🥳🎉Yesterday Matt turned 8! Happy Birthday to our fun, loving, adventurous and creative guy! Matt finds the joy in each day and there is never a dull moment with him around. We can’t wait to see what he explores and creates next!🎉🥳
16 years!
Yesterday Stephen and I celebrated our 16 year anniversary! The waters haven’t always been smooth yet there is no one I’d rather ride out the waves with than him. Love this guy more than words💝
Pray through the Struggle
Today I had to go in for a stress test to rule out something, and thankfully all is well. During the test as they kept raising the incline and speed on the treadmill, I did what I usually do when I am challenged, I took some deep breaths & prayed. Once we got to what should have been the end of the test, the doctor asked if I had more in me, which I did. So we went for a few minutes, while continuing to go faster, at a higher incline.
For those of you who don’t know this side of me, I am very competitive and enjoy a challenge, especially a physical one.
As I was brought to my edge running on the treadmill, I closed my eyes to pray (don’t worry, I was holding on). Well, the doctor didn’t like that, and asked why I kept closing my eyes. I told him to pray for people who are going through hard times.
The doctor was relieved to know it wasn’t that I was light headed or about to pass out.
But that is what I do when I am challenged, I pray for others who are going through hard times to get my mind off myself and use my mind towards something beneficial.
From my workouts to now stress tests, I have found that my mind is better off praying for others than focusing on my current challenge, and actually helps fuel me to get through it, most of the time.
I share this with you today because as I drove home, I thought about how in this world right now we are being challenged. It is so natural for us to focus on the struggle, the unknowns, the challenge in this new way of living. Yet living focused on the struggle can weigh us down. Instead, I invite you to join me to...
pause. breathe. pray.
May we make a list of all those who need prayers, from friends to strangers across the world. And the next time we find ourselves at our edge, physically, emotionally, mentally, etc., may we choose to take our thoughts off the struggle and turn our thoughts to pray, for ourselves and/or those in need. It’s been a transformative practice for me, and I believe it will be for you too.
With love and hope,
Shawn
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” - Romans 12:12
He Will Give Us Rest
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” - Matthew 11:28
May we...
pause. breathe. pray.
And find rest in Him.
With love and hope,
Shawn
Our Breath is A Gift
Three years ago today I walked out of my last treatment and I am grateful to be able to say I continue to be NED (no evidence of disease)💝🙏🎉
As I reflect on the gift of being here, I thank God for every day I get, even in quarantine.
Yes, there are hard moments, days and seasons in life. Yet being alive with breath in our lungs is a gift, that to be honest, some days, as I get further from my walk with cancer, I forget to recognize.
I share this with you today in case any of you are needing that reminder too. I invite you to join me to...
pause. breathe. pray.
May we take a deep breath in and feel the breath in our lungs. As we exhale may we give thanks for being here today, even in these unique times. May we celebrate the gift of life and ask God to reveal to us what we can learn through this season. May we trust that although we have struggles, that God will use them for a greater purpose.
With love and hope,
Shawn
“The Spirit of God has made me,
And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” - Job 33:4
Happy Father's Day
Happy Father’s Day to Stephen, my Dad, and to all you Dad’s out there!
Your presence and influence matter more than you’ll ever know💙🧡
With love,
Shawn
“A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty.” - unknown
Let's Listen to Others Stories
Today as I sat beside my youngest reading this heart wrenching story, the truth of Henry’s story, shipping himself to freedom in a box, grabbed the deepest parts of my heart, and my son’s. As much as I may be tempted to not share such powerful stories with my kids, I believe they (and I) need to hear the truth of other people’s stories to grow in compassion, empathy and love.
When we take time to hear other’s stories, it’s an opportunity to cleanse the lens we see through, and see life from a different angle.
I share this with you today to invite you to join me today to...
pause. breathe. pray.
May we make the time to listen to other people’s stories. May we allow their truth to help prune our hearts and minds from any thorns growing in them. May we pause to absorb the truth of the person’s story and see what we can learn from them. May we continue to learn and grow beside one another, and ask God to show us our next step forwards, together. 💕🙏💕
With love and hope,
Shawn
“An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” - Proverbs 18:15
Build them Up
It’s officially summer break for our kids☀️
When I look at these three and think of this unique year, and their past five years, which include their Nane having cancer, our dog dying of cancer, my having cancer, and now a worldwide pandemic, I realize that I have a choice; to be worried that they may be negatively impacted by these experiences, or trust that God is using all of these experiences to help build their character, and grow their faith.
I will choose the latter.
In case you too have had thoughts of how your kids may be negatively impacted by this year and experiences they’ve had, I invite you to join me to...
pause. breathe. pray.
Rather than fast forwarding to the future, and creating stories that may never come to be, may we come beside our kids. May we turn to God to see how we can best walk (or jump!😉) beside them. May we trust He is using this to refine their character, and ours, and grow our faith. Just because we have faith doesn’t mean there won’t be more bumps on the road ahead of us. Yet may we not view every bump as a stumbling block along our path. Instead, may we, and our children, learn to view, and use, the bumps as stepping stones to rise up into who were we were made to be.
May we do our best to walk this talk before them, to help this truth grow roots in their hearts, and mind.
💕🙏💕
With love and hope,
Shawn
“We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” - Romans 5:3-4
Love Your Neighbor
We thought it would be fun to have an ice cream truck come and visit our neighborhood, for the kids to celebrate the end of this unique school year.
This picture is of our sweet neighbor having her first ice cream truck experience💝
There was such joy in the experience yesterday. As I reflected on it this morning, coupled with all that is happening in our nation, I realized, when we sent out the note to the neighbors about the ice cream truck stopping by, there was no picking or choosing which neighbors would be invited.
All were invited.
This is one of God’s truths. He doesn’t pick and choose who His invitation extends to, it is available to all.
I share this with you today to invite you to join me to ...
pause. breathe. pray.
May we remember this truth and be inspired by God’s word which tells us to love our neighbors. It doesn’t say to pick and choose which neighbors to love. His word says, “to love your neighbor as yourself.”
May we put this truth into action and live out His love to all. And when we do, we get to experience sweet moments of joy, like this one🍦
With love and hope,
Shawn
“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ - Matthew 22: 37-39
Let's Not Harden Our Hearts
“Mom! Look what I found, a heart rock. Here, it’s for you,” Matt said yesterday as he handed me this rock.
I love this thoughtful gift from Matt💝
As I held this heart rock in my hands, it made me think of something that I pray over my family often; that our hearts not be hardened by all that is happening and instead be fertile soil ready to receive the love and truth God wants to share with us.
From being home for a few months, to current events in our nation, it is easy to see how our hearts could be hardened. Times are challenging.
Yet no matter the times, or the challenge, we have a hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Heb. 6:19); our hope in God.
If our hearts are hardened, there is nowhere for His seeds of love to take root. Yet when we choose to have our hearts be fertile soil, God’s truth and love are able to grow within us. Even in the most challenging times, we can still trust that God will use all of this for good.
I share this with you today to invite you to join me to...
pause. breathe. pray.
May we soften our hearts. May we pray for our hearts to be fertile soil everyday so God’s love can be rooted within us to nourish, and transform, us. May we allow His love in so we can grow in love in these times and love one another as we are called to.
I am grateful for this heart rock from Matt. I have put it in a place where I will see it everyday. I will use it as a reminder for myself to not harden my heart and instead pray for my heart to be fertile soil, to receive the love God is flowing towards me, so I can be a vessel of love for God , and do what is mine to do to share His love and hope with others.
With love and hope,
Shawn
“Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” - Matthew 13:8