A Blessing

A huge blessing that came our way the past few months is that my parents are officially back home in Connecticut💝 Their faith, love of one another, family and others have inspired me my whole life. Something just feels right in all our souls to have them back home.

When they moved two years ago from our hometown, it was an adjustment. Yet these two years apart taught me how often I leaned into my parents, instead of God, and this time apart helped me grow my faith.

I am so excited to have them back! Even though they won’t be back in our hometown, I am so grateful to have them a quick drive away.

I share this today as a reminder that we never know what the future holds and to invite you to join me to...

pause. breathe. pray.

When we encounter unexpected seasons may we learn it can be a time we use to refine our faith. And on the other side of that season, there may be a joyful celebration waiting for us, when we can look back at what happened and see how God used it to grow our faith and our relationships stronger.

With gratitude and hope,
Shawn

“See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.” - Isaiah 48:10

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Focus On the Strong Light

“A dark shadow fell across my road, but I passed through it. I hardly realized it was there. Why? I had my eyes fixed on the strong light beyond.” - C.H. Spurgeon

Although the cloud of cancer has lifted, it doesn’t mean that life is all roses everyday. We are living in unique times and there are layers of fog that I am sifting through, as I am sure you can relate.

For example, the other day Stephen stated the number of cases out loud and without any choice, my face had a wave of heat rush through it.

Anxiety sometimes isn’t a choice but an ingrained reply of our mind and body have. I have learned through my years of working through anxiety, that yes, sometimes meds and therapy are helpful, yet those may be part of an equation but it isn’t the answer.

What has helped me the most is having “my eyes fixed on the strong light beyond” the anxiety; Jesus.

I share this with you today in case any of you experience anxiety too. I want you to know you aren’t alone. Also, I wanted to invite you to join me to...

pause. breathe. pray.

And let’s choose to not focus on the fog before us, but choose to fix on eyes on the strong light beyond. May we bring our anxiety to Jesus and ask him to calm the storm of thoughts in our minds, and help us sift through lies from truth. May we ask him to renew our minds so we remain focused on His light, and not on the fog before us, and receive the calm He can bring.

With love and hope,
Shawn

“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves,

“Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” - Mark 4:39

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Express Gratitude

Yesterday we watched church online and the topic was about the importance of expressing gratitude to others.

This message made my heart smile since, after my surgery in Boston last Friday, I had written thank you notes to the care team at Mass Eye and Ear. That smile soon started to fade as I realized that the people I hadn’t expressed my gratitude towards were those sitting beside me in the room, my family. Yes, we had celebrated the good news but I hadn’t written them notes, or verbally thanked them, for their part in all of it.

Its humbling to admit this - but it’s true.

Why is it that the ones we love the most may be the ones we express gratitude towards the least?

If this makes you pause at all, I invite you to join me to...

pause. breathe. pray.

May we take the time to express our gratitude towards others; including our loved ones. Even if we think the person already knows how grateful we are for them, it never hurts to say it. And maybe once you say something, you will see the appreciation on their faces, like I did😊

With love and hope,
Shawn

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." - Colossians 4:2

PS The sermon we listened to was
https://northpoint.org/messages/give-thanks
by @andystanley @northpointcommunitychurch and is worth a listen💕🙏💕

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Cancer Free = The Gift of Time

My doctor called and shared that the pathology showed there was no evidence of cancer🎉 Thank God 🙌 and thank you all for your love and prayers💕🙏💝

There have been many tears of joy, and relief, that have flowed today. When I called Stephen to tell him the good news, Matt was in the other room and I guess he heard me crying. He asked what was wrong and I told him that it was a happy cry, that I was still cancer free. (He knew about the sinus surgery but we hadn’t told him about the biopsy). His face lit up, and with a “woohoo” he said we needed to celebrate. Since he had a half day, we went to play mini golf together, and tonight we will celebrate with the whole crew.

I didn’t realize how much tension I was holding onto until the doctor said the words. I keep tearing up with joy and relief. So grateful for this news...and for time.

Time with my husband.
Time with my kids.
Time with family and friends, even if it’s with a mask at a distance or on zoom.
Time to write the words that are still in me that God’s given me to write.

Time is a gift I can so often take for granted.

So tonight all the mundane things will be put on the shelf and I will just soak up this day of joy in the midst of a year of uncertainty.

Tomorrow will come. My perspective will inevitably grow cloudy again at times. Yet I pray the clarity these weeks have brought me, also have in some way helped you see clearer too.

I invite you to join me to...

pause. breathe. pray.

May we give thanks to God for this day and the time we get beside our loved ones. May we ask God to guard this perspective so we remember to cherish the gift of a moment beside our loved ones; like playing mini golf mid day with your youngest when it’s 40 something degrees out💕🙏💕

With joy and gratitude,
Shawn

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” - Psalm 90:12

PS I know not everyone gets this news so may we continue to pray for the people and families of those who are walking with cancer, or another struggle💕🙏💕

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Thank you for your Compassion

Thank you all for the compassion you shared this past week with our family💝 We are here to return the favor. When you need prayer, please know you can reach out and send me a note so we can come beside you, and pray for you too.

Moving forward, may we...

pause. breathe. pray.

And recognize each person we know, and meet, has their story, and their struggle. Whether we know their story or not, may we meet each person with compassion, bridging our hearts with theirs, and pray for them. Living this way keep our eyes connected to how God created us to see one another, and our heart and minds focused on loving one another, as we are called to.

With love and hope,
Shawn

“Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.”
- 1 Peter 3:8

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You Are Wonderfully Made

When you look in the mirror, what do you notice? What words do you say to yourself?

And why am I asking you this?

You see, I typically don’t leave pics of myself here because I want to live from the inside out, and share my heart with you, not my face. Yet today I am sharing both with you. Why? Because what we see and say in the mirror matters.

I have looked in the mirror many times in my life and only noticed the flaws and/or have criticized my face.

Post treatment I was left with what many of you probably think is a dimple on my right cheek, yet it is skin that was weakened and wrinkled by radiation. When I see the wrinkles, it’s funny, I don’t see a flaw. What I do see is a reminder that it’s a gift to be here.

Yet, an honest thought that circles through my mind every time I am waiting to see if I am NED, no evidence of disease, or not, is that I don’t know if I get to keep this face. You see, ACC is unpredictable and friends in my ACC family have lost an eye, part of their nose, cheek, ear, tongue, jaw, and others, like me, have lost their palate, teeth and gums. These are just the parts of the face that ACC has targeted. ACC has also cost people other parts of their body.

When I am waiting for results is when I am reminded in the mirror to be thankful for my eyes, my ears, my nose, my cheeks, my lips, my tongue, my teeth, my jaw, and even my wrinkled ‘dimple,’ as they are things I can no longer take for granted.

I share this with you today, not for you to feel bad for me, or our ACC family. Instead, I hope by sharing this with you, you will receive a renewed perspective the next time you look in the mirror. I invite you to join me, in front of the mirror, to...

pause. breathe. pray.

Take a look at yourself. See yourself as God sees you, beautifully and wonderfully made. Then take time to give thanks for what we so often take for granted; our eyes, nose, cheeks, ears, lips, tongue, teeth, palate, jaw, and yes, any wrinkles too. Moving forward, may our time in front of the mirror be spent choosing to see ourselves as God sees us, giving thanks for the beautifully unique person He made us to be and for the gift of being here, today.

With love and hope,
Shawn

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
- Psalm 139:14

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God Is Always With You

In the wait, I am personally needing this reminder. I thought I’d share in case you needed this reminder today too. May we...

pause. breathe. pray.

And remember that God is always present with us. May we also remember to be present with God so He can help us sift through our thoughts/emotions and settle our hearts and minds with His wisdom and truth. 💕🙏💕

With love and hope,
Shawn

“I am always with you” - Matthew 28:20

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Know Their Name

Patrick, Donna, Joey, Michael, Sheila, Diane, Dr. E., Patrick L., Dr. G., Matt, Janelle, Courtney. These are some of the people who came beside me the other day while I was in Boston. Each had a unique role, from parking our car, getting my iv bag ready to being there beside me as I woke up. Each person’s name is written in my gratitude journal for the gift they were for me that day.

Something God had taught me is to know the names of those who come beside me. I am not perfect at this yet I do my best to call people by their name.

What I have noticed is that by calling people by their name, they know that I see them. What I find even more beautiful is that God knows each of our names. He knows your name. He knows my name. And I believe it’s important to Him that we know each other’s names and give thanks to one another for the unique roles we have in each other’s lives, whatever that may be.

I invite you to join me today to...

pause. breathe. pray.

May we make a point this week to not just pass by people, or allow people in our lives to just to pass by us. May we make an effort to get to know the names of the people along our path, from the security guard at our kid’s school, our mailman, the person checking us out in the grocery line, etc. May we let these people know that we see them, by calling them by their name and thanking them for their part in our day.

It may seem simple and even trivial. Yet I have witnessed the positive impact it has, and how this simple act of love opens my eyes to see beyond myself and grow connections, even if for a moment, with someone else. And in these unique times, this type of small connection can make a huge difference.

With love and hope,
Shawn

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
- Isaiah 43:1

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Let Others In

Hi friends,

Do you remember that ct sinus scan I had a couple of weeks ago? Well, I went into it not thinking much about it other than that I would need sinus surgery. Yet when the doctor called me, he shared that on the ct scan there was an area of inflammation that they needed to look into to see if it’s cancer free, or if the cancer is back. Rather than having the sinus surgery in 2-3 months, I had it yesterday, and it included a biopsy.

After the surgery the doctor spoke with Stephen and the news was encouraging yet we still need to wait to receive the pathology results to confirm that all is well.

I’ve been hesitant to share this because I like to come here to encourage you. I like to get to the other side of things and see what I’ve learned so I can come beside you and encourage you on your journey. Yet something happened yesterday that opened my eyes and heart, and what I don’t often give others the opportunity to do; be there for me.

Only a small circle of family and friends knew what was happening. Yet before surgery there was a pull on my heart to ask for prayers. I didn’t understand it but I followed where God was leading and reached out and asked for prayers from others.

After I sent the prayer request their way, I handed Stephen the phone and was soon called to go back for the surgery. As I laid on the bed waiting for the nurse to come in, I felt a wave of lightness come over me.

I laid there and smiled at God.

I realized that because I chose to share my struggle and ask for prayers, the prayers of others helped lighten my burdened heart.

I share this with you today for a couple of reasons. One being to share with you what the truth of my heart is and to ask for your prayers as we await the pathology results. And secondly, to ask you if there is something you are dealing with that you too are holding tight to your chest? If so, I invite you to join me to...

pause. breathe. pray.

May we be willing to share our brokenness with others. I know how hard it is as I even hesitate sharing this with you now. Yet what I experienced yesterday showed me, and I wholeheartedly believe you will experience too, is when we allow others in beside us, their prayers help lighten the weight of our burdens. So thank you for being there for me and my family, and know I am always here to listen to your heart. In our sharing, may we receive the light of Christ, as we lean into the body of Christ to lift us up when we need it.

With gratitude, love and hope,
Shawn

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
- Galatians 6:2

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Thank You, Veterans

With Stephen being a veteran, and having dated during his six years of service, we know what life in the service is like. Ever since our kids were little, when we see someone wearing a veteran’s hat, or a serviceman or woman, I encourage them to say “thank you for your service.”

A number of years ago, we had little cards made that said, “thank you for your service” that the kids would hand veterans, or the servicemen and women.

One day, when Gavin was little, we were in the store and Gavin saw a man wearing a Vietnam hat. He asked me for a card and went over and handed the man the card. We continued on shopping when I heard a person say, “excuse me.”

I turned around and it was the man Gavin had given the card to. Holding it in his hand he asked if it was my son who had handed him the card. I said it was. Then with tears in his eyes he said, “no one has ever thanked me for my service until now.”

I stood there in shock at that truth and asked if I could give him a hug, which he agreed to.

I could see Gavin’s eyes light up when I told him how his act of love truly helped that man’s heart feel loved and appreciated.

We went our separate ways but that moment has always stayed with me.

I share it with you today to invite you to join me to...

pause. breathe. pray.

May we give thanks for, and to, our veterans in our life. Give them a call, send a text, go over and say hi, etc.

And the next time you see someone wearing a hat from the service, consider thanking them for their selfless service. You never know, you too may be the first person to ever say those words, “thank you,” to them, and make them feel loved and appreciated.

With gratitude and respect,
Shawn

PS Let’s say thank you to the veteran’s in our life today. Feel free to pass this along to them, or tag their name below.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.
- John 15:13

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