacher on the block and I was 11!  With my desire to teach from a very young age and a heart for God, I wasn’t sure if I was to be a missionary or a teacher so I decided to go to a school where I could combine my faith and my desire to teach.  It took me to the States where I got my undergraduate degree in Education and Biblical Studies along with a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Nebraska.  Yes, – Cornhusker Football and all!!

I then returned to Canada and started my teaching career in a private Christian School.  It was there that I started doing theatre arts productions with the students which led to 25 years of producing, writing, and directing choirs and theatrical plays, both in schools and in the church setting.  I love storytelling and this was one of the ways that I could tell stories and also equip and empower others to tell inspiring stories.

I wasn’t looking to be a fundraiser, I mean, who would!  But when I was asked to raise money for the school I was working at, I went to a one-day workshop and the presenter asked the question, ‘How many of you love to raise money?’…two keeners raised their hands…then he asked the question, ‘How many of you could raise friends for your organization?’ – my hand flew up!  That was it!  I was a friend-raiser!  I had the privilege of raising friends for schools and then it opened a door for me to lead a Canadian Non-Profit organization, called EQUIP Leadership Canada, founded by Dr. John C. Maxwell.  It was amazing to train and equip leaders both nationally and internationally with biblical leadership principles.  It was in this season that my speaking ministry started to grow.  So, my storytelling and teaching skills continued to be used in a new setting.

Then came the call to Pastor.  I have always served in the church and in many ways, I have pastored people for years but this was a new role and call to the office of a Pastor.  For 5 years I used my leadership skills as well as speaking in a large church in Canada, C4 Church, which I still attend.

So, as I’m going about my ‘heavenly father’s business’, I received a phone call asking me to be a guest co-host on a national TV Show called The 700 Club Canada.  I had been a guest on this show over the past 4 years as part of my speaking ministry but I’d never co-hosted a show before.  So, I did the next thing I know to do – when a door opens – you walk through it.  With no agenda, just simple obedience.  I knew that if this was an assignment from God, then it would happen.  And it did.  I’m loving my new season as I get to focus on speaking, writing and I get to pastor people through the airwaves.

You speak at many women’s conferences. What is your message and why should we listen to it?

My main message would be for people to experience spiritual freedom in their lives.  I’m a Bible teacher, so everything I teach is based on the Word of God.  I believe the scriptures are not only true but powerful to change people’s lives.  I had a wake-up call in my life in the years that my kids were teenagers and young adults.  We raised our kids in the church but each of them took a turn away from their faith for a number of years and made some very poor choices.  We were facing addiction to drugs and alcohol and some very painful circumstances that caused me to question, not only my parenting but my faith.  It was an essential wake up call to me that spiritual warfare is real and the enemy of our souls was out to destroy our family.  I have always been a praying person but this changed the way I prayed.  Both my husband and I got really serious about prayer and rather than being overwhelmed by the painful circumstances, we saw God do miraculous things.  We saw him deliver our kids from addiction and mental turmoil and do a transformative thing in each of our lives.  This changed me at my core.  I believe in the power of Jesus to save us not only from our sins and give us new life but also to defeat the enemy who loves to keep us living a powerless Christianity.

How has motherhood and becoming a grandmother changed you?

Well, I already shared a little of my motherhood experience.  So, suffice it to say, I love being a mom but being a Gramma – or Glamma – is the best!!

Mothering and Grandmothering make you real!  Like the advice the skin horse gave to the little stuffed rabbit in, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, “by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” 

I have heard you talk about the challenges with your kids and how you have overcome them. please help us as we deal with challenges with our kids?

As parents, we do a lot of guilt but I have learned that it’s not all about me!  There’s a novel thought.  It’s important to deal with your own stuff so that you can better help your kids face their stuff but in the end, your kids make choices.  Some you agree with, some you don’t.  We are called to love unconditionally.  When you experience the love and grace of God for yourself, and really learn to receive that love and walk in it, then you have so much more to give to your kids and grandkids.  Live loved and you’ll love others better.

You have been married for quite a while, give me some practical tips on having a successful marriage?

Dean and I have been married for 33 years!  Time flies when you’re having fun.  Ok, it’s not all fun.  But again, it is about learning to love and be loved.  You have to keep it real in marriage.  Don’t be disillusioned by Hollywood or social media.  Love is a choice.  You chose every day to love your spouse.  You may not always like them 🙂  Or agree with them.  But you can choose to love and honor them in spite of your differences.  We keep choosing love.  We keep growing too.  Deal with your stuff!  Get to a counselor.  Talk to wise people and avoid fools!  You can’t give what you don’t have, so always keep learning and becoming more emotionally healthy so you can give that to your marriage and you’re guaranteed to win.

You are an amazing communicator. How important is communication in our daily lives, work, business?

Thank you!  I believe that stories change lives.  When we tell a story, people lean in and often say, ‘me too’.  When a story brings hope then that transfers to another life.  So, to me, communication is driven by what’s in your heart.  For some communication is simply about dumping a whole lot of information or demonstrating what they think they know and perhaps hoping it will make them look good.   But I think communication is a gift that is intended to create connections.  If our goal is to sincerely connect with others and it’s motivated by love and not ego, then I believe it’s the greatest gift we can offer another human being.  Communication happens not only in what you say but how you say it.  It’s noticing people, it’s considering where they are at and trying to step into their shoes.  I don’t always do that well, but I’m learning.

John Maxwell said it so well, ‘Everyone communicates but few connect’.  My desire has always been to connect.  Whether I’m speaking one on one or to a large crowd or to a TV camera.  I simply want to connect with a message of love and hope.  I want people to lean in and say ‘me too’ and reach for the hope and healing that is offered to them.

Tell us about your TV show and what are you trying to accomplish?

The 700 Club Canada is a daily Christian TV show that airs nationally across Canada.  Its goal is to share the good news of Jesus Christ across our nation and beyond.  I love the program because it uses people’s stories or testimonies to demonstrate to others that God is real, that He loves them, and that Jesus is truly the way to freedom, to forgiveness and to a right relationship with God.  I love interviewing people and sharing stories….see the theme…and the best story in the world is the story that the Bible tells.

In simple terms, here is the message of the bible for some of your readers that may not be familiar.

We live in a broken world.  We can see it all around us, broken relationships, sickness, wars, etc. but God never intended it to be that way.  God’s original design for this world was that we would be in a loving perfect relationship with Him.  But God gave us a choice and that perfect relationship was broken when the first humans chose to do things their own way.  The bible calls that sin and it put us all into brokenness and separates us from God.  We all want a way out of brokenness and for some that means, sex, money, power, or success…but all of these things just boomerang us back into brokenness.  But God made a way out of brokenness!  He sent His son Jesus into this world to model for us what it looks like to live in a loving relationship with God.  Jesus was perfect but He chose to die for us on the cross and took all our brokenness on Himself.  All our sins, all our failures, all our pain…He took it on himself.  Then he rose again and overcame death and He asks us to believe in what He did on the cross and to turn away from our brokenness and to make Jesus the Lord and leader of our life.  When we do that we experience saving!  We are rescued from our sin, our brokenness, all because of what Jesus did and we are given the Holy Spirit to help us then live the life God intended for us and puts us back into the right relationship with God.  It’s the only way to live.  It brings freedom and healing!

In your book, you talk about spiritual warfare, help me understand this better?

Spiritual warfare is the reality that there are two kingdoms in conflict.  The kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.  The Bible unpacks for us how this all went down but to put it in simple terms, we can only serve one king, so will it be God or Satan.  We have to ask ourselves the question, which kingdom do you belong to?  Jesus came to earth to destroy the kingdom of Satan and He accomplished that by going to the cross.  Satan thought he had won when Jesus died…but He wasn’t prepared for Easter!!  Jesus rose again and defeated Satan.  We are then told that we have to choose who we will follow, God or Satan?  For many, they don’t think it’s that dramatic…I mean, if I’m a good person just minding my business, what’s the big deal?  Well, that’s spiritual ignorance or blindness and the enemy doesn’t want you to know that you are essentially in a cosmic battle and on the losing side. Unless you chose to follow Jesus.  He’ll lead you to the Father and to freedom.

How do you balance faith, food, finance, and family in the 21st century?

I don’t really like the word balance – as that assumes all things are equal.  I prefer the word priorities.  Faith is my overriding priority.  I also love food and believe it is a gift from God for us to enjoy, so I seek to honor God with my body and eating good food and living a healthy lifestyle pleases Him and enables me to be the person He designed me to be.  Money is also a gift from God and when we view it as a tool that we can master, rather than having it master us, then we can enjoy it without it controlling us.  Dean and I made a decision early in our marriage to simply live within our means.  God has honored that and we’ve always had all that we need.  We also believe in living generously, as nothing really belongs to us – so that frees you up to not be controlled by money but rather to be in control of your money and enjoy blessing others.  And family, well they are one of my biggest priorities.  So, no matter what season I’m in, no matter what job I have, my family is the priority and I’ve never regretted that.  I’ve turned down jobs and chose some different paths in order to keep them the priority and I wouldn’t change a thing.