Today I went to the UConn game with my Mom. In this heavy world, sometimes it’s good to be reminded about how a little love goes a long way.
While we were at the game, my mom wasn’t just there to cheer on the team, she was there to cheer on people she met along the way.
On our way in, she walked past a person working by the door, she said hello and wished them warmth on this frigid day. While we were in our seats we saw one of the people working stop on the stairs to help a little girl tie her shoes so she wouldn’t trip. It was such a sweet moment and my mom wanted to be sure to thank him for his act of love. The guy behind us said he was hungry and she offered him some of her food. As we walked to the car, she thanked the officer who was directing traffic for being there.
My mom is a bundle of love looking to share it wherever she can. Being with her today was a reminder to me that we cannot always change what’s happening outside ourselves, but we have a choice about who we are going to be. And my mom is love in action.
I share this today as a reminder to myself, and to you, in case you needed it, that we are called to be love in action too.
I invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
Wherever we are today, and wherever we go, may we choose to keep our eyes and ears open to the people around us. May we speak the truth in love to others, building others up by honoring who they are and what they do for us, and others, or answer a need if we can. Even though this may not seem like much, it’s everything.
I hope you too can be inspired by my Mom like I was today💗
With love and hope,
Shawn
How to Live an Unmeasured Life: Stop Tracking, Start Feeling Free
Living an unmeasured life.
This is my goal this year.
I don’t know about you but I was at the point in my life where I was measuring too much.
I had a check list I would keep in my prayer journal to check off my spiritual, relational, intellectual, emotional, career, physical, and financial goals.
As a wellness teacher, I believe in S.M.A.R.T. goals, yet I personally have gotten to a point where if I got to the end of my day and didn’t check the box, my inner dialogue would be focused on what I didn’t do rather on what I did accomplish that day.
I am in a place where I know what serves me best so that I can serve others well. So this year I am stepping away from tracking my life and will be more focused on living my life.
At the end of the day, I don’t want to see that I am 100 steps short of my goal, I want to see that I enjoyed my walk on the trail with a friend, or by myself. I want to know I made time to visit with my neighbor instead of making sure I listened to a podcast. I want to make room to be more present with, and for, others rather than focusing on my checklist, giving myself the freedom for God to move my feet instead of having my steps predetermined each day.
I will share that I’ve stopped tracking the steps on my walks, and it is freeing!
I will be transparent that I am running a race in June so I will need to track my mileage to train, but that is what it needs to be, a tool, not a measure of my worth.
I share all of this in case you too have reached a point where life has become a checklist of goals to complete each day. If so, I invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
May we release the need to check off lists to feel like we are enough. May we stop measuring our lives by our own standards, or by the standards other people have set for us. Instead, may we live close to God and the principles He calls us to. When we do this, we are freed from the checklists, from the feeling of not being enough, and we will find greater freedom, joy and peace within - which is what we are all aiming for anyways, isn’t it?
With love and hope,
Shawn
Honoring Community Heroes: Remembering Those Who Serve Quietly
It’s been a wintry wonderland over here this weekend. And as beautiful as it is, my thoughts are beyond the snow covered trees. I keep thinking about the people who get up in the middle of the night to salt and clear the roads. The ones who run on coffee and their hearts to serve and take care of their communities. While we sleep and remain comfortable, there are people working to ensure safe roads for the rest of us.
This week our community lost someone who did just this, two boys lost their Dad, parents lost their son, a sister lost a brother and many of us lost a friend.
I share this today as a reminder that there are people quietly serving in our communities every day. From plowing the roads in winter, mowing the common areas around town in the summer, taking care of the towns pools and other facilities. They work off hours, their names often aren’t known by the larger community, yet their efforts daily make our communities the comfortable, safe places they are.
I invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
May we always remember the helpers, the ones who choose work that serve our communities. May we give thanks for the work of their hearts and hands, and when we get a chance, let’s be sure to say thank you to them for who they are and all they do, every season.
Thank you, Dave. Your presence will be missed as a friend, and in our community🙏
With love and care,
Shawn
Processing Emotions with Faith: The Power of Pausing, Praying, and Letting Go
Yesterday I brought Gavin back to school. It was a great month with everyone back in the house. Yet reality is, it’s not where Kate and Gav need to be anymore. They need to continue to grow into their future selves elsewhere.
After dropping Gavin off, I went to grab my phone to call someone but I paused.
I went to grab food in the car to eat, but I paused again.
I went to play some music but turned the radio off.
I was sad.
And that pause showed me how rather than acknowledging my emotions, I was looking to distract myself and fill myself with other things- conversation, food, distraction.
So I sat there driving and acknowledged my sadness. I prayed about how I was sad and that I know my kids are where they need to be yet I was still sad to let them go again.
And then I did something I don’t allow myself to do often enough.
I cried. Like ugly cried and it was so therapeutic. Rather than stuffing away my emotions, I was able to process and pray through them.
And afterwards? I felt lighter. I didn’t need to dwell in the sadness, I just needed that time to release it.
I share this with you today in case any of you too don’t allow yourself to process your emotions.
I invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
May we remember God gave us our emotions and it’s okay to have them. Instead of turning to the phone, the food, the music, or whatever your go-tos are, may we pause long enough to acknowledge our emotions. Let’s pray how we can process them in a healthy way, even if that requires an ugly cry. Let’s do this so rather than stuffing those emotions away internally and keep them with us, we release them and learn from them, as I was thankful to do yesterday.
With love and hope,
Shawn
Be Still and Listen: A Faithful Reflection for the New Year
Happy New Year!
I was cleaning out my office the other day when I came across this quote on a post-it note:
May we be still,
May we be quiet,
May we ask God to speak into that silence.
-Henri Nouwen
Reading these words with the new year on the horizon caused me to pause.
I don’t know about you, but I usually head into a new year ready with my own ideas, goals, and plans. This quote left me asking the question…
Am I still and quiet enough to listen to what God wants for me this year, or do I rush ahead, creating my own plans without prayer or guidance?
The reality is, the latter is often true.
Can you relate?
Even as I’ve tried to practice stillness over the past few days since reading this quote, I’m far from doing it perfectly. A verse that comforts me in that truth is…
We make our plans, but the Lord directs our steps.
—Proverbs 16:9
I share this in case you, too, are entering the new year full of ideas, plans, and goals. I want to invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
May we be still.
May we be quiet.
May we ask God to speak into the silence not just today, but every day.
May we listen and follow where He leads.
And when we don’t know what that is, may we still make our plans and trust that if we’re headed in the wrong direction, God is faithful to redirect our steps. May we practice being still and quiet enough within to notice His gentle promptings.
So as we enter 2026, maybe the first thing we need to do is simply be.
Be still with God, trusting that He sees what’s ahead and will lead us far better than we will lead ourselves.
With love and hope,
Shawn
Choosing Love Over Fear: A Prayer for Our Children and Schools
This morning I had the same feeling I had thirteen years ago. Sending Matt off to school this morning there was a moment of anxiety. Also, I know Gavin has exams today at college and after what happened this weekend, it’s unsettling to have your kids off in a world where people think taking someone else’s life is an option, even the lives of children.
I have to remember to take my own advice and…
pause. breathe. pray.
I remember the Monday after Sandy Hook thinking that if I didn’t send my kids back to school that day, I may never be able to send them off again. So Kate and Gavin went off to school and I sat and prayed over them, the other kids, their bus, the school faculty and staff, their classrooms, their schools.
Sadly, all these years later, I’m still praying for protection over our kids at school, and doing what is mine to do to try and make our kids safer.
I refuse to allow fear to win. We need light to outweigh the darkness and love to win.
And so that is the choice I will make today, to mourn with those who are mourning and, in honor of those lives lost, do my part to be love and light and not allow the darkness and fear to take root in my heart. This will be a wrestling match within yet I know who will win. And I pray love and light not only win the battle for my heart and mind, but for yours as well, and in our homes, communities, and in our nation.
Something needs to change.
What is ours to do today to be a part of that change?
With love and hope,
Shawn
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it - John 1:5
A Sacred Place: Faith-Inspired Poems from the Dingle Peninsula
I am excited, and a bit nervous, to share with you my fifth book, A Sacred Place, Faithful Poems Inspired by the Dingle Peninsula.
During our family vacation on the Dingle Peninsula this summer, we stayed in a cottage perched on a hillside overlooking Inch Beach. Each morning, during my prayer time, I sat by a window framed with crossed panes, my cup of tea, Bible, and journal beside me, reflecting on the day before. Whether walking the wide stretch of Inch Beach, adventuring along Slea Head Drive, discovering a hidden garden in the heart of Dingle, or hiking the wild beauty of the Blasket Islands, each experience stirred something deep within me.
In those quiet mornings, poems began to emerge, words shaped by wonder, gratitude, and a profound sense of God’s presence in the land and in our days together as a family.
A Sacred Place is a collection of thirty-seven poems that faithfully reflect time spent in one of the world’s most beautiful corners. My prayer is that these poems offer you a glimpse of the sacred beauty of the Dingle Peninsula and of the God who created it all.
I have never written poetry before, nor have I thought of myself as a poet, so publishing a book of my first poems feels especially vulnerable. Yet life has taught me that if God brings you to it, He will give you the strength to bring you through it. And so I share with you A Sacred Place.
Below is one of the poems for you, Less Is More. I hope you enjoy it!
If you would like a copy before Christmas, you can get one from the link in the bio.
If you would like a personalized copy, you can pre-order a copy at the pause. breathe. pray. store link HERE.
If you know anyone who would appreciate this book, please pass this along to them, or it would make a great stocking stuffer🎁 Thank you!
With love and hope,
Shawn
A Christmas Reminder: Love Others Well and Treasure Time Together
My heart is heavy today. Two friends who are courageously fighting cancer are in the hospital as I write this. I don’t share this for sympathy but as a reminder, that in this Christmas season, with all the gatherings, shopping, cards, wrapping, food, songs, and more, there are people who simply want to be home with their loved ones. All the other stuff is secondary to simply being with their families.
I pray that by sharing this it helps us keep this season in perspective and reminds us that time with one another is the best gift of all. The tangible things will come and go yet memories made with one another are stored in our hearts forever.
I invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
May our Christmas season be focused on Christ, who doesn’t need the celebration. He simply wants us to love him by loving others well, especially those who are hurting. That’s the heart of Jesus. May we pray to practice that above all else today, in this season, and always.
With love and hope,
Shawn
Being Part of the Solution
Today I went to bring Matt sledding, but my windshield wipers weren’t working. Without missing a beat, he figured out how to get them working again. When he got in the car, I said, “Thanks for being a part of the solution.”
After saying that, I pondered on those words. I wondered where I am part of a problem and where I need to be a part of the solution.
I thought I’d share this today to invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
May we ask God to open our eyes to see where we are a part of the solution, and also to where we may be part of a problem. And with the awareness we gain, may we choose to move forward, being part of the solution, like Matt was today.
With love and hope,
Shawn
How to Ride the Waves of Life
This week the house will be full again, and I can’t wait! I haven’t written much about Kate and Gavin being off at school because I am still processing this season of life with them away at college.
It’s been different without them here and only having Matt home. It’s been good in many ways, but it is still different.
When I think about how the season of everybody being home all the time has passed, it makes me sad, so I try not to dwell there. I am doing my best to embrace this new chapter.
Yet I am a creature of habit, and big life changes have always challenged me. I have loved being a stay-at-home mom all of these years. I chose to dedicate my time and energy to raising our kids, and I will never regret that. This transition from having three kids at home to two, to now one kid at home has left me in a season of refinement.
Having everyone home this week will be amazing, and I will soak the time in with the family. Yet I also am aware that it will pass.
Kate and Gavin will head back to school, which is where they need to be to grow into who God made them to be. Stephen, Matt, and I will continue to navigate our new normal.
It’s a wavy ride.
If you are in a parallel season, I invite you to join me to…
pause. breathe. pray.
To ride the waves that come with this season, may we keep our eyes fixed on God, the calm and steady horizon in our lives. May we ask God to prepare our hearts for this time together while also guarding our hearts for the inevitable letting go that will need to happen again. May we stay close to God so that He can help us ride the waves and give us the perspective and wisdom we need in this season of change and refinement. And that our time with our kids be filled with joy with what is, and not sadness of what once was, like I pray this time with my kids is this week.
With love and hope,
Shawn