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

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