Let Peace Rule Our Hearts

I live in my hometown and I never once saw a bear as a kid. Yet over the past ten to fifteen years, bears have become more and more visible in our town, and in our neighborhood. When we first started seeing them, I remember being hesitant to be on the trails and needing to be outside when the kids were playing. Now, we continue to do our day to day lives yet we need to be bear aware. It may sound strange to some of you yet it’s become our normal here.

We have had a couple close calls, one was when a bear decided to come into our breezeway and eat a snack that was accidentally left in a bag a couple of summers ago. The bear sat with its back to our kitchen door and thankfully didn’t lean into it!

The reality is, we can’t change the bears being in our town. We need to learn to adjust our lives so we can still live fully, not allowing the fear of the bears to rule our hearts, and our decisions.

I share this with you today in case fear can rule your heart, as it can mine sometimes. I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.™

Whatever the “bears” and fears are in our lives, I pray we don’t allow the fear to lead us, but instead we allow the peace of God to rule our hearts. In doing this, may it help us gain greater clarity and perspective so that we can live fully, even if the “bears” pass through.

With love and hope,
Shawn

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts - Colossians 3:15

Is Your First Child Heading Off to College?

We are a few weeks away from Kate heading off to college. It’s such a bittersweet season. In one breath I’m excited for what’s to come for her, and in the next breath I think about how she will be home to visit here and there but our family of five will likely never live together again.

I know this is normal and there is nothing wrong or bad about this, it’s just going to be different, and a transition.

This is something many of you have already experienced, yet I admittedly didn’t get it until now. And the compassion and empathy I have for you, and for my mom and mother-in-law, has grown exponentially over the past six months or so. I now see more clearly how special family gatherings are and how sporadic they become.

I share this today as I know I’m not alone in entering this new season with our first child heading off to college, or being someone who is going through a transition. If you can relate, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.™

May we enter this new chapter with open palms, for it is written, “it is better to have one handful of tranquility than two handfuls with toil and grasping for the wind.” May we not grip what was, or hold the moment too tight, but instead enjoy the moment and open our hearts and palms to God, trusting Him with what is, and what is to come for all of us. He is always beside us, so may we remember to be with Him to help us through and give us perspective in this transitional season.

With love and hope,
Shawn

It is better to have one handful of tranquility than two handfuls with toil and grasping for the wind. -Ecclesiastes 4:6

Couch to Marathon - The Hardest Step

On this couch to marathon journey, I am realizing so much of the battle is the first step out the door. There are so many reasons not to go that are loud in my mind. I find that noise sometimes makes it hard to tune into the reasons to go.

I share this with you today because this truth isn’t just about running, it applicable to life.

Often when we step into an unknown, something that is hard or something where we may fail, there are thousands of reasons not to do it.

Can you relate?

If so, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.™

Let’s pray to tune out the noise and instead tune into God. Let’s pray for Him to lead us and give us what we need to take that step of faith forward unknown. For when we do, we may experience an inner refinement that is transformational, as I am experiencing on this running journey.

With love and hope,
Shawn

A Prayerful Walk

For years I sat beside this group of moms on the sidelines of baseball fields. Friendships grew and through the years we’ve become like sisters; not seeing each other all the time but we know we are here for one another.

One of these wonderful moms, Maria, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. She is in the midst of her radiation treatments right now. Maria is a listener, a giver, a gentle soul with a strong of heart who loves others so well and who has the best laugh. When she was diagnosed, this beautiful community of women showed up for her. The day we took this picture we had surprised her with a bunch of us waiting for her on the trails to let her circles of love become visible to her. One friend who has moved, even FaceTimed in.

I share this with you today to ask for healing prayers for Maria and for her family as they journey through this with her.

I also share this as a reminder that even when our lives may be filled with activities for our kids, it may not only be about them. We may find that God places people on the sidelines beside us who become like family, who will prayerfully walk beside one another through the ups and downs of life - as He did for me with this loving group of baseball moms.

With care and hope,
Shawn

Let's Pause. Breathe. Pray.

I invite you to join me to…

pause.

breathe.

pray.

Then, let’s choose to live out love towards one another through our words and actions.

This may not make a difference…

but what if it does?

With love and hope,
Shawn

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

Follow His Path, Not our Own

On one of our hikes we ended up being hit by a hail storm. We were another half mile or so from the peak hike and with the dark skies ahead, we decided to turn back and not finish the hike.

For people who know me well, and who have walked (and now run) with me, know I am the girl who needs to hit the end line and then turn to go back to where I started. Stopping short of the mark makes me feel uncomfortable on the inside. I knew not finishing this hike was not what I wanted but what was what we needed to do.

On the walk down we came to a section the trail that was steep, narrow, and slippery. As we turned the corner there was a woman on the ground. I asked if she needed help and she said yes. I held her hand and guided her to her feet. Then she told me her daughter was stuck too. So Stephen helped the woman and I helped the daughter walk down the slippery slope.

(Please know I am not sharing this because we helped them, but because of what God taught me through this.)

If I had followed my pride, we would have continued on the hike to get to the end. But wisdom won and we turned around, as humbling as that was for me.

By following wisdom instead of my own desires, we were able to be there to help this mother and daughter navigate their way down after they had been stuck there for a while.

I share this with you today as we all get detoured from our plans. Yet what if our detours were God’s way of allowing us to be His hands and feet to lend a hand to someone else who had a need?

I invite you to join me today to…

pause. breathe. pray.™

When our plans get derailed or we need to take a detour, may we take a deep breath and let go of the tension that causes within us. And in its place, may we turn to God and pray for Him to show us on this new path if there is some place He is guiding us to be a vessel of His love towards others.

With love and hope,
Shawn

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps- Proverbs 16:9

Let's Go Slow

This morning I was at the grocery store. I had a small cart of items. There was one lane open and I figured I’d go to it. When I turned the corner, I saw a man with a cart full of items. I quickly turned away to head to self checkout.

On the way I paused.

Why was I rushing to check out?

Reflecting back to book I read about slowing down, I realized I had time to stand in line and wait.

So I did.

I stood in line.

My mind took a moment to be present.

Then I was there, watching, listening, and even offered to help the elderly man in front of me pack his bags. He declined saying he needed to pack his own bags so that he knew if he could handle the weight of them when he got home, which makes sense.

I stepped back.

The woman behind me said hello. She started taking with me about the heat and humidity. She was lovely.

Eventually I checked out.

On the ride home I realized that going slow and delaying my checkout, gave me opportunities to be present, and even engage with people I otherwise wouldn’t have.

Yes, sometimes the self-checkout is convenient, but is it always necessary? Are our lives that busy that we don’t have time to wait in line anymore, really? Or is the busyness perceived rushing us through moments that are life giving, like having a conversation with strangers about their age or the weather?

Maybe life isn’t going too fast but we are going too fast through life. I know I can, as my time at the store showed me. If you would like to be more present and experience time tick slower, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.™

May we consider taking the slower path. Maybe that means taking the back road with the views over the highway, making the phone call instead of writing the text, skip the self-checkout and go into the line at the store to check out, etc. May we make choices that help us go slower. And while we slow down, let’s stay unplugged so that we can remain present where we are, with who we are with and have life giving interactions, as I did this morning.

With love and hope,
Shawn

Be still and know that I am God - Psalm 46:10

Insights from our family adventure

Banff and Glacier were beyond our expectations💚 We’ve been wanting to go for years and finally made it happen!

I have so many insights from our family adventure. Here are a few I pray will bless you too.

- Unplugging helps us connect deeper with ourselves, God, and others.

- Stillness and silence quiets the mind and speaks volumes to the soul.

- Courage is often experienced when taking the first step towards an unknown.

- It’s important to do something that takes our breath away everyday.

- Surrendering isn’t giving up, it’s finding the end of our ability and then becoming fully reliant on God.

-An hour in God’s creation will give us answers that most books or people are unable to.

-To be heard isn’t about getting louder, but becoming a better listener ourselves.

-Patience is learning to go at someone else’s pace rather than your own.

-What we give our attention to is what will fuel us or deplete us, let’s choose wisely.

With love and hope,
Shawn

To view more pictures from this amazing place visit HERE.

Celebrating our 20th Anniversary!

Yesterday we celebrated our 20 year anniversary! I love being married to this wonderful guy! It’s been an adventure from mountain top moments to valley experiences and everything in between. And through it all Stephen has been my calm, my rock and the one who always knows how to make me laugh, even when I don’t want to! I am grateful to God for this patient, thoughtful, clever guy, and this wonderful family we have. Here’s to fifty more years of adventuring through this beautiful, wild life together💝🙏🥳

The Gift of God's Creation

What I love about being in nature is that we bring nothing into it but ourselves, we are welcome as we are and although it gives us nothing, it provides us with everything.

I share this with you today in case you too need a renewal of mind and rest in your soul. I invite you to join me today to…

pause. breathe. pray.™

May we take a step out of ourselves and into God’s creation. And may we allow the silence and stillness it provides to gift us the renewal within we need.

With love and hope,
Shawn

But I have stilled and quieted my soul - Psalm 131:2