See Their Uniqueness

A big pull on my heart for a while now is to see my kids as God sees them. What this prayer has lead me to see is that our youngest often does things his brother does because they are best friends, but I don’t know if he is really doing things he loves to do.

So last night we tried something new, as we aren’t skiers or snowboarders. Matt attempted snowboarding and he loved it, and I loved watching him do something he loved! This experience reminded me of how our children are individuals, with their own unique God given interests, and skills. My job as their parent is to lead them to who God made them to be - which may mean doing things that we have not done before and don’t come natural to us.

I share this with you today, in case you can relate with your kids. I invite you to join me to...

pause. breathe. pray.

May we ask God for us to see our kids as He sees them and to reveal to us their uniqueness. May we meet them for who they are and get uncomfortable ourselves if we know it will lead them closer to who God made them to be.

With love and hope,

Shawn

“Do not neglect the gifts within you.” - 1 Timothy 4:14

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God Is Doing A New Thing

“Mom, will you proofread a paper I have to hand in for class.”

Me: “Sure!”

These were the first words typed on the page.

Initially I felt a punch to my gut. Out of all the experiences our child could write about, four years later she chose this. “Oh goodness, how did my getting diagnosed with cancer change her life for the worse,” I immediately thought.

I took a deep breath and continued reading. Yet what I read surprised me. Although our child wrote about how hard it was to experience for her Mom to have cancer, she also shared how it taught her many life lessons, and will help shape her life.

I share this with you today because with COVID, and all that is happening in the world, it’s easy to think, as I did when I was diagnosed with cancer, that what our kids experience will forever impact them in a negative way.

Yet I invite you to join me to...

pause. breathe. pray.

May we open our eyes to the truth that the hard times are opportunities for refinement, for ourselves and our children. A quote that reflects this truth is:

“God changes caterpillars into butterflies, sand into pearls, and coal into diamonds using time and pressure, He's working on you too." - Rick Warren

Yes, times are challenging yet it’s often the hard times that are what help us grow more into the person God made us to be. Rather than this time being a weight on our shoulders that crushes us, may we ask God to help us instead place it beneath our feet so we can use it as a stepping stone to be who He made us to be.

And maybe we will find ourselves four years from now sharing our story of these challenging times and the life lessons we learned that have helped shape our lives.

With love and hope,
Shawn

See, I am doing a new thing!
- Isaiah 43:19

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Love One Another

My heart breaks on so many levels with what is happening in our nation’s Capitol. Protests have their place. This is not a protest but a riot. To get to the point where there is complete disregard to the visible and invisible boundaries that have been established for centuries, built on God and respect for authority in our nation, is disturbing and sad.

As I’ve watched, I hear that nations are watching, yet you know who is watching as well?

Our children.

Our children are watching this.

What have they witnessed? Respected, sacred ground being taken over by people who have lost all respect and regard for authority. They are witnessing pride, power, and lies ruling hearts. They are seeing a President who refuses to stand up for what is true, right, honorable, and just. Our children are, once again, witnessing unprecedented circumstances.

No matter your political affiliation, I invite you to join me to ...

pause. breathe. pray.

May we choose to come together as Americans, human beings, and children of God; not for ourselves, but for our children.

God says in His word, a nation divided will fall. Let’s not give a divided nation to our children. May we commit today to say and do everything within our abilities to be part of the healing that needs to take place in our nation.

We need stop following people and get back to following God’s truth which teaches us - and our children - to treat one another with honor, integrity, respect, and to love one another as He loved us, with a selfless love.

With hope,

Shawn

Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. - John 13:34

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Hello!

With it being the New Year and having some new friends here, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself, and share a few things so you can get to know me a little better.

1. My name is Shawn and I am an author, teacher and speaker.

2. I was born in Atlanta, GA, and moved to Connecticut when I was 4.

3. I still live in my hometown in CT with my patient husband, Stephen and our three courageous kids, Kate, 14, Gavin, 13 and Matt, 8.

4. We have a quirky black lab, Georgia, who loves to take long walks with me.

5. I love to encourage others to be who God made them to be.

6. I am the youngest of 4.

7. One of my favorite childhood memories with my brother and sisters is singing along to Van Halen’s “Jump” in the back of our VW Vanagon.

8. I have my undergrad in Health and Physical Education, my Masters in Health Ed., and a 200 hour yoga teacher certification.

9. I am in charge of games at all of our family gatherings.

10. I am young at heart with an old soul - I want to either play or have deep, meaningful conversations.

11. I find putting laundry away painful for some reason.

12. I have written and self-published three faith-based books. My fourth book is coming out soon!

13. I am a survivor of a rare cancer and have an artificial palate called an obturator that helps me speak and eat.

14. I am a morning person who thrives on routine and am 99% of the time dressed to workout or go on a walk/hike.

15. If I could have dinner with any three famous people it would be Jesus, Mother Teresa and Jimmy Fallon.

16. I teach spiritual strength and stretching classes, aka Christian Yoga (and am starting an online class soon!).

17. Tortilla chips are my “go-to” when I stress eat.

18. Blueberry Green, Earl Gray with lemon and honey, and Egyptian Licorice with peppermint are my favorite teas.

19. The Bible is my favorite book.

20. Writing is my therapy.

So that’s a little about me. Feel free to share something about yourself in the comments so I can learn about you too!

I am grateful to connect with you here. Yet if you’d like to be encouraged beyond social media, be sure to sign up for my encouraging weekly emails. When you do you’ll receive a pause. breathe. pray. winter printable in your email inbox. To sign up, visit at the LET’S STAY CONNECTED button below.

I look forward to walking beside you this year with God’s word and truth as our guiding light; step by step, day by day

With love and hope,

Shawn

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There is Value in Pausing

Word of the Week: Pause

Verse of the week: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” - Psalm 37:7

I heard a story once about a young woodsman who walked into a village seeking someone to challenge him in a tree cutting competition. Everyone turned to the elder of the village, who accepted the challenge.

The following day, the young and older man took their axes to the woods. They began cutting down trees. The young man kept going, going, and going. He laughed to himself when he saw the older man sitting on a stump. This didn’t happen just once, it happened every hour that the young man saw the older man sitting down. He thought to himself, I got this.

As the day came to a close, the young man was confident he won the competition. Yet when all the trees were counted, the older man had cut down more trees. The young man was shocked. He asked the elder from the village, “How did you win? You sat down every hour for a number of minutes?!” The elder replied, “Yes, I did. It was when I was sitting, I was able to sharpen my ax.”

May this story be a reminder as we enter our week, and year, to not just go, go, go, but the value of pausing.

I invite you to join me this week, to set a timer on your to remind yourself to...

pause. breathe. pray.

Lets take time to pause with God to sharpen our “ax;” our hearts and minds each day. May this pause give us what we need to meet our day with greater clarity, efficiency, and whatever else we need for our day.

With love and hope,

Shawn

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Invite God In As You Set Goals

As I sat yesterday to set my goals for 2021 I was reminded of this verse. You see, I have spent years making goals, and have continuously missed the mark on most of them. Yet something I hadn’t been doing was praying about the goals. I have a choice:

I could start this year setting goals on my own.

I could start this year inviting God into the equation and be more prayerful about what actual goals I need to set.

As different as it is, I am choosing to go with the latter. Having God as the third strand, with me and the goals, is what I believe is needed to make the right goals for myself this year.

I share this with you today if you too are setting your goals for the year. I invite you to join me to...

pause. breathe. pray.

Let’s take time in stillness and in silence with God and ask Him what He wants for us to focus on this year. We may get clarity, or not. If not, let’s recognize we may set goals that don’t align with God’s path for us. Let’s remain open to a change of course if/when needed.

Whatever goals we set, may it not just be about us and what we are working towards. May God be the third strand that either disconnects us from the wrong goals, or holds us together tightly with the right ones.

With love and hope,

Shawn

“A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” - Ecclesiastes 4:12

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year

As you can see Matt was a bit excited for the new year just like the rest of us. Today I sat to reflect on the year ahead, I had a thought that made me pause.

What makes this day different from yesterday?

Yes, it’s a new year but the truth is, it’s another day. Yet today has something we didn’t believe about yesterday. Today is filled with hope and with the beliefs that we are able and that good things will come. It isn’t the day that changed, but our mind and belief around the day.

So as we move into this new year, let’s capture this mindset we have today and take time to...

pause. breathe. pray.

May we ask God to remind us that each morning is a new day and our mindset for that day is significant. With God’s help, may we practice meeting each day with the hope and beliefs that we have today.

Who knows, maybe we will find ourselves jumping into our days like Matt jumped into this New Year

With love and hope,

Shawn

Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. - 2 Corinthians 10:5

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Happy New Years!

This is my favorite pause. breathe. pray. mug. It’s broken - the handle is detached at the top. It came this way and I had to keep it.

Why would I keep or use a broken mug?

Because it reminds me that even things that are broken can still be used for their purpose.

So I raise my broken mug tonight to invite you to join me to raise your glass or mug to this New Year. Together let’s...

pause.

Before we move into the new year, may we reflect on what was lost, and gained, this year.

breathe.

May we take a few deep breaths and give thanks to God for the breath in our lungs and for this day. May we also hold in our hearts those who are sick or are no longer with us.

pray.

May we spend time with God so He can remind us that although we may be bruised, scarred or broken by this year, He still has purpose for us in this new year. May we choose to take a step of faith into tomorrow with God by our side. May we use His word as the guiding light to navigate the days, weeks, and year ahead.

Here is to a New Year filled with purpose, healing, health and hope. Cheers

With love and hope,

Shawn

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33

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Be A Light

Last night Gavin stopped me on our way inside and said, “look at the sky.” I paused and looked up, amazed at the beautiful sky and how one light can brighten up the darkest night.

Yet isn’t that the truth? One light, even a small one, gets rid of some darkness.

I invite you to join me to...

pause. breathe. pray.

May we ask God how we can be the light for him today. May we keep our eyes and ears open for where we can shine the light of His love. And if you are finding yourself in a dark place, I pray you move towards a light shining your way to help you through

With love and hope,

Shawn

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. - Matthew 5:14-16

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

Here is to the joy and hope this day brings

With love and hope,

Shawn

“The weary world rejoices!”

For to us a child is born,

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.”

- Isaiah 9:6

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