The leaves are falling🍂 There is such beauty in this season.
No matter what season of life we are in, time continues to move forward. Inevitably the landscape in our lives will change. I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
May we be present in the season we are in. May we look at how this season is helping us grow deeper in to the person we were made to be. And may we see the beauty this season has to offer before it passes by.
With love and hope,
Shawn
In case you’ve ever wondered what the creative process looks like for an author/speaker, here you go🙃
So many thought, so many ideas...so messy! Lol
I am excited to be back out speaking for another MOPS group this morning. The hope is to take this messy, creative process and turn it into an inspirational message that will plant seeds of hope and encouragement into these Moms hearts.
I share this with you this morning in case you too have numerous thoughts/ideas/things to do floating in your mind right now.
I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
Let’s quiet the mind. Invite God in to the process. Ask questions like, what is mine to say? What is mine to do?
Let’s be still and listen.
May our ears be inclined to wisdom this morning to help us be purposefully productive in our words and actions so we may encourage and lift others up today💕🙏💕
With love and hope,
Shawn
Yesterday we went to watch David Wright’s last game at Citifield⚾️ Being married to, and raising, life long Mets fans, it was a bittersweet day to watch David Wright, who demonstrates integrity, respect, hard work, perseverance, determination and loyalty, leave the game due to an injury.
As much as the day was about him, I found myself watching my family yesterday.
I did the same thing watching a movie on the couch on Friday night.
There is something to watching others experience life. I receive such joy watching my loved ones absorb life’s experiences. Yet too have felt their pain and sorrow. It really doesn’t matter where we are or what we do, whether I am beside them on the couch or at the ball field, it is a gift to connect with them in this way.
I share this with you today because no matter what you are doing today, I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
May we choose to step back wherever we are today and take it all in. May we watch those we with and experience life through their eyes. Let’s watch their expressions and connect with their emotions. It is powerful and helps us get out of ourselves and bridge hearts deeper with those we are with.
And as David Wright left the field last night, I watched my husband wrap his arm around our son, as together they said goodbye to a man who brought so much joy to their lives, and the game, for so many years.
With gratitude and hope,
Shawn
I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
Whatever it ours to say and do today, let’s choose to do it. Let’s not be the ones at the end of our lives who look back wishing we had said or done this or that. Let’s be the ones who get to the end who have a heart full of gratitude for the seeds of love we were able to spread while we had the chance to. May we each use our unique gifts tohelp be the change we hope to see in the world.
With love and hope,
Shawn
🎵”Ain't it funny how life changes
You wake up, ain't nothing the same and life changes You can't stop it, just hop on the train and You never know what's gonna happen You make your plans and you hear God laughing Life changes, and I wouldn't change it for the world,”🎵 - Thomas Rhett
Yep, the good, the, bad, the ugly...the anxiety, depression, cancer I have had to experience in life...has brought me to this moment today where I am able to love others more deeply, I live more fully (like taking our kids to a concert where we get home at midnight🙃), and have deeper roots of faith.
I wouldn’t change it for the world💕🙏💕
I share this with you in case your life has taken an unexpected 180, for the good, the bad or the ugly. I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
May you keep moving forward, step by step. May you look at the heart of the change, trusting you are meant to experience this so you may love deeper, live more fully and have deeper roots of faith.
With love and hope,
Shawn
On my morning walk I saw this unexpected beautiful animal.
Zoom in to see ‘who’?😉🦉
I share with you because many of us walk the same path every day in life, going through the motions of our routines.
I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
May we remember to look up and around us on our paths, because although the path may look the same, there are beautiful gifts waiting for us along the way.
With love and hope,
Shawn
My 6-year-old: “Mom, want to play dinosaur battle with me?
Me: “Sure.”
And so we had a dinosaur battle this morning on our kitchen table before school.
Why am I sharing this?
Because there is a lot happening in my world, as I know it is in your world right now. This week I found out a loved one lost their father, I spoke with a dear friend whose loved one came in minutes of dying of an overdose, another friend is new to sobriety, another friend’s mom is battling cancer, and another shared of her recent miscarriage, a couple of friends are in the process of moving, we have family and friends who are being impacted by the hurricane, and of course the anniversary of 9/11…to name a few things on my heart.
Yes, this is a lot…
Yet I sit and play dinosaurs.
What I have recognized on this side of cancer is every day there are struggles, there is suffering, there is pain, and there is hurt. And truthfully, I am drawn to go close to the pain because I believe that is where we can be transformed into the best version of ourselves and live with greater purpose.
Yet I am unable to carry these on my shoulders as they are not broad, or strong, enough to carry this load.
I need to lay these down somewhere. But where?
Recently when I was feeling overwhelmed by life’s struggles, I asked God, “how was I so peaceful throughout cancer yet am not in that place today?”
The visual that came to me was of me sitting with God in my prayer chair in Boston.
With that visual I knew I needed to get below the surface of the waves of these struggles and go deeper with God.
I envisioned myself being on the top of choppy waters in an ocean trying to stay afloat. But then I purposefully went under the waves. There was a quiet, a calm, a surrender under the waves. This is where I lived last year. Not in the waves but in the calm, where God is.
I share this with you if you too have a lot coming your way. And please don’t ladder the struggles. I know I named some heavy ones above but I too am a stay at home Mom who is navigating life with my children, schedules, activities, work, etc.
So please, whatever is heavy on our heart, I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
No really.
Pause from what you are doing.
Take a deep breath...or two.
And remove yourself from the surface and the choppy waves of these struggles. Go deeper, grounding yourself where things are calm and quiet.
And pray (aka talk with God).
May we give God all that is on our hearts so we don’t have to carry the weight of load. May we ask for wisdom and strength so we may continue to show up and meet this day and walk beside others along their journey. Also, by laying these struggles down and giving them to God, may we trust God has these struggles in His hands so we may not feel weighted in this day and still experience joy, like having a dinosaur battle after breakfast with a loved one💕🙏💕
With love and hope,
Shawn
I received this gift from a dear friend today for my new cloffice😉💝
I am sharing because the words are so potent I thought someone else may too need to hear them today.
I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
And no matter the challenge in front of us, may we choose not to let it trip us up. Instead may we use this challenge to grow our faith and trust that our struggles have a deeper purpose than what we see on the surface.
With love and hope,
Shawn
We promised to never forget so today I want to honor two people whose names need to never be forgotten.
The first name is Harold Coyle. He is my uncle and an NYFD fireman from Ladder 18 who ran towards danger that day. We are thankful he made it out seconds before the second tower fell. He helped many to safety that day yet he lost many friends. Although he survived, he walks beside us in life today with this day forever etched in his soul. He continues to move towards the pain in life, coming beside those in need; including me last year. He is a quiet hero whose name and story we must always remember.
The second name is Amy Toyen. She is a daughter, sister and best friend to Brandy. She is from my hometown and tragically lost her life that morning while attending a meeting in one of the towers. May we always remember her name and her story. May we also remember that her parents, sister and friends walk around everyday with this tragic loss on their hearts. This statue is outside the library is my hometown, honoring her memory. Although many walk by it daily, I pray they come to know Amy’s story so we may never forget her and what happened that day.
Two heroes. One still with us and one who has passed. Remember their names and tell their stories. Leave below the names and stories of those you want remembered from this day in our history.
May we never forget them for each of their stories brings us back to that day and gives us perspective for today. Although our hearts were heavy, there was a unity we experienced in our homes, communities and nation that made all the walls fall away. We saw beyond the surface and into each other’s hearts that day. We hurt together yet we were united by our hurt.
I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
May we never forget this day, the names and stories of the people we lost, and the one’s who ran towards the danger. May we never forget the survivors and all the families and friends that walk among us every day with this day forever etched in their soul. May we never forget the unity we experienced that day.
May we never forget🙏
With love and hope,
Shawn
This weekend one of our ACC warriors passed away. I only knew her online but my heart aches hearing of her loss. She was a beautiful soul who radiated love through her words and actions.
Today, in honor of her I want to take three lessons she taught me in life and share them with you.
1. Experience life to the fullest.
She was in hospice and chose to get up and have a trip of a lifetime rather than just lay waiting for her time to come.
2. Scatter seeds of love and joy.
As she met death eye to eye, she was still able to scatter love and joy to those around her...she even had a celebration of life where she gathered with her loved ones before her passing.
3. Use your unique gifts to leave the world more beautiful.
She is an artist. And her unique gift and creations make the world more beautiful and will remain with us now that she has passed.
I am thankful for Antoinette for what she taught me and I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
May we absorb these life lessons she leaves behind and live them out ourselves today. We may or may not be on the edge of life but why not live like we are everyday?
With love and hope,
Shawn
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