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

Lighten the Load

This morning I was working out when Stephen, Kate and Gavin were heading out for the day. Sometimes they come down to say bye but today I walked up from the basement to hug and kiss them goodbye. When I got to the kitchen I got a look from the three of them that said “what is she doing?”

What they were looking at is that on my legs were my exercise bands. I had worn the bands up the stairs to say goodbye.

After they left and I walked back down the stairs with the extra resistance on my legs and I laughed out loud.

Last week I was at my doctors and in her loving but straight forward way, she told me I needed to stop carrying the weight of the world around with me.

Yet here I was literally walking around my house purposefully adding more resistance to each step. Yes, I know the bands were for my physical body but the truth is that it’s a been journey for me to lay things down recently, from things that are happening in my inner circles to the events in the world. I’ve had a heaviness within I’ve been working to release.

A number of months ago when I was in the same cycle of heaviness I felt like God spoke to my heart saying, “why do you feel the whole world on your shoulders when I have it in the palm of my hands?”

This humbling truth is part of my life’s work; to let go and trust God with what is His to do and not carry what’s His to do around with me.

If you can relate, and are carrying around things in your heart and mind that are God’s work, and not ours, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we take the time to sit quietly with God and share with him all that we are carrying around within us. He already knows our hearts but it’s cleansing to take the time to purposefully share it with Him. May we pray that our mind be renewed by Spirit to help us let go and trust God, so we can experience a lightness within, like I did this morning when I took my resistance bands off.

With love and hope,

Shawn

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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

- Matthew 11:29-30

Live with a Heart of Service

What can we learn from today, and this week?

One day a person made a choice to enter a profession that was one of service.

When they made this choice they chose the mentality of you over me.

These men and women put the interest of others before their own.

They woke up and chose to put themselves as the barrier between harm and safety to protect others.

They lived rich lives, not that they were paid well, but they were rich in love; living life at its deepest purpose, to love others above self.

They lived simply and sometimes didn’t sleep so others, like you and I, could.

Every day of their selfless service they chose to walk towards the battle, not away from it.

Today may we honor those who sacrificed their life so that others could have one.

We don’t know every name yet God does. May their deaths not be in vain.

May we take a moment today to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we be inspired by the selfless service of these men and women by waking up each day and choosing to live with a heart of service. May we live in a way that chooses giving over getting, God over gain and being rich in love.

May we give a moment of our day to pause, give thanks and honor those who chose a life of service and gave the greatest sacrifice for others, themselves.

With respect and gratitude,

Shawn

Let Others In

This morning while getting ready, I could tell Matty was frustrated. When I asked him what was going on he freely shared he couldn’t find something and asked if I could help him so I did.

When I started helping, his tension lessened and together we found what he was looking for.

This experience with Matt made me wonder what age we stop freely sharing what’s on our hearts with our loved ones and/or feel like we need to work through hard things on our own.

I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we never be too old to be honest about what’s on our hearts with our loved ones. May we recognize we all go through hard moments, or seasons, and it’s lighter when we do it with others beside us.

If we are going through a tough time, may we be willing to let others in, including God, to help us. Or maybe we are the one who someone is seeking to open up to. May we be present and be willing to hear their hearts, free of judgment, and be willing to walk beside them to share their load and lighten their heavy, as I was blessed to do with Matt this morning.

With love and hope,

Shawn

Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2

The Journey Of Parenting

As I walked along the trails one day, I clearly saw the journey of parenting.

You see, I was walking along and on both sides there were fences.

A little further along, one side only had a fence and the other side had none.

And then a little while later the trail no longer had fencing, just the path before me to follow along, if I chose to stay on it.

When our kids are young, it’s like being on the trail with the fences on both sides. Our kids are on a path, paved by our values, and are guided by the established guardrails we make to keep our kids well and on the path.

As they grow, it’s like being on the trail where there is a fence only on one side. On this part of our journey as parents, we continue to live out our values and establish guardrails but our kids have more independence, hence only one fence. This growing independence is a time for our kids to explore the path while they are with us and practice staying on the path and living out their values. And sometimes on this stretch of trail, our kids will choose to off-road. When they do, it’s an opportunity for us to process their choices with them, and once again, lead them back to the wisest path.

And then the day will come, or has come, when we step back and our kids step forward continuing on the path. Yet there are no longer established fences for them except the ones we have planted in their hearts through the years, and the values we have laid out for them. In this stretch of the journey, our kids get to establish their own guardrails and values, as we pray we’ve lead them well towards who God made them to be.

Parenting is a beautiful and hard journey. And the saving grace I turn to along the way to help me see my kids in a renewed way is that everyday I am to God who my kids are to me.

We are all children of God, given the freedoms to choose the path before us and establish the guardrails to help us stay on the path He has for us. Sometimes we follow it and sometimes we stray, but like any loving parent, God is there to come beside us and guide us back on the path, just like we are to our kids; no matter their age or where they are on the journey.

With love & hope,

Shawn

Purposefully Move

Yesterday Georgia and I were sitting out back and a white moth flew by. It’s wings were fluttering wildly and I couldn’t tell if the moth was being carried by the wind or if it was purposefully flying that way.

It made me pause and think about my week ahead.

Am I being carried by the wind in my days or am I purposefully moving into my days and week?

The reality is sometimes I am purposeful and sometimes I am move into my week and just get caught up in the busy. If you can relate, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we take time to be with God to root ourselves in the firm foundation He provides as we enter this day, and week. May we not allow the wind to move us but instead may we be prayerful to help us move with purpose step by step in our days. For when we do, sometimes it will give us margin for moments that will help refresh our perspective, like seeing a simply white moth flying by me did.

With love and hope,

Shawn

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58

We Become What We Practice

Today I asked this powerful question in a leadership class I am teaching to juniors and seniors.

As much as teens may benefit from answering this question the reality is this an important question all of us would benefit from reflecting on.

I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

Make we take time to consider what our daily practices are and where they are leading us. May we be honest with ourselves as we answer this question. There are many practices that may seem harmless yet are actually ones that are leading us away from who we were made to be. May we consider if our practices fueling us or depleting us. Are they growing us or inhibiting our growth?

As we reflect on this question, may we commit moving forward to choosing at least one practice that includes deepening our relationship with God. For when we do this one practice, we will find ourselves becoming who God made us to be.

With love and hope,

Shawn

Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice. - James 1:22

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