Mercy Triumphs Over Judgement

The doorbell rang as I was brushing my teeth. I went to open the door. As the man from Edible Arrangements handed me my arrangement. I said “thank you” without thinking (I forgot to put my obturator back in🤦🏼‍♀️). He smiled my way then said “I only know a few signs” and attempted to sign with me assuming I was deaf because of my impaired speech. 

I can’t express how grateful I am towards him for choosing to try and communicate with me rather than judge me💗

Mercy triumphs over judgement, every time💕🙏🏼💝

It made me....

Pause. Breathe. Pray. 

And ask, “Who can I extend mercy to today?

With gratitude,
Shawn

“Mercy triumphs over judgement.” - James 2:13

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR JOURNEY

Be Still & Live Simply

I just rearranged pillows at Barnes and Noble to remind myself to slow down today and that simplicity is best. What we all need is each other’s presence, not more presents🎁

Who knows, maybe someone else could use this message too today💝

With love and hope,
Shawn

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR JOURNEY

The Healing Garden

I am back in Boston today for some appointments as part of my “new normal.”

I have some time between my appointments and came to a place I didn’t share with you during my seven weeks here.  This place was too sacred a space for me and I wasn’t ready to invite others into it at the time. 

This is the healing garden at Mass General Hopsital.  It is located on the 8th floor down the hall from where my chemo treatments were and floors above where my radiation was.

Years ago I read something author Jon Acuff wrote that has always stuck with me.  He said that we all need to find our Central Park in the city of our lives. A place where we can get away from the crazy and leave renewed.

This was my Central Park during treatment.  In the middle of Boston, on top of the hospital, some beautiful people gifted people like me a calm, nourishing space to get away from the waiting rooms and doctors offices.  In between appointments I did not have to be out in the hustle and bustle of the city or go back to my hotel, I could come to this quiet place to renew my heart, mind and Spirit.

Today, I once again am choosing to come to this sacred space because it means so much to me and gives me a place to pause. breathe. pray. in my busy day/week.

I share this for two reasons today.  First, because I am ready to share this space with you now and show you the gift the healing garden is to the patients and their families at Mass General.  Secondly, because I want to encourage you today to...

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

And although you may not be going from appointment to appointment like I am, you may be running around yourself today checking off things on your to do lists, going from meeting to meeting, running the kids from here to there and everywhere in between, etc. 

I want to invite you to find your own Healing Garden and Central Park today.  Whether it is sitting in your car for a minute or two before you get out at your next stop, sitting down at the kitchen table to drink your coffee, taking a walk outside for 5 minutes, etc.  I encourage you to find a place that will take you away from the crazy  of your day and will leave your renewed.

With love and hope,

Shawn

"Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR JOURNEY

A Beautiful View

The other day as I walked along the rails to trails, I thought about what a peaceful path this is. Yet this same path was originally the railroad tracks through our town.  This serene path used to be hustling and bustling with trains passing through.

It made me pause.

Recently I was telling Stephen that I feel like we were given a gift this year to step off the trains in life we were on and step into the countryside where we gained a beautiful view of the world.  Although it took cancer to get us to step off the train, it was a gift.  We have been gifted a perspective in life of what truly matters.

People.

The things, the places, to do lists, schedules, etc. exist but they are not what nourish you in those moments when you are on the edge of life.  

It is the people.  

The relationships.

The conversations.  

The comfortable silence.

The ones that hold your hand and heart and walk beside you.

I enjoy the countryside and for most of this year we have lived there.  I was blind and deaf to the trains that may have been passing by.  I saw those beside me and was present with them.  

Yet recently I am starting to hear and see those trains pass through, inviting us to hop back on.

The thing is, I don't want to jump on.  I want to stay in the countryside and keep this perspective yet I know I need to also move forward in life.  

How do I move forward and keep this God-given perspective I have come to cherish and not allow the craziness of the world to move in and sweep us away on the next train passing through?

I need to stay close to the edge.  

No, I don't want cancer.  But I want to walk beside others who are on the edge.  Being there beside others who are going through their own "edge experience" helps me keep perspective and rooted in what matters, loving others.

Yes, the path before us today may appear like the old railroad tracks, with trains passing by inviting us to hop on at full speed off to our next destination.

Yet, I invite you to join me and...

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

And let's not hop on.  Or if you are on a train, I offer for you to hop off the next stop.  Let's all meet in this countryside.  Let's take a moment to watch the trains pass by and ask ourselves if one those trains is where we need to be.  Sometimes the countryside will make us face our truth which can be challenging, but there are others of us here waiting to walk beside you on your journey to a fuller life.  And together, we can enjoy this life and the beautiful view.

With love and hope, 

Shawn

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR JOURNEY

Wise Words

What do you do when one of your children arrives home and shares with you a quote that captures your heart and how we can move through this season with more peace?

You pass along the love and wisdom💕

With love and hope,
Shawn

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR JOURNEY

Root Ourselves in Love

My morning pause💗🙏😊

May we all take a moment this morning, and every morning, to... 

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

And fuel our hearts and minds with love today. We will encounter moments today that will try and shake us up. Like the other day I guess I didn’t move fast enough at a stop sign for the person behind me and they honked and gave me the finger☝🏼(ya, not that one). My initial thoughts were to defend myself verbally or to go real slow 🙃 but instead I drove along ignoring it and offered loving kindness their way💕

We can’t change what will happen today but we can control our responses to what happens. Let’s be proactive and root ourselves in love and truth in the morning so when we are shaken, love can flow from us onto others. For from the heart our mouths speak. Let’s fill it with the good stuff and let hate stop with us and pass along love to one another instead.

With love and hope,
Shawn

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR JOURNEY

A Moment of Pause

Half-day date with two of my four favorite people.  Mounds of laundry are on the bed and many other items on my to do list but this was a moment of pause to be present with those who matter most to me. 

I know the hustle and bustle are calling our names but I invite you to insert moments of pause during your day to root yourself back in with what matters most...and I personally find whether it’s a moment alone or with those who nourish me, when I take that pause and connect with love, I am more fueled for my day than when I allow myself to go go go until I am empty.

I invite you to join me and... 

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

And let’s not allow our to do lists and calendars to take our eyes off of who and what matters most.  Let’s invite moments of pause into our day and gain perspective and fuel our hearts, especially for this season so we can live close to what matters most.

With love and hope,
Shawn

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR JOURNEY

What Is

On the way to the bus stop this morning, one of my children was full of "what ifs."

What if I miss the bus?

What if our neighbor misses the bus?

What if the bus driver came early?

What if the bus driver forgets to come?

What if...

It took me a number of questions in to realize the concern on my child's heart.  I stopped walking and looked at my child and said, "What if?" and paused.  I continued, "If any of those things happened you'd be okay, our neighbor would be okay.  We would just hop in the car and have a different way to get to school today.  We have plenty of time, there is no need to worry."

My child looked at me, smiled and continue walking towards the bus stop. (In hindsight, maybe stopping a child who thinks they will be late isn't the wisest choice:-/). Anyways.. 

Reflecting on that moment, I wish I had said, "What if you stopped thinking about those what ifs and instead thought about what is?"  

Because what is happening in the moment is what is real and what matters.  Our what ifs are the stories that take our mind away from the present moment.  They take us away from enjoying what is right there in front of us.

Today I invite you to take a moment with me and...

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

Let's look inward and ask ourselves if we are living with any what ifs that need to be replaced with what is.  Personally, I have more scans next week.  I can choose live there in the what if and miss this day with my loved ones, or live today in the what is and meet that day when it arrives.  My practice will be in choosing the latter.

I invite you, whatever your what if may be, to join me and let's refuse to allow the possibility of tomorrows troubles rob us of today's joy.  This is the day God has made.  Let us experience the joy in it.

With love and hope,

Shawn

"Can by worrying you add a single hour to your life?" - Matthew 6:27

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR JOURNEY

Double the Peace

My peace mug is one of my favorites and I broke it recently on the way out the door to the bus stop.

For my birthday, I received two more peace mugs from my aunt and friends💝

When I saw them in the cupboard recently I thought about how often when something "breaks" in our lives, how it can weigh us down and break us.  

I believe that we have a choice, we can long for what was or trust that this can and will be turned into something better than before.

For me my peace (mug) was broken but then I received double the peace I had before😊

The same has been true in my life.  

Anxiety, depression, cancer have all been a part of my story and have all tried to break me, but I have seen that it is because of those things my life is richer and fuller than before.

I share this in case you are in that broken place.  You are not alone. It is a tough place to be in but I invite you to...

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

And trust that this time isn't meant to break you but to transform you and your life into something better than before.

With love and hope,

Shawn

"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. - James 1:12

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR JOURNEY

Begin Within

Happy New Year!

What are your goals this New Year?  

Eating clean, exercising more consistently, etc.?

I get it.

Most of my life my New Year's resolution was focused on the outside of myself.  I thought if I took care of my outside, my inside would be at peace.  Yet I can look back at pictures when I was in the best shape of my life and on the outside I may appear well but on the inside I was still not at peace.

What I have come to learn is that to be well within, I needed to take time to work on the inside.

I am sharing this video to give you some food for thought...

(This video is from summer 2016)

To grow strong enough to do these 50 push-ups I started at 10 and then added 2 a day for 21 days.  I dedicated the time, used my energy purposefully and was disciplined daily.  And those small deposits I put in over time paid off.

The same is true for my spiritual growth.

When I started having a morning prayer time I would read a quick paragraph which took maybe a minute.  Day by day over the past seven years, my prayer time has grown in length.  

Why?

Because I have seen how taking the time to be still and nourish myself within has brought more peace into my heart than when I would wake up and workout first thing.

Now I am not saying I don't like to workout or eat well.  I was a Health and Physical Education teacher and a yoga teacher before becoming a writer.  Being active and eating well is part of who I am yet I do those to increase the quality of my life, not to be a certain size anymore.  I have come to learn that being at peace comes from an internal workout, one where I practice letting go and trusting in God. 

I now spend twice as much time in the morning cultivating my Spirit, mind and heart - through my readings, prayer, meditation and my gratitude journal - than I do working out.

I share this video to demonstrate what can happen when you choose to use your time and energy consistently; you grow stronger.  I can show you this growth physically but it is difficult for me to show the depth of internal growth. I hope this parallel encourages you to know that change IS possible yet it doesn't start on the changing who you are on the outside.  

True transformation begins within.

As you enter this New Year, I invite you to try something different for your New Year's resolution.  

Rather than focusing on the outside, why not choose to start within?

I invite you to join me and take time to learn how to...

Pause. Breathe. Pray.

I admit, hopping on the treadmill may be easier, and yes, working out and eating well are things I too will be hoping to practice consistently this year.

Yet I know from my own experience through my journeys with anxiety, depression and cancer that when you begin within, and allow yourself to transform from the inside out, your life will be more beautiful and richer in ways you couldn't even imagine are possible.

To start today, join my FREE facebook group HERE where you will receive encouragement and guidance for your journey.

And to be the first to learn about my upcoming classes (in-person and online), be sure to sign up for my blog BELOW.

Here's to a new day, a new week, a new month, a new year and a NEW YOU!

With love and hope,

Shawn

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