Let's Have More Experiences Than Excuses

Dedicated to the tradition, even in the rain

This morning we admittedly had a moment where we thought about postponing getting our tree today due to the rain. Yet we unanimously decided to go.

When I pause to think about my hesitancy, I saw how it’s so easy it is for me to come up with an excuse to not do something rather than equip myself to go and do it.

Can you relate to being this way at times in life? If so, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

Everyday there are experiences God has waiting for us. May we pray to be equipped for the experiences instead of making up excuses. For at the end of the day when we choose to lay down the excuses we often find ourselves grateful for the experiences, as our family will tonight.

With love and hope,

Shawn

PS Local friends, if you don’t have a place you go cut trees down at, visit @holidayfarmct in New Hartford. We go every year and have never left disappointed

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

- Psalm 95:2

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

There are so many people and things to be grateful for. One thing I am grateful for is being able to get together with my family this past weekend after not all being together for 2 1/2 years.

Time is the best gift we can give one another. May we give thanks for - and treasure - our times together.

With gratitude and hope,

Shawn

Gym Life Lesson #7: Be A Builder

This week in PE I played a game called builders and bulldozers with my younger students. You set up cones all over the gym and divide the class in half. One half the class are the builders and the other half of the class are the bulldozers. The bulldozers knock the cones over while the builders stand them up. They get to switch roles during the game. The kids love to play this game - and especially love being the bulldozers.

Yet the end of class when we talk about being builders and bulldozers in life with our words, unanimously the kids said they prefer to be a builder and have others be builders towards them with their words.

Can you relate? If so, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we recognize the power of our words towards ourselves and others. May we use our words to build others up and not tear others down. May we choose to be builders and not bulldozers to help build each other up into the people God made us to be.

With love and hope,

Shawn

“Hold firmly to the word of life..”

- Philippians 2:16



Listen to Each Other's Stories

This is my Grandpa who was a WWII veteran. I loved hearing his stories from his time in the Navy. One in particular captured my heart.

My Grandpa was a Navy airman. Early into his time in the Navy he lost a fellow airman. He traveled on a train to Maine with the casket to bring his fellow sailor home.

My Grandpa was only 18 and the his fellow sailor was around the same age.

I share this with you today because our veterans have stories to tell, many of which would be hard for us to hear, yet it is their reality.

I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we give thanks for the selfless service of veterans, and all who serve our country. Whether we hear their stories or not, may we understand they have taken to the sky, the sea, and the land to defend the freedoms we get to have today. May we have compassionate hearts towards our veterans for the visible or invisible wounds they carry with them.

Listening to each other’s stories matters. May we be sure to take the time to listen, as there is so much we can learn.

With gratitude and hope,

Shawn

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

- Galatians 15:13

Gym Life Lesson #6

The other day in my PE class the kids were playing a dribbling game. If their ball was knocked away from them while dribbling, they needed to go and make a shot at the basketball hoop to be able to come back into the dribbling game.

One girl who was trying to make a shot to get back into the game came over to me disheartened, with her head hung low and said, “I am ready to give up.” I came beside her and thanked her for letting me know she was discouraged. I gave her some tips to help her and stepped back to watch her try again.

She kept trying and trying yet I could see in her eyes and body language she was not believing she was able to make the shot.

When I walked back over to her she said, “I am really ready to give up.” I looked at her in the eyes and asked her to say, “I am able.”

She stood there in a quiet, yet confident voice and said, “I am able.” I encouraged her to try again.

She stepped towards the hoop, took a shot AND MADE IT! She was initially surprised she made the shot but then jumped up and down with excitement! Her friends and I joined in the celebration!

I share this with you today because we’ve all been at a point, like this girl, when we’ve met a challenge that feels impossible to overcome. If you can relate, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we learn from this courageous girl that a wise first step is to let someone into the struggle. May we invite God in and someone we know who will speak truth to us as an encouragement to help us. Sometimes we don’t even realize how harmful our own thoughts are. May we let God’s word and those of someone who cares about us help renew our thoughts and reminds us that God made us able to overcome the challenge before us, just like this girl did.

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

BE

I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

Before we go and do today, may we take time to be still with God to learn what is really ours to do.

With love and hope,

Shawn

But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray. - Luke 5:16

Look Beyond the Surface

The other day a friend unexpectedly stopped by to say hi and gifted me this vase and flowers. She said as soon as she saw the vase she knew it was for me, and that I had a story to tell about it.

And she was right.

Why?

Because, friends, this is the most beautiful vase I have ever seen.

You may be thinking, “it’s so plain?”

But is it?

What makes this vase so beautiful is that they forgot to glaze the outside but they had glazed the inside. So when they went to fire it, the outside remained the clay color yet the inside was transformed (see the second picture). Once the vase is fired, it cannot be fired again. So this vase will remain unglazed on the outside with inner beauty that only few will see because many will pass it by because of how it looks on the outside.

Think about that for a moment…

The inner beauty will rarely be seen because many will pass it by based on its outer appearance.

Now let’s take that same principle to people.

How many people do we walk, or scroll, by because of their outer appearance? Imagine how many beautiful souls we miss out on meeting. I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

Moving forward may we remember we are all like jars of clay, molded by God, each beautifully unique. May we choose to look beyond the surface, when we see people. For when we do this, we can meet people at the heart, as God does. And by living this way we may just meet the most beautiful souls who are precious gifts in our lives - like this friend is to me who give gifts from the heart, to the heart.

With love and hope,

Shawn


People look at the surface but God looks at the heart. - 1 Samuel 16:7

Gym Life Lesson #5

Gym life lesson #5:

It’s Best to Work Together

Recently at the end of one of my classes when the students were helping bring the equipment back to the storage room, I saw two students begin to tug at the same hula hoop. You could tell they each wanted to be the one to get to put it away. Without saying a word, I just watched to see if they could resolve this conflict in their own. What was really cool to witness is that without anyone guiding them, they decided on their own to carry the hula hoop together to me. In return for their willingness to choose to work together rather than fight for the hoop, both students were allowed to go into the storage room to put the hula hoop away.

I share this today as there is so much we can learn from kids. I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we learn from these two kids that sometimes the best solution is to stop fighting one another and instead to choose to work together to achieve the goals before us. It’s easier said than done, but as these kids showed me in class, it is possible.

With love and hope,

Shawn

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. - Ecclesiastes 4:9

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