live from the inside out

Happy 18th Birthday, Gavin!

🎉Happy 18th Birthday to Gavin🎉
This weekend we celebrated Gavin’s birthday! I am forever grateful for who Gavin is and what he brings to our lives; his genuine heart, care for others, loyalty, quick wit, sense of humor, patience and so much more! Here’s to another awesome trip around the sun🥳🙏💙

For Gav, and others who are turning the page to this new chapter of adulthood, I just wanted to share a few encouraging words that, when practiced, I have no doubt will benefit your current and future self🙏

Be still and get to know God.

Be quick to listen and slow to speak.

Incline your ear to wisdom and your heart to understanding.

Use your words to speak the truth in love and to build others up.

Know you were made on purpose with purpose.

Live out love towards yourself and others each day.

Have a gentle and humble heart.

Know not everyday will be good but there is something to be grateful for every day.

Allow the trials to refine you not define you.

You will be tempted to do things that don’t serve your future self, seek and take the way out.

Use the innate gifts and skills you’ve been given.

Commit your work to God and trust your plans will be established.

Make your plans and let God direct your steps.

Be generous with your time, energy and resources.

Be strong and courageous, trusting that God is with you wherever you.

Forgive yourself, and others.

Pause. breathe. pray.

Always remember that God is for you, as am I and so many others.

With love and hope,
Shawn

Scripture references ⬇️

#pausebreathepray #liveoutlove #livefromtheinsideout
#psalm4610 #1john48 #matthew633 #james119 #proverbs22 #ephesians415 #ephesians429 #ephesians210 #proverbs163 #1Corinthians1013 #1corinthians1348 #1timothy414 #proverbs1125 #matthew1129 #joshua19
#romans831

Poise and Purpose Interview

I am honored to have been asked by Seshu from @picseshu to be a part of his project with Dianne Bennett, “Poise & Purpose.” The interview came out today and I thought I’d pass it along in hopes my story may encourage someone else. You can read the interview HERE.

I share this also as a reminder that you have a story to share as well that can encourage others. I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

Let’s be prayerful about how our story may encourage someone else. And then let’s have the courage to share it so that our story grows into part of our purpose in loving others.

With love and hope,
Shawn

Happy 75th Dad!

🎉Happy 75th birthday, Dad🎉

My Dad grew up in Staten Island. One of his HS friends let us stay at his house the night before the marathon. I was hesitant at first to accept the offer but my Dad insisted. The idea of staying closer to the starting line was comforting and my Dad offered to drive me over the night before. I told him I could go solo but he really wanted to go with me.

I was transparent with him that my nerves were high and I may shut down at some point and not talk with him. He knew this, as he was there the night before my surgery in 2017 as well. He said he was fine with that. So together we drove into to Staten Island the night before the marathon.

He gave me a tour around. We went by his childhood home, which also was the home he and my mom first lived in when they were first married. He showed me the schools he went to and had such joy taking me around his hometown.

Then, we went to visit the graves of all my grandparents. My Dad is a big family man in part because his dad passed when he was only seven. While we stood there together, I saw my strong father show his boy’s heart that day.

Even without the example of of father himself, my Dad became a great one. One who loves his family deeply, shows up to support his kids and his grandkids, and who chose to get stuck in Staten Island the day of the marathon so that his daughter could have greater peace.

Thanks, Dad for loving us deeply and for teaching us (with all your motivational tapes in the 80s) that with determination, drive, a plan (on a steno pad), the right attitude, and faith we are capable of doing things we didn’t think were possible.

Love you, Dad💙🙏🎉

PS In his retirement, he has written a trilogy of historical fiction books. Visit his website at www.peterjmarzano.com to learn more📚

It's Been a Joy of My Life

Gavin’s last High School baseball game was tonight. It’s such a bittersweet feeling. Gavin’s love and appreciation for the game runs deep.

We jokingly put him at home plate when he was a baby not knowing he was going to grow up and love the game as much as he does, as a player and fan.

From the moment he could, he’s been playing catch and swinging his bat. It’s a bit unbelievable we are here today.

#5, it’s been a joy of my life to watch you play the game you love all these years.

As they say, “every end on the diamond is a new beginning.” Here’s to your new beginning, Gav⚾️

Psalm 139:14

Last week Kate and I went to a local home that had each room decorated by different designers in the area. It was beautiful to walk through and see the different expressions and styles of the various designers.

Stepping into each room and seeing each new design made me think of each person we meet in life.

Each person has their own unique gifts, skills and beauty they bring to the world.

I just wanted to share this today as a reminder that you are beautifully and wonderfully made, you add value and beauty to the spaces you go each day.

May we not hide who we are, pretend to be someone we aren’t or try to be like someone else.

Instead let’s…

pause. breathe. pray.

Remember that God made each of us so uniquely with purpose. Not only that, He designed us to live in community to value each other’s strengths and support one another’s weakness. When we are ourselves, and we work together, we can create beautiful homes and communities, as these designers did in this beautiful home.

With love and hope,
Shawn

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made -Psalm 139:14

Do not neglect the gift that is in you - 1 Timothy 4:14

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Psalm 23:2-3

Last night while Matt was at soccer, Stephen and I took a walk. On the edge of the fields there is a pond and as we walked by this spot, it made me pause.

The clarity in the water doesn’t happen when the water is in motion. The clarity comes when the water grows still. And in that stillness it is able to reflect the beauty around it.

Isn’t the same true with us, and our minds?

If you’re mind can be muddled like mine at times, I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.

May we take time to be still, even if not in our bodies, in our minds. In that stillness may we be prayerful when it becomes uncomfortable to not escape it. Instead may we invite God in to help us calm our muddled thoughts so that we can grow in clarity and peace.

And when we are in this still, calm place, may we pray to see, and reflect, the beauty that is around us, like the still water did last night.

With love and hope,
Shawn

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

He leads me beside still water, He restores my soul - Psalm 23:2-3

Isaiah 43:18-19

One night recently I was looking back at pictures of Gavin over the past seventeen years to make something for him. It was hard for me to process where time had gone. My little boy was now this young man soon heading off on his own. In my prayer time the next morning, there was a verse in my devotional that was divine timing. It read:

“do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!”
- Isaiah 43:18-19

This verse in Isaiah was exactly what I needed to read.

It is okay to look back yet God doesn’t want us to stay and dwell there. Instead, He wants us to be present and trust He is doing something new. And as someone who is sentimental and can get caught up in the memories of the past, this verse gave me a new view of Gavin’s graduation and the next few months before he heads off to college. God wants me to enjoy the moments and the time with Gavin, not in a “hold on tight and never let go way.” He wants me to be present and trust He is “doing something new” for Gavin, and for our family. “Something new” doesn’t mean bad or wrong, just different.

I share this with you today in case you are in a season of change as well. I invite you to join me to...

pause. breathe. pray.

May we look back but not dwell in the past. Instead, may we take God’s Word and trust that He is doing something new. And with that Truth, may we find ourselves settling into the present moment and look ahead with joyful anticipation of what is to come, for each of us, including Gavin. And when the waves of emotion come, may we allow ourselves to experience them, and then return back to this verse, as much as we need to, as a truth to help us through.

With love and hope,
Shawn

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