Love God and Love Others Well

Last week, we had to say good-bye to Stephen's loving Aunt Peggy and to sweet Mary, who was like a Grandmother figure to me.

Loss is always heart-breaking yet this weekend as I was reflecting on these two thoughtful, caring women's lives, I find comfort in knowing they lived their lives so beautifully, loving others. And I am comforted that they are now resting in peace and are well in every way.

Mary and Aunt Peggy were love in action, through their words and acts of love to those around them.

Aunt Peggy was always kind and gentle hearted. She walked beside others with the patience of a saint. She always gifted all the grandchildren in our family 'decorate your own cookies' at Christmas and when they were little, books with their names woven throughout the story. Her presence was always welcoming and she was as selfless as a human could be.

Mary was such a love. In her compassionate way, she took me, and a handful of other moms at our church, under her wing and just loved us where we were. She walked beside me when I struggled with the church, never judging me but made sure I still knew she was there, and God was always there for me. She would have me over for tea and Entenmann's to simple talk and listen and would always impart wisdom I needed to hear. She was in charge of the bereavement committee at church and I can't imagine a better person to have sat with people whose hearts were hurting and guide them with love in such a tough time in their lives.

The common theme at both of their funerals was that they talked about faith and how they loved others well from an endless fountain of love they had.

As I enter this week,I am prayerfully turning to gratitude, thankful for these beautiful women in my life, and for their example of faith and love in action. I share this with you not for sympathy, but so that their generous lives may inspire you too.

I invite you to join me to...

pause. breathe. pray.

May we take time to be still with God, and fuel up on His love so that we can be outward facing, and loving others through our words and actions throughout our days, as Aunt Peggy and Mary so graciously did. Or maybe there is someone in your life that has inspired you by the way they lived and loved well. If so, may we take these people into our hearts and minds, and live out love in honor of them this week. And may we allow the love they gave us to continue to live on through us.

With love and hope,

Shawn

A Prayer for High School Seniors

Today Gavin starts his senior year! For Gav, and all the seniors…

Be present and enjoy the moment.

May this year be filled with wonderful memories beside your friends and family.

Don’t stress about the college process. Do what is yours to do and trust that God already has a place for you.

Rest in knowing you don’t have to know what career you want to go into, many adults are still figuring it out.

Explore the wisest path for you to refine your innate gifts, talents, and skills, which may be at college, or along another path.

Remember your parents are beside you to help prepare you to step into your independence, not to drive you crazy - although we may unintentionally do so in the process.

Lead yourself, and the lower classmen, well.

Ask for help when you need it, it’s a strength to do so.

Make choices your future self will thank you for.

Fresh air, sunshine, movement, prayer and a good night’s sleep will benefit you.

Seek ways to make someone else’s day better, and thank those who make your day better.

Do something out of your comfort zone that will grow your character regularly.

May God bless you and give you calm confidence about your next step forward.

And may you trust the best is yet to come💕🙏💕

With love and hope,
Shawn

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9

Psalm 23

There are so many things we can turn to to try and bring rest to our souls. I’ve tried turning to many people or things, yet the one place I have turned over and over again that has truly given me rest in my soul is when I’ve turned to God.

If you are seeking rest and restoration for your soul, invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we take time to consider who or what we turn to when we are seeking rest within. May we not judge ourselves but be honest with ourselves and accept where we are. For me, I know turning and following God will help me and I still forget to turn to Him sometimes. So wherever we are on our faith journey, may we take time today to turn to Him, share our hearts, trust we are heard, and that in time, He will bring rest to our soul💕🙏☀️

With love and hope,
Shawn

Look Up Child

Recently while on a run with a friend who has run marathons before, she shared with me that when she finds herself hitting a wall, a strategy she uses is to look up at the tops of the trees. It improves posture and keeps the gaze off the pavement and challenge.

As soon as she share this, all I could hear was this song, Look Up Chid, in my head, and think about the scripture that tells us to “fix our eyes on things above and not on earthly things.” -Colossians 3:2

And since my friend shared this wisdom with me, when I find my eyes on the pavement in front of me, I shift my gaze and posture and fix my eyes on the tree tops, and bring my awareness to God. I pray to be reminded of who I can be praying for -or running in honor or memory of- to help make the run not about me, but a prayerful encounter with God.

I’m not saying there aren’t tough moments still, yet when I fix my eyes on God and am reminded to pray for people, it helps keeps my mind off my struggle and send love towards someone else in prayer.

So whether you are running or not, if you find yourself gazing down, at the pavement, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we look up towards the treetops, adjust our posture, opening our heart to invite God in. May we pray about our own challenge and also ask if there are others we can be praying for as well. For when we do this, we may find that it will help renew our thoughts, strength and perspective, like it does for me to get these runs done.

With love and hope,
Shawn

PS Thanks @terrywalterscooks for thewordsofwisdom💚🙏💚

Prayer for Middle School Students

It’s crazy to say this but Matt is off to Middle School!

He’s always been up for an adventure. And as he meets this new one, I pray for Matt, and all the other middle schoolers…

May you look within, not around, to discover who you are.

Write down the people in your life who genuinely care about and believe in you, and know those are your safe people to go to.

Surround yourself with friends who build you up, and don’t tear you down.

Create u’s not circles in friendships leaving room to invite others in, and a space for you to leave if you need to.

Remember you weren’t made to be great at everything, which means you may not get an A in every class and that is okay. Study skills, a strong work ethic and character are what you’re building, not a perfect report card.

May you know your worth is already established and not dependent on your grades.

Words matter. Choose yours wisely.

Guard your heart and remember what God says about you above all else.

An attitude of gratitude goes a long way.

Know you can learn something from everyone, sometimes it may be how not to be.

Looks for ways to make someone else’s day better.

Remember asking for help is a strength not a weakness.

Engage in activities that build community for you.

Fresh air, sunshine, movement, and a good night’s sleep will benefit you.

Have fun and laugh everyday!

Pause, breathe, pray, and trust God is with you every step of the way.

With love and hope,
Shawn

Shawn on Great Day Connecticut!

Thank you for all your generous donations💝🙏💕 In two short days we’ve raised $2000 more towards rare cancer research! From the bottom of my heart, thank you!💝

If you missed the video and/or want to make a donation and haven’t yet, you can watch it HERE,  and donate HERE.

And thank you again to @melissa__cole and the @greatdayconnecticut team for helping make this happen💙🙏💙

With gratitude and hope,
Shawn

A Prayer for College Students

For Kate, and all those heading off - or back - to college, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May you know the circles of love around you before you head out, the people you know will always be there for you whether you are near or far.

Allow yourself to be yourself at school, for if you aren’t, no one will ever really meet you.

Be prayerful about which people get level 1 verses level 10 access to your heart and story.

Explore community activities until you find the right fit for you.

Laugh everyday.

Be honest with yourself when you need a hand and be courageous to reach out to the right people who can help you.

Do something out of your comfort zone that will grow your character regularly.

Spend time outside.

Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Pray, even a small amount can make a big difference.

Remember this is a journey, you don’t have to know the whole path, just take the next best step.

Seek ways to live out God’s love to others throughout your day. And thank those who live out love towards you.

May your current self makes choices your future self will thank you for.

Make time to rest, renew and restore your mind, body and soul.

Have fun, and always know how much you’re loved.

May God bless you on this new adventure💕🙏💕

With love and hope,
Shawn

And She's Off!

Yesterday we dropped Kate off at college! What a beautiful and hard day it was to send off our girl on this wonderful new adventure. It was a day full of joy and sadness. Both emotions are real and sometimes it seems strange to experience both yet then I remember the cross.

As I’ve written about before, the cross is where sadness and joy intersect. And when I have days like this with mixed emotions, I again seek the cross as my comfort and guide, trusting all is well, will be well, even when it doesn’t feel like it is. I grant myself permission to experience both and not push back what I feel, yet I also have to anchor myself in hope that good things are ahead, as the cross reminds us of too.

I share this with you today in case you too are having days filled with mixed emotions. I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we not compartmentalize and force ourselves into being okay. May we allow ourselves to experience joy and also allow us to process any sadness we have. For when we do, it helps us release what we need to and leaves our hearts and minds more prepared for what is to come. And good things are to come for Kate, our crew, and for you💕🙏💕

With love and hope,
Shawn

Sending your first child off to college?

This whole process of sending our first off to college is a roller coaster.

It makes me reflect back to when Stephen would go out to sea when he was in the Navy. A few days before he’d go, we’d get irritable towards each other. Over time we realized that irritability was our way of processing the underlying emotions we were dealing with. As we grew in awareness, rather than being irritable with one another, we learned to enjoy those last few days together.

I see a parallel playing out here now. Each member in our family is processing Kate heading off to school in our own way. And it’s not all hearts and rainbows but there are moments of tension and irritability. Yet as we look beyond the surface and to the heart, we can see that it’s hard to let her go as we will miss her, and even though she’s excited and ready, she is entering an unknown herself.

I share this today as I know our family isn’t the only one sending a loved one off soon, or experiencing an unknown. If you can relate, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we not take surface behaviors and emotions for face value. Instead, let’s be willing to take a step back and seek what’s happening at the heart level. When we do this this, we can see that often it’s a hurting heart trying to process and heal- not just for others but in our own hearts too. May we seek to meet one another at the heart. By doing this, let’s pray we grow in compassion and empathy to help us lay down the tension and irritability. And instead may we do our best to live out love towards one another in those days leading up to the send off.

With love and hope,
Shawn

People look at the surface, the Lord looks at the heart - 1 Samuel 16:7

Did We Do Enough?

 When we brought Kate home from the hospital after she was born, Stephen put the car seat she was in on the counter. We looked at one another and Stephen said, “now what do we do?”

We laughed and started our life together as Mom and Dad to Kate, then eventually to Gavin and Matt.

As I’ve reflected on that moment recently I’ve wondered, “did we do enough to prepare Kate for this next step, going to college?”

And the reality is, in some ways we have, and in some ways we haven’t.

The naturally tendency for me is to think of the things I didn’t do rather than think of all that I did do.

Can you relate?

Yet is thinking of what we didn’t do productive, or possible to change?

No, it isn’t.

So instead, I am personally practicing shifting to the truth that I’ve done the best I could with what I knew at the time, and letting go of what I didn’t do.

I share this today in case any other parents have that same question, “have I done enough?” If so, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray. ™

May we do our best to not dwell on what we didn’t do and instead look at what we did do. Let’s pray that our kids will learn what they need to, when they need to learn it. May God place the right people beside them to help continue to build them up into who He made them to be. And may we look ahead to what we can do moving forward to continue to walk beside them in love in this new season.

With love and hope,
Shawn