You Are Invited to Our Table

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you a day of gratitude that brings joy into your heart🙏😊💗

As much as this is a day full of giving thanks I had a situation yesterday that is bringing new perspective to how some people may be experiencing this day.

Two nights ago I woke up in pain.  I tossed and turned for a while, growing frustrated that I was going on a week of enduring the pain from my new obturator.  Eventually I got up and did something I have never done before, I took my obturator out for the night to relieve the pain.  It worked... but by morning my mouth was so inflamed from the irritation of this past week, I couldn't get my obturator in.  

I tried and tried. 

And failed and failed.  

The reality of not getting it in hit me - I will not be able to speak articulately or eat or drink with ease until I get it back in with my dentist in Boston next week. Oh yeah, and I can't even pick up the phone to call Stephen - or any doctors - because they won't be able to understand me.  

Between the physical pain of trying to get it in and the mental energy of preparing myself to have to go for days without my obturator I finally surrendered trying to figure it out myself and reached out and ask for help.  I texted with Stephen and my family.

I thankfully got in to see a dear family friend who worked with me for a couple of hours and eventually was able to get it back in.

I left with tears of gratitude and joy.

Yes, I am thankful I get to sit around the table and speak and eat with my family today.  Yet as I lay in bed last night I realized that there are other people whose pains will not be gone today.

Maybe it's the first Thanksgiving without a loved one or it's the first holiday without a drink.  Maybe it's the day after surgery or a loved one is serving overseas. Maybe you are still in the whirlwind of a diagnosis or you learned the adoption isn't going to work out.  Maybe it's your first holiday after the divorce or you are celebrating today knowing this may be your last Thanksgiving with a loved one.

Whatever your story may be, I just wanted to invite you all to come and gather around the table and let you know there is a seat for you here.  At this Thanksgiving table is where experiencing pain and giving thanks can coexist.  And if today you are having trouble giving thanks, we are here beside you because it's okay to be in that place, even on Thanksgiving.

No matter your story, I invite you to join me to...

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

May we close our eyes and picture all of us, near and far, who are seated at this table.  May we patiently persevere during this time.  May our strength of heart and mind grow our endurance.  May our faith be bigger than our fear. And on this day of Thanksgiving, may we choose to seek what we have to be grateful for so we may experience joy (even a blip) in our hearts today.

With love, gratitude and hope,

Shawn

"Thanks to the God of comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Growing Gratitude

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Admittedly I have been experiencing pain as my mouth adjusts to my new obturator. Something my journey has taught me is that the more I focus on the pain and the struggle, the more amplified it becomes.  

When I am able to look away from the struggle and focus my eyes on what there is to be grateful for, my perspective changes and the pain becomes secondary; and I am even able to experience joy while in pain.

I share this with you in case you too are in pain, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc.

I invite you to join me to...

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

And choose, for even a moment, to take your gaze off your struggle and seek something to be grateful for.  Then do it again...and again.  The more we practice gratitude, the more joy we can experience even while the pain is present.

If I hadn't looked up from my pain yesterday I wouldn't have experienced this memory and captured this moment of my boys seeing the beauty in a double rainbow💝

My hope for all of us is that we don't allow the pain to take us away from experiencing moments of gratitude and joy in our lives.

With love and hope,

Shawn

"Give thanks in all circumstances." - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Invisible Wounds

Yesterday I got teeth!  In March I lost three teeth and the gums above them when I had the operation to remove the tumor from my palate. Yesterday I received my new obturator that has my new teeth on it.

It took me a while to share a picture with you of my obturator because it was too intimate at the time to expose this part of my journey with you.

Now I am at a place where I am able to share what it looks like with you.  My obturator is the removable device I need to wear in order to speak articulately and eat/drink without things coming out of my nose.  It is a gift to me and to all the others who have had similar surgeries.

I am sharing this picture with you as a reminder that appearances can be deceiving.  On the outside people may appear well but on the inside people may have wounds invisible to the eye.  It is these invisible wounds that may impact a person's heart and therefore impact the way they act.  

This is why living out love and kindness is so important.  Everyone is dealing with something, it may be visible, it may be invisible.  We need to remember that our words can be fuel on the fire in people's hearts or can help defuse the fire in their soul.

My hope in sharing this is that we may...

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

And when interacting with others, from family to strangers, may we honor each other's visible and invisible wounds.  Imagine the difference it would make in the hearts of others, and in the world, if we saw everyone as the wounded warriors we are and treated one another with love and kindness. 

With love and hope,

Shawn

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

Selfless Service

My Dad gave me this picture the other day for my birthday.  It brought tears to my eyes.  He captured this moment when we were in Acadia this summer, a couple months after my treatments ended.

This picture says so much about my husband without me saying a word💝

His selfless service didn't end when he left the Navy.  He continues to serve and protect our family everyday, in different ways.

I am so grateful to my husband and to all veterans for your selfless service, then and now as you serve in other ways.  

I know a thank you is enough yet I also know that there are veterans out there who could use more than our words and prayers to support them.  

There are wonderful organizations we can donate our time, energy and/or money to, such as:

Team RWB- Team RWB’s mission is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity.

Team Rubicon - Team Rubicon unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams.

Home Base Program - Who offers world-class clinical care, fitness and mind-body wellness programs for Service Members, Veterans and Families who struggle with the Invisible Wounds.

The Travis Mills Foundation - An advocate for veterans and amputees, The Travis Mills Foundation supports combat injured veterans and their families through long term programs that help these heroic men and women overcome physical obstacles, strengthen their families, and provide well-deserved rest and relaxation.

22 veterans a day commit suicide.  

This number is heartbreaking and unacceptable.  

I invite you to take a moment to...

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

And to come beside Stephen and I and do what you can to make a difference in the life of a veteran today.  

They may never know your name...

and we may never know theirs...

but that is what selfless service is all about.

With gratitude, respect, love and hope,

Shawn

Today Is A Gift

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I woke up this morning a little emotional yet full of gratitude.  

It's my birthday.  I get to be 39💗🙏😊

I have never been one to tell people that it's my birthday.  Today I want to shout it from the rooftops!

After being diagnosed with stage 3/4a cancer back in January, I realize that another birthday is a gift.  I am post treatment and doing well, yet I know that cancer in general, and my type, adenoid cystic carcinoma, specifically, leave you unsure if you will get a reoccurrence and how many birthdays you really have left.

The reality is, tomorrow is never promised cancer or not.

Today is a gift, not just because it's my birthday, but because I am here to live this day with those I love.  Today is truly a treasure.

God's gift to me is my life, and this day.

My gift to God is what I do with them.

I pray I use everyday I am given to do two things, to love God and to love others as God loves me, unconditionally.

I am so grateful for this day and for the loved ones I get to spend it with.  

Whether it's your birthday or not, today is a gift God has given to you too.  I invite you to join me to...

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

And let what we do with this day be a gift to God as a thank you for the gift of this day, and this life, we have been given.

With gratitude and love,

Shawn

"Love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself." - Luke 10:27

Putting Truth Into Practice

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When one of your favorite mugs breaks on the way out the door to the bus stop you...

Pause.

Remember little eyes are on me...

Breathe. 

Remind myself I can choose anger or love as the example I set...

Pray.

For wise words and actions to flow from me.

Live out love.

Choose to calmly articulate that it's just a mug and people are more important than things.

As my mug read...

Peace.

It is not where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work.  It is to be in the midst of those things and be calm in your heart.

Thankful to have passed along love this morning, and not anger💕🙏😊

With love and hope,

Shawn

P.S. This happened the same morning as the post below.  Love how quickly I was given the opportunity to put into practice this truth;-)

Pass Around Love

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NYC.  Our hearts ache again.

A few weeks ago I heard a child say that kids were “passing around anger” to each other.  They said that one person pushed this person, then the next person pulled at the next person and it continued down the line, child after child, one “passing anger” to the next. 

Passing around anger.  

It made me think of us adults and how much anger gets passed around in this world by us.  When we have a bad day, do we work through those emotions or pass it along to our loved ones, acquaintances, colleagues, or strangers? When anger and frustration grip us, do we try to defuse it or call a person who will help fuel the fire?

Passing around anger.

Is that what we want to be doing?  Is that the example we want to set for our children, our nieces, nephews, our grandchildren, etc.?

Not me.  Yet I admittedly have done it.

Today, I invite you to join me to…

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

Let’s make a commitment to ourselves, and to the children in our lives, and in this world, to let the anger stop with us.  When we get angry or frustrated, let’s figure out a way to let it go and in its place choose to live out love.

We see where anger leads.  

Let’s see where love will take us, and our children.

With love and hope,

Shawn

"Let all that you do be done in love." - 1 Corinthians 16:14

 

 

Do Nothing

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The other day while I was on a walk with friends one of them stated that on her to do list she sometimes writes "nothing." What a wise thing to do (or not do😉)! This morning as I sit here planning the day, I am using this new found wisdom and applying it in my life. 

To infuse moments of pause in my day will nourish me in ways the busyness of life never will.

I share this with you in case you too are writing your to do list for the day. 

I invite you to join me and...

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

May we add 'nothing' to our to do lists as a reminder to be still today to renew ourselves in mind, body and Spirit.

With love and hope,

Shawn 

"Be still and know God." - Psalm 46:10

Purposeful Seasons

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Every season has its purpose; winter, spring, summer, fall.  We can appreciate their uniqueness, see their beauty and find gratitude for their purpose. And even when we are ready for the season to end, we have hope for the next season that follows.

What if we took that same perspective and applied it to the different seasons of our lives? 

What if we viewed every season in our lives as one that had purpose?  What if we appreciated their uniqueness and looked for the beauty in them? What if instead of resisting them - especially the tough ones - we found gratitude and trusted they have a purpose?

Such a perspective would give us hope through the trials, the struggles, the changes.  

No matter what season of life we are in today, I invite you to join me and...

Pause.  Breathe.  Pray.

May we believe that there is purpose in this season, even the challenging ones, and trust we need to go through this season for us to be prepared for the next; just as fall leads into winter, planting and nourishing the seeds for spring.

With love and hope,

Shawn

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." - Ecclesiastes 3:1

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