Shannon’s SCW Blog

My writing desk overlooks beautiful rolling hills and towering pine trees, which is a lovely sight to behold.  But over the past two days, God’s given me a special gift outside my window.  Although it’s been pouring rain, a huge family of brilliant red cardinals has been frolicking in my front yard, pecking at the pine cones and chirping as if spring has already sprung.  I’ve counted at least 20 at one time.  When we open the front door they scatter, filling the sky with what looks like tiny red Christmas ornaments flying around magically.  Within minutes, however, they always return to my yard to entertain me at my desk once again.

In case you didn’t know this about me, I’ve always considered the sight of a cardinal as God’s way of assuring me that He’s ever-present and in control.  Their bright red feathers reminds me that the bright red blood that Jesus shed is sufficient to cure whatever ails me, and that if God cares for even these tiny, frail creatures, surely He’ll continue caring for me.

This gift of a whole yard full of cardinals comes at a much-needed time in my history.  In 10 days, my almost-18-year-old daughter flies to Australia to study visual arts at a Christian college for the next 10 months.  We’ve known about this plan for 18 months, so it’s not like it’s sneaking up on us.  I’m truly excited for her as she fulfills this dream.  But I confess that the idea of not having my baby girl here beneath my own wing is a thought that has brought many tears lately.  I know all baby birds need to fly from the nest someday, and she’s definitely strong enough to soar.  But I know this Mama Bird’s going to feel the loss something terrible.

So when you read this, would you please pray that Jesus would continue sending  signs to remind me He’s in control?  Reminding me that He hasn’t just got His eye on the sparrow, but also on the cardinal, and on my own baby bird, Erin, as she flies to the other side of the world?

Many thanks,

Shannon

P.S.  Special thanks to one of my BLAST participants, Holly, for sending the following video clip about this exact season that I’m going through.  Moms of children all ages, you’ll enjoy this immensely!

I came across this video recently, and knew immediately I wanted to share it with my readers.  My first reaction?  I wanted to scratch this woman’s eyes out.  She made me want to vomit with disgust.  However, my second reaction?  I realized who she reminded me of…

ME… long ago… in my much wilder days, of course.  Praise God for complete transformations!!!

As you watch, resist the urge to choke “Erin.”  Instead, let the Holy Spirit lovingly reveal if there is ANY “Erin” in YOU!

http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/mini-movies/1687/After-Hours

Shannon

In one of my recent blogs Greg and I were traveling down memory lane at Disney World.  We’ll be taking another trip down memory lane on April 15-18th, and we want to invite YOU to come along with us!  To The Castle at Glen Eyrie Retreat Center in Colorado Springs!

Here are three reasons why we’re so excited about this “Maximizing Intimacy” event:

1. If you’ve never been to Glen Eyrie, you’re in for a spectacular surprise!  It’s nestled next to Garden of the Gods National Park, among majestic mountains and towering spruce trees, with a magnificent castle where events are hosted and meals are served.  It’s like stepping back in time to an incredibly magical place – a place you’ll never forget!  Fantastic memories will definitely be made there!
2. We’ve led retreats at Glen Eyrie several times before, and God has been so faithful to touch the hearts of every couple involved!  Whether you’re hanging on by a thread, or just looking to go from “good” to “great,” you’ll walk away from this retreat refreshed and energized to make your marriage everything you want it to be!
3. This time I have the awesome privilege of speaking alongside my writing partner, Fred Stoeker, best-selling author of the Every Man’s Battle series and several other books.  The wisdom he brings to the table is invaluable for both the men and the women!

Registration is extremely limited (Glen Eyrie likes to keep their retreats relatively small and intimate), so sign up soon!
http://www.gleneyrie.org/max

Looking forward to seeing you there,
Shannon & Greg

THINK AGAIN!

Step 1 -  Check out this encouraging article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1239347/Kate-Winslet-tops-poll-desirable-celebrity-bodies.html

Step 2 – Praise God for your fantastic curves!

Step 3 – Blow your husband’s mind tonight by SHARING those curves with HIM!

I’m writing this Hot Tip from Disney World!  We came here for my niece’s wedding, but we also had an ulterior motive.  We have a tradition in our family – “Disney every decade!”  This is where Greg and I came on our honeymoon in 1990.  Ten years later, in 2000, we brought an 8-year old daughter and a 5-year old son for fun with Mickey & Minnie.  Now here we are again, in 2010, with an almost 18-year old Erin, and an almost-15 year old Matthew, and our 20^th wedding anniversary is just around the corner.

As we took pictures holding up the big golf-ball-looking-thing at Epcot, I remembered Greg and I standing there for our first honeymoon picture as newlyweds.  As our gondola glided through the hydroponic greenhouse display, I remember Greg dreaming out loud, “That’s what I want to do someday!”  And as the brilliantly colored fireworks exploded over our heads at closing time, I remembered the feelings I’d felt watching them before – first, with my newlywed husband, and second, with my amazing family.

This trip down memory lane has been GREAT for our marriage.  Just like any other wife, there’ve been a few days over the past 20 years that I’ve wondered, “And WHY did I marry this man?”  Returning to our honeymoon spot has been a wonderful reminder.  I married Greg because of his faith in God… his love for me… his dreams for our family… and I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

Take your own stroll down memory lane soon — if not physically, then mentally.  Read letters you sent to each other when you were dating.  Look at your wedding pictures.  Recall some of the magical memories you’ve made together.  Instead of recounting recent marital nightmares, remember the hopes you held in your heart for a happy marriage, and celebrate those dreams that HAVE come true!

Wishing you a sweet stroll down memory lane,
-Shannon

With every New Year comes a new resolution — or more appropriately for me, a new attempt at keeping the same old resolution: to control my sugar addiction rather than letting it control me.

The holidays are always the worst time for sugar binges with all of the decadent desserts coming at me from every direction. Come January I’m usually so burned out on sugar that I’m ready for a drastic change… until around January 3rd or 4th, when I find myself craving yet another frosted brownie or slice of pecan pie.

In 2008, I made it through mid-March before breaking down for a chocolate-chip cookie. Then it was down-hill the rest of the year. I was pretty proud of myself for lasting that long, but disappointed that I didn’t make it through the whole year like I’d promised myself. In 2010, it’s my goal to put my big girl panties on and make a real and lasting lifestyle change – to enjoy only an occasional sweet with great moderation. No more “all or nothing” mentality that sets me up for failure. I’m determined to break the habit of ending every meal with something sweet. (Yes, I’ve even ended breakfast many times with a dessert of some sort). But then, if I attend a wedding, I’m going to at least taste the cake! I’m just not going to eat a piece the size of New York, or go back for seconds or thirds, or go home after the wedding and binge on even more sugar because I’ve “already blown my diet today anyway.”

I’m going to try a more sensible approach. I plan on filling my diet full of such good stuff that there’s not a lot of room left for junk food. But on those special occasions where I’d feel completely deprived if I didn’t indulge a little, I’m shooting for approximately 200 calories worth of something sweet, not 2,000 calories of mindless munching. Come Valentine’s Day, I’ll eat a little chocolate. Just not enough to put me in a sugar coma for the next 4 hours.

Why the determination to tame the sugar monster? Because I’ve noticed something really scary happens to me when I’m eating sugar without moderation. For example:

• that’s all I crave. Neither fruits, vegetables, nor proteins sound good to me while I’m “chasing sugar” most of the time.
• I lay awake for several hours in the middle of the night, perhaps due to the hypoglycemia that my doctor told me I’d developed a while back.
• As I lay awake, I feel anxious… stressed… and angry that I can’t sleep when I know my body needs the rest.
• I’m groggy throughout the day, without a lot of energy to commit to important tasks & relationships. Depression can slowly seep in, which often leads me back to the cookie jar, and it becomes a vicious cycle.
• Throughout the night, I keep waking up with my throat feeling like a desert waste-land. (That’s “desert” as in “sand dunes,” not “dessert” as in “bowl of ice cream.”) I lay awake feeling so dehydrated that I can’t drink enough water to moisturize my throat.

And all of this has got me thinking lately… If sugar dehydrates my throat so badly, what is it doing to the rest of my body? Is that why my eyes often feel like sand paper? Why my skin feels so dry and tight? What else might sugar be wreaking havoc on?

And then I recall how many women email me with complaints about their “well running dry” — how vaginal dryness can rob them of their sexual pleasure. I can’t help but wonder if our unhealthy diets have anything to do with our lack of sexual interest?! Could there be a connection between how women stereotypically “love chocolate” but “hate sex?”

It’s a hard question to face, but let’s consider it for a moment. HAS sugar become such an addiction for some of us that it’s robbed us of things we never realized, such as restful sleep, mental sanity, emotional sobriety, highly-functioning organs and metabolic processes, etc.? Can we really be our best selves when we’re under the influence of any harmful substance, even one as “socially acceptable” as sugar? And if it’s true what researchers say about white sugar being as addictive as cocaine, could our sweet tooth be keeping us from becoming the Sexually Confident Wives we desire to be?

Maybe I’m just preaching to myself here. Then again, maybe I’m not alone. No temptation seizes us but what is common (1 Corinthians 10:13), and sugar is one of the most common ingredients in our diets.

If sugar HAS become an issue for you, would you like to join me in trying to conquer its’ addictive grip on our lives? If not, would you just pray for me that I can get a grip myself?

Wishing you a Sweet 2010,
Shannon

Check out this amazing video snippet – so clever and TRUE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXeCAeACmJE

Wishing you much “UP Time” in 2010!
Shannon

Yesterday I twittered about how I was eating some bing cherries that one of my BLAST participants sent me for Christmas – you know, the dried cherries that are dipped in rich milk chocolate and then covered with a red chocolate shell.  I can down those things like there’s no tomorrow!

In fact, last Christmas Eve, I downed way too many bing cherries, and they came back up again at 4 a.m.!  Mr. Claus didn’t expect to be holding Mrs. Claus’ hair out of her face while she puked her bing cherry guts up, but that’s how we spent our Christmas morning 2008.  I remember feeling so loved by Greg’s compassion in my time of crisis, but I have assured him that I’m trying to exercise more moderation this year!

Then I received this video clip from a friend this morning, and I laughed until I almost spewed milk from my nose.  Take a look, laugh hysterically too, and then I’ll bring my thoughts on why “Love Stinks” full circle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhmL_wSkBZQ

Okay, that may be a little gross… or more accurately VERY gross… but it makes my point perfectly.  It’s funny how we envision “love” or “romance” as a bunch of rose petals and champagne flutes and flickering candles and maybe a hot tub or a cheesy heart-shaped bed with mirrors on the ceiling.  When we think of “love” we don’t think of washing the skid marks out of our husband’s underwear, or holding someone’s hair out of their face while they’re vomiting, or pointing out the spinach in their teeth or a booger in their nose.  But isn’t that what love really is?  To be there for a person in their most awkward time of need?  To gently point things out that they surely wouldn’t want the rest of the world to see?  To come alongside someone to help clean up life’s little messes, no matter how much they stink?

That’s exactly what Jesus did.  He boldly placed his hands directly on the leper’s skin to bring comfort and complete healing.  He compassionately broke the news to the woman at the well that she was looking for love in all the wrong places and developing quite the reputation in the process.  Jesus reached into a rotting grave and brought Lazarus from death back to life again with two simple words: “Come Forth!”  He washed His disciples’ smelly feet, and my guess is that they had some pretty nasty toe jam after all of that walking around in the desert in leather sandals. 

Jesus knew that “love stinks.”  But He didn’t care.  He chose to put up with the stench, and love people anyway.  And that’s why we still celebrate Him two-thousand years later.  Because we know He loves us like crazy, no matter how badly our sin reeks. 

So as we celebrate Jesus’ birthday, let’s honor Him by loving others the way He loves us!

What are some un-stereotypical ways you can show love to your husband and children this holiday season?

On occasion someone else’s blog post reaches out, grabs me, and says, “Share me with your readers!” This is one of them, found at http://www.sarahmarkley.com. Thanks for your clever words of wisdom, Sarah, and for granting copyright permission.

This is a powerful reminder of just how AMAZING grace really is.  I’m sure you’ll agree, Mrs. Haggard is a hero for how she’s chosen to stand by her man during this incredibly difficult season of their lives.

http://www.qideas.org/video/people-of-a-second-chance.aspx