Experience Kindness

Yesterday I was pulling into a parking spot and a guy got out of his car and waved at me to stop. He proceeded to move this shopping cart to be sure it wasn’t in my spot. It wasn’t really in my way but he made sure it was completely out of my path. Then he got back in his car.

That was it.

Here was a guy who was sitting in his car who chose to get out and help someone else just because, and for no recognition.

Acts of love, no matter how big or small, make a difference in the heart of the giver, and the receiver.

I’m sharing this with you today because this simple act of love warmed my heart and I hope it warms yours too. In this world where what is wrong in the world is amplified, I believe it’s important we still shine a light on the love that flows, no matter how big or small the act of love is.

I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

A prayer I pray over my family daily is that we choose to live out love to those along our path throughout our days as a light of God’s love to others. Also, that we are open and willing to receive the love God has put along our path each day. I share this prayer with you as an encouragement. In this world where what is going wrong is trying to grab and hold our attention, may we instead choose to give our attention to looking for ways to live out love towards others and keep our eyes open to the love God has out along our path, like I was fortunate to experience by the kindness of this man yesterday.

With love and hope,

Shawn

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You reap what you sow - Galatians 6:7

Quiet the Noise

These words really captured my heart and have inspired me to be more purposeful about what I fix my eyes and ears on each day. I am seeking to experience less noise and instead be more present and have greater clarity within.

I’m sharing this quote with you in case your head has a tendency to be noisy as well. I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we remember what we put our eyes and ears on is what will either turn up the noise, or quiet it. May we be intentional and directional, fixing our eyes and ears on what will quiet the noise within, beginning with our time with God.  From there, may we focus on what will keep the quiet within so we are more present with those we are with and we have greater clarity in our head, and in our days.

With love and hope,

Shawn

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Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…

- Hebrews 12:2

Go Slow

I don’t know about you but I often can overcomplicate life, for example, I am wonderful at overthinking and staying busy. And this year going back to teaching, I left myself little margin for anything else but doing.

My head was filled with constant chatter where sadly at times I would be with my family and someone would be talking to me but my head was so noisy I had to ask them to repeat themselves. Not only did I lack margin in my brain space but I held myself to strict schedules leaving little room for being and writing, which nourish my soul.

When I stood in this place on the Dingle peninsula in Ireland I felt free and spacious, not only in the physical sense but within. Here I stood with God and vividly saw that less is more.

This moment brought me back to when I was diagnosed with cancer. One day I pictured myself sitting on a hillside watching the trains of society fly by and God spoke to my heart, “you’re off those trains now. Be with me and I’ll show you a better way.”

And I experienced His way where less is more, where peace rules hearts and minds, where living out love is the key to unlocking joy within no matter the circumstances.

This year I had hopped back on those fast trains.

Yet what God is revealing to me, again, is that I am not a passenger on the train, but the driver.

And with that humbling wisdom I am sitting with God, in a more spacious place, this summer. I am praying about how to drive a slower train this year - or hop on a bike instead. I pray to find a pace in life where my mind is quieter and I hear my family when they speak, where I say no to what is unnecessary even when it’s hard to do, where I spend more time with God throughout my day instead of in my circling thoughts.

If you can relate, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we make the time to be with God everyday. And may this not be a checklist item on our to do lists. May we spend our quiet time with God but also remain in conversation with God throughout our day; giving thanks, praying for the people we encounter in our days, asking for wisdom about a problem we have, listening to God, etc. May our relationship with God be the strong thread woven into the fabric of our days. May we do this so that even when life tries to make us feel like passengers on the fast trains of society again, instead we experience what it feels like to be with God on an Irish countryside where His Truth speaks clearly to our hearts and we have freedom and spaciousness within.

With love and hope,

Shawn

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“…pray without ceasing…”

- 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Hear the Stories of Those Before Us

Being in Ireland with my family was an experience I will always treasure. It wasn’t just about being on vacation, but we went back to the city where my Nane was born, in Cork.

We stood outside the home she was born in and we walked through the doorway she walked through in 1928, at the age of 16, with her father to take a boat to NY. This was the same doorway the last passengers who boarded the Titanic walked through as well.

In standing in these places, it made me rewind and put myself in my Nane’s shoes.

When I stood outside her home with our family, it made me see how one person’s life gives birth to so many others. I say this not only for me but to you too. Our life isn’t just what is before us, or about us, but for many of us, our life is a starting place for the generations that will follow.

When I stood at the doorway of the Star Line company with my family, picturing my Nane standing here, the same age ad Kate, with her father and their luggage, all I could think of was a quote I recently heard…

“Courage is fear that has said it’s prayers.”

And our Nane was courageous. Stepping away with her father from all she knew into the unknown was an act of courage. And one that was a stepping stone to meeting my grandfather in NY.

Walking in my Nane’s footsteps made me see how I long for comfort in life, but often it is getting out of our comfort zone where growth happens.

I share this with you today to encourage us too to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we make the time to look back and hear the stories of those who came before us. For so many it was not a life of ease and comfort but of trials and courage, of faith and hope. May we learn from the past and look forward with greater clarity to our days, and consider the question, “when future generations look back and learn our story, how will our story inspire them to live courageously?,” as my Nane’s life has inspired me to do.

With love and hope,

Shawn

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One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—and I will meditate on your wonderful works. - Psalm 145:4-5

Celebrating Love

Celebrating 18 years beside this wonderful guy

“God we're so lucky, we’ll see so many skies

Every adventure with your hand in mine

No matter the weather

My partner for life….

Yeah I'll tell the whole world that you mean the world to me”

- So Many Skies

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Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. - Romans 12:10

The Thin Spaces

“Thin places are….where God is at work. Time seems to stand still, there is a discernable sense of sacredness and the world around us speaks its own story to those who are listening.”

- Julianne Stanz

The Other Side of Fear

We are on a beauitful trip to Ireland. This year my parents celebrated their 50th anniversary and invited my brother, sisters and our families to go to Ireland with them.

To get here though was a bit of a hurdle. I am a homebody, and the thought of traveling can send a wave of panic through my body.

Yet I did it.

With the help of God through prayer, asking friends to pray for me and trying anxiety meds for the first time for the flight, I conquered the fear and arrived in Ireland, where my grandmother is from.

I share this with you today because I know I am not the only one who has fears that can paralyze them at times. If you do too, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we not allow fear to stop us from living and loving. Instead may we lean hard into God and trust that He will help us through the fear, whether that is through prayer alone and/or by providing us support to help us through, so we get to experience what is in the other side of the fear; which for me this time is being with my whole family in Ireland to celebrate my parents and our family’s history.

With love and hope,

Shawn

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“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” - Psalm 34:4

The Thin and Thick Spaces

Five years ago this week I rang the bell and walked away from treatment. I took a step towards the other side of cancer. The side where they say you are NED and you celebrate!

You live freely.

You see clearly.

You listen deeply.

You walk purposefully.

You love courageously.

You are alive and well.

Yet if I am being real with you, over time as you move away from the firey furnace of affliction where the key to perspective is unlocked,

You eventually feel bound in ways you’d never thought you’d be again.

Your vision can get cloudy.

The noise grows louder.

You walk in circles some days rather than with with purpose and determination.

You continue to love yet other things distract you from loving being your main purpose.

You’re grateful to be alive yet wrestle with remaining well within.

This is my reality.

I don’t share it for pity but to open the door to reality for many on the other side of a trial. Our trials are hard yet often with them, when there is no place else to turn, we turn to God, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. God helps clear away the layers of life and brings us to a thin space where it is just Him and us.

This thin space is the most beautiful place I have ever experienced. There is a rest in one’s soul that can only come from God. There is a lightness within that has let go of the burdens of the world and fully trusts all is, and will be, well, even if death is the outcome. The thin space is where “the peace of God that transcends all understanding” is experienced.

Yet when the trial passes and layers of life return, it’s hard to stay in the thin space as one was able to before. Instead of experiencing that peace consistently, that peace is consistently challenged. Even as I continue to seek God daily I admittedly do not do so wholeheartedly as I did through my walk with cancer. Other things distract me, as they call for my attention where God waits calmly for me to give him my attention. That’s how loving He is and also what makes the challenge real. We need to pursue Him while everything else pursues us.

If you too seek to meet God in the thin space consistently as I do, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

For these past five years I have been trying to get back to live in that thin space consistently. Yet what I am learning is maybe we aren’t to remain there for if we did we wouldn’t be able to relate to others as most of us typically live in the thick space. Instead I pray we continuously seek God to help us through the thick layers of life and we receive the gift of experiencing the thin space when it’s His will for us to do so.

Five years ago I was in the thin space as walked away from treatment. Today I am walking away from judging myself for not staying in the thin space consistently these past five years, and am praying you do the same if you need to as well.

God’s love for us doesn’t change whether we are in the thick or thin space. May we absorb that truth and choose to be loving towards ourselves as we move forward in this day, and towards our next five years.

With love and hope,

Shawn

It's the People Who Make the Place Special

It’s never the places themselves that are special but the people in those places that make it special.

To all the wonderful people who helped raise our kids in this special place the past thirteen years, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you

With gratitude and appreciation,

Shawn

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Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. - Proverbs 22:6

Everything Is Going To Be Okay

When you’re having a off week and you visit the new ice cream shop in town with your daughter to visit one of our dear family friends…

and you find you’re the one behind your daughter who has this sweatshirt on.

Thank you, God, for sweet moments like these

I’m sharing this in case anyone else needed this reminder too

With love and hope,

Shawn

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I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.But take heart! I have overcome the world. - John 16:33