Shannon's Blog

Catholic Connection Live Radio Interview

LISTEN to the radio interview NOW – click on this link    Catholic Connection  Listen to the entire hour broadcast or to get to my segment fastforward to minute 32.

The interview was done Monday morning, June 13th, at 7:35am CST (8:35 EST) on Ave Maria Radio, the Catholic Connection program with Teresa Tomeo. I’m honored to have had the opportunity to speak with her about Exposed and the Maria Goretti Network!

Blessings!
Shannon

EXPOSED & Maria Goretti Network featured in Red Rover Style Mini-Mag

 

I was informed Saturday that the charity eMagazine Red Rover Style accepted my article on the Maria Goretti Network.  Click HERE to see the eMag!

It is due to be released  on Monday, December 20, and I encourage you to share it with everyone in your network. Not only will you be supporting me and Maria Goretti Network but by spreading the message it raises awareness for the charity.

You may  join the Red Rover network and encourage your friends and family to do the same. Find them on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/#!/redroverstyle) and become our friend on Twitter (http://twitter.com/redroverstyle)

BLESSINGS

Shannon

Just Show Up 365 (Day 211) Part 1 of the Northwest Conference (FIRE!)

From the moment I gave up all control of my life to God and made a conscience decision to follow only His will because I had no desire to live life if I had to call the shots…fear of death was no longer an issue.  This was HUGE.  For 10 years (ever since the death of Joe, my first boyfriend) the thought of death could paralyze me into immobility.  But when God gave me a taste of heaven that fateful evening on my nasty carpet floor, I knew there was no other place I wanted to be and I wanted to live my life with the goal to get there.

Thursday evening I received a phone call from an old childhood girlfriend (Jenny if you’ve read my book ) and we hadn’t talked in a while.  She called because she said she had ‘one of those feelings’ and just wanted to make sure I was OK.  This is not unusual for us.  We’ve been connected since the 6^th grade and even though we can go a year without touching base we always seem to call one another just as there is a major issue.  But there was nothing ‘major’ going on Thursday so we both presumed she was just ‘off’ on her radar and caught up instead on life’s normalcy’s.

Friday morning at 5am I wrote my boys a note, telling them I was proud of them and ‘good luck’ in their Mulan Jr. production on Saturday.  Even as I wrote it I thought to myself ‘What if this is the last note they ever got from me?”  I know, dramatic, but am I anything but?   Yet, with that slight little nagging thought I made sure I included something I wanted them to live by:  “Remember to pray beforehand and thank God for the opportunity!”

My first leg of the trip from Houston to Seattle, WA was truly uneventful.  It was a 4 hour flight and I watched two movies on the little screen provided.  I’d long forgotten the fleeting feeling that anything could go ‘awry’ and at the end of the flight picked up conversation with the woman sitting next to me.  In Seattle I had a 2 hour layover so I took the time to eat some famous Alaskan Salmon and call some friends before I got busy with the weekend.  I joked about the last leg of my trip being only 40 minutes and that I would most likely be on a ‘puddle jumper’.

When it came time to board for my last flight on United #6275 I groaned when I saw the tiny ‘puddle jumper’ plane waiting on the tarmac.  My heart beat a little faster as I approached the plane and I took out my phone to take a picture to send to my friends that I was ‘really’ going on a puddle jumper and to pray for me!

When I boarded there were about 10 rows, 2 seats on the right row of the plane and 1 seat on the left row.  So if my math is correct it could hold about 30 passengers.  The plane was not full but I had a seat next to a young man in Row 3.  We said our pleasantries and he told me that he was anxious to get home.  He had finished his 4years with the Army and just flown back from Korea.  He had not been home for 11 months.  He looked out the window and grimaced, “This plane scares me,” he said.

I laughed.  “What? You’ve just come back from Korea and you’ve been in the military for four years and this plane scares you?”

He smiled.  He looked out the window and then up at the roof of the plane.  “Look at this thing, it looks like it’s going to fall apart.”

Already comfortable with this stranger, I playfully hit him on the leg, “Don’t say stuff like that!  Besides, if God was going to take you He could’ve done it in the four years you were in the Army.  I think I’m doing pretty good sitting next to you.”

The flight attendant heard our conversation and leaned over saying, “Don’t worry, if one engine were to go this little thing can do just fine on the one engine.”

I looked at both of them and made a face, “I don’t think either one of you need to talk like that!”  We all laughed and then went about our personal business.  He plugged in his headphones, I plugged mine in and the flight attendant did her duties and sat down ready for take off.

Just about 15 minutes into the air (three songs into Shawn McDonald’s first CD) I heard the flight attendant make the announcement about drinks and then unbuckle to go to the back of the plane.  A few moments later she comes back to her seat and buckles up again, her face ashen and her once playful eyes were now wide with concern.  My heart began to beat to a spastic tune.  I could feel it in every cell of my body, just by reading her face.  Something is not right.

She leaned over to the man sitting a few inches away from her in the first row and I could read her lips, “There is smoke in the back of the plane.”

My heart jumped and I could feel the blood literally begin to pool at the bottom of my feet.  I took the headphones out of my ears and looked her right in the eye.  She tried to smile but I could tell she knew I knew.  She grabbed the phone that communicated with the pilot and I leaned over to the young man next to me.  I nudged him in the leg and leaned over to whisper in his ear, “She said there is smoke in the back of the plane!”

He took out one of the headphones.  “What?”

I repeated the news and he gave me a sarcastic ‘yeah right’ and plugged in his music.  When I looked back to the flight attendant she had leaned over to the man again and said, “We will have to turn back to Seattle, even though we were just about ½ way to Spokane its safer to go back to Seattle just in case something blows.”

I’ve been thinking all weekend about how I could describe what I felt in that second.  To even ponder on that feeling for more than another brief second brings me to tears and clogs my throat.  It was a mixture of raw fear, anger, helplessness, and uncertainty.  I leaned over to the young man and nudged him harder.  “She is serious.”

He took the music out of his ears, looked at me and then looked at her.  At this point I didn’t dare turn around for fear if the other passengers didn’t know I didn’t want to make it obvious.  Just then the captain came on the speaker, “Ladies and gentleman we need to turn back to Seattle.  I’m sorry for the delay.”  That’s a paraphrase, I can’t remember exactly what he said but I do remember he gave no reasoning, no excuses, just that we needed to turn around and that he was sorry.  That was it.  When we began to do what felt like a U-turn in the sky the young man looked over at me and that’s when I saw it in his face too…that jumbled emotion I still can’t find the words to describe.

I leaned back in my seat and tried to pray, I thought to myself, “This is about the time I pray a rosary, right?” So I prayed Hail Mary’s over and over and over again yet I couldn’t really think to do an actual rosary.  And as the minutes ticked and I looked a the flight attendants ghostly face I looked to the back of the plane and saw the smoke and the other passengers stricken faces.  That’s when I turned back in my seat and felt the arms of God around me.  I thought of all the things I had accomplished in my life since that moment of putting it all in His hands.  My life in the past 9 years had all been His doing.  I did my best to follow His will and He had rewarded me greatly.  That is when I felt the warmth of peace wash over me like an ocean wave falling steadily on the sea bank, covering it at first and then soaking in.  “If this is Your will then I am fine.  I am ready to be with You.”  I began to say Hail Mary’s again, one for each person on the plane.  I prayed for the young man next to me, hoping he had done what he needed to do in life, and for the young family in the row in front of me, and for the stricken flight attendant.

After another few minutes I began to feel the fear seep back in…fear if something did blow and suddenly we would dive straight down, fear of what it would be like if we couldn’t land and had to literally crash, fear of what the pain would be.  But I quickly brushed it away and then prayed, “God, you always say to tell you what we want.  And I DO want Your will, I do, but I would also like the chance to see my boys again, and to be with Neal through his journey with MS, and to write the next book with Neal and maybe even to see grandchildren one day.  Either way, I just wanted you to know.”

Not a second later I felt the wheels bounce on the tarmac and the plane shudder and then settle to a halt.  The minute we were on solid ground people from the back began to come up to the front, sitting in any vacant seats available and standing in the aisle.  The door opened and a firefighter came in.  “I need you to wait one moment,” he said and pushed his way to the back of the plane.  Next thing I heard was, “Everyone needs to get off the plane.”

He didn’t have to tell us twice.  We all filed out and everyone began to whip out their cameras taking pictures of the swarm of fire trucks that surrounded the tiny machine.  We grabbed our bags and headed up the stairs to the airport terminal where we were pushed aside to the corner.

My body was responding to the adrenaline rush and I was texting my husband, my friends and the conference people, just in shock over what I’d gone through.  The young man that had sat next to me came up to me upset.  “They say we can’t get out of here till tomorrow morning.”

He looked at me and I was overwhelmed with this certainty that he and I were about to take a journey.  “What are you going to do?” I asked.
“I want to rent a car, but I’m only 20.”

“Do you know your way to Spokane?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s a 4 hour drive, but a straight shot.”

“Well, go make sure they don’t have flights out tonight,” I told the young man and then called my husband and told him about my plan and upon getting his approval, I called a few people that were at the conference and told them what my plan was.  Everyone seemed to agree and understand.

I went up to the young man and when he turned around I could see he was clearly upset. “We aren’t going anywhere. I just want to get home.” He said.  I extended my hand to him and said, “My name is Shannon, what’s yours.”

“Ryan Rose.”

“Well, come on let’s go get a car.”

I’ll fill you in on Part II tomorrow morning!

Blessings

Shannon

Blog Experiment “JUST SHOW UP – 365″

As of the evening of January 1, 2010 I will begin a daily blog chronicling the moments in the day that I ‘showed up’.  I recognize that on any given day there are specific moments that come about not by mere coincidence but providence.  I want to keep tabs each day of the conversations, chance meetings, out of the blue phone calls, unforeseen opportunities, and unstoppable tragedies that take place despite our best laid plans.

Join me on this365 day journey as I promise to be honest, concise, raw (but not tacky) in living through the emotional recap of what God does in when I decide to show up and be present.

Blessings

Shannon

A New Chapter in Life

Good morning!  I’m sure many of you reading this are about to begin not only a new day but you are also in a new place, whether it is a school, job or EVERYTHING might be new.  It’s funny because we pray and we beg for a change of scenery, to start a new chapter, begin fresh and try new things but when the prayer is granted we find part of ourselves wanting to reach back and hold on to what is familiar…comfortable…safe.  I know when I stepped out to sell our home I was just wanting to step out and try something new, live in a new neighborhood, offer my kids a little more room, but now that the house is sold and I’m living with my in-laws facing the ‘unknown’ I find that I want to wish myself back to the beginning of July before we put the house on the market.  I want to go back to what was my norm then.  On the other hand, if I think back to that then I remember what set me out on this new adventure and I get excited again.  It’s the interim that is so hard because we are turning the page.  I’m a visual person (and I have a strange mind) but imagine if God literally had you balanced on this great big book of YOUR LIFE and you were on the right side at the very bottom, if you were to look back you would see the last sentence, the very last word and the period that ends the chapter.  God has His hand poised at the corner of the page, gently lifting it up turn to it to the next chapter and you are balanced, hanging on the edge as He flips it over before you settle comfortably, safe and sound on the new page, on the left side of the book at the very top.

You see, if this is that transition period between what was then and what is to come you’ll have that precarious moment of turning the page, balancing on the edge before you fall into a new norm, a new sense of comfort.  Thankfully, no one, especially God, keeps a page up in a mid-turn…it can’t be done. The law of gravity would turn it for you!  It’s going to happen… you WILL find peace again and then you’ll look back on the older chapters in your life and think “Wow, I could never fit in that norm again.”

Anyway, thanks for letting me share a bit of my mind with you today, as crazy as it is sometimes.  I will be saying a pray for ALL of you starting out new today…and for those of you settled into your norm, say a prayer for us too!

Maria Goretti Network – For Survivors of Abuse

I am working with the Maria Goretti Network (MGN) to help implement Support Groups for Survivors of Abuse in EVERY Catholic Parish.  The MGN was founded in 2004 by Catholic survivors of sexual abuse.  They are a 501(c)(3) faith-based, non-profit, self-help support network for victims of abuse.

MGN Mission Statement:
The Maria Goretti Network family reaches out to abuse victims, their families, and to those who support our recovery, with God’s love as witnessed in the life of Maria Goretti.

To learn more about how to implement an MGN in your parish visit the MGN website.

Eucharist – Body of Life

First Communion…does anyone remember clearly their First Communion? I remember my dress and the white veil I wore, plus I had a little bell sewn into the skirt of my dress. It was an event that I got to dress up and I was made to feel very special and pretty. That is all that I remember.

My youngest, Seth, is about to receive his First Communion, he’s scheduled for next weekend May 10th, Mother’s Day. The entire group of 2nd graders was so large that they had to break up the First Communion into 3 separate weekends at 2 different masses each weekend. I picked the very last weekend. I know, how could I do that to a child?

The first weekend was last weekend, April 26th, and ALL the kids were prepared for the Sacrament, whether or not it was their designated weekend. Now the ‘RULE’ is that you don’t go till it’s your weekend.

But Seth didn’t see the logic in that ‘rule’. Last Sunday, we were walking into LIFETEEN mass and Seth says, “Mom, I’m ready, so do I get to receive the Body of Life?”

I paused and considered what he was asking but also knew that there was something special to be said for having it happen within the actual Sacramental rite, so I told him I was sorry but he had to wait till Mother’s Day, May 10th. He got quiet and when we walked into the church he asked again, “But mom, I’ve done EVERTHING I need to do and I’m ready to receive the Body of Life! Why can’t I?” Well, how could I argue that reasoning? I didn’t know what to say so I left it up to Fr. Borski. We waited in the back for Fr. Borski and when he came up to us I told him Seth had a question.

Fr. Borski looked down at Seth and waited. Seth took a deep breath, looked up at Fr. Borski and said, “Fr. Borski, I want to know if I can receive the Body of Life. I’ve done everything. I’ve done my books, I’ve gone to reconciliation, I’ve done the retreat and I’ve practiced receiving the Body of Life, can I receive the Body of Life?” He said all of this in the one breath.

Fr. Borski looked over at me and I shrugged my shoulders, “We don’t have him scheduled till May 10th.”

Then he looked back down at Seth and asked him, “Do you know Jesus Christ?”

Seth said, “Yes.”

Fr. Borski asked, “Do you believe in Jesus?”

Seth said, “Yes.”

Fr. Borski then asked, “Do you want to receive Him tonight?”

Seth’s eyes got big and he said, “Yes.”

Fr. Borski leaned down and patted Seth on the head and said, “Then you may receive Him.”

Seth’s smile spread from ear to ear.

That night I was scheduled as a Eucharistic Minister and was serving the Body of Christ in the back. Seth came to me and I was able to serve Him our Lord.

There is no greater moment or pleasure, except to maybe have your son one day consecrate the host.

It was a great gift and it strengthened my belief in the gift we have in the Eucharist. May we ALL look forward to every moment we get to receive the Body of LIFE.

Past Reflection on 7 Deadly Sins

Good morning everyone! As you know, many of us have just come back from the Rise Above Young Adult/Young Professional retreat in Surfside. Thank you for your prayers because the Holy Spirit was literally howling in the wind! It was a great way for us to begin this Lent season and open our spirits up to the ways in which we have fallen into the habit of sin, especially in regards to the form of the Seven Deadly Sins. What was even more exhilarating was to see the ways in which we can turn those sins around and live out the VIRTUES that glorify Christ within us. In my own reflection of what was discussed on the retreat I think two main points stand out:

The first is that PRIDE is the ‘head’ of all sins…many don’t even understand what the real sin is in ‘pride’. We often think pride of our country, or our children and accomplishments…but that is a healthy pride. The ‘sinful’ pride is that which keeps you from recognizing your weaknesses and wanting to work on them in order to glorify God in the virtue of humility. When we ignore that we are not behaving/or thinking in a ‘Christ-like’ manner then we begin to lead our lives with excuses that allow us to stumble into all of the ‘deadly sins’.

And second, to go along with that is SLOTH. Sloth isn’t just being physically lazy it is also the avoidance of spiritual work, in other words, we avoid the ‘work’ it takes to be on a spiritual journey. I think sloth goes along with pride b/c we don’t want to put forth the ACTION it takes to align ourselves with God’s will in order to keep us from sin.

We avoid the virtue of humility b/c we think it will be too painful and we fear being vulnerable…and we avoid the virtue of diligence in aligning ourselves with God’s will because we fear the unknown of where God is taking us.

What’s the common factor? FEAR Who creates fear? The ENEMY What does God embody? LOVE

What do you have to lose in being humble and diligent? NOTHING

Do me a favor and reflect on that as long as you need this Lenten season. Why? Because FAITH did have a price, Christ’s life. We owe Him.

Facing Our Fears

I pray this day finds everyone happy, healthy and secure. Recently, I’ve noticed how many conversations I’ve been having with others and in dealing with issues for myself that deal with fear. Fear reaches all of us on so many levels and in different realms of circumstances which makes it very hard to conquer. Often times we don’t even realize what is keeping us from our purpose in life is an inner fear – fear of what is it come, fear of failure, fear of disapproval, fear of the lack of ability or qualifications, and fear of others, etc.

Fear is often depicted in movies as an emotion that leaves you paralyzed and frightened and these reactions surround ALL of these fears we harbor. It is obvious that fear is where Satan has the most control because it is the opposite of love. The Gospel this Sunday proclaimed God’s greatest commandment “Beloved, if God so loved us [to give us His only Son so that we might have life through Him], we also must love one another.” 1 John 4:11 Fear causes us to doubt God’s love for us, and yet the most powerful gift God has given is His love.

The remedy for fear is love. If you find yourself paralyzed in a situation, unable to move forward or even recognize what your next step is, bend your knee to the earth and ask God to help you receive His love. God wants to love on you, wrap His arms around you and hold you tight. He wants you to feel secure in His plan. God never leaves us. We are the ones that distance ourselves from Him. He gave us that gift and He doesn’t want to make us love Him…He wants us to love Him because we want to, not because we have to.

One of my favorite Christian songs is by Jars of Clay “Love Song for a Savior.” I’ll end this segment with a verse and the chorus:

He’s more than the laughter or the stars in the heavens
as close a heartbeat or a song on our lips
someday we’ll trust Him and learn how to see Him
someday He’ll call us and we will come running
and fall in his arms and the tears will fall down and we’ll pray

I want to fall in love with you

On His Plan For Your Life

“Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone – to have a deep soul relationship with another; to be loved thoroughly and exclusively; but God, to a Christian, says:

“No, not until you’re satisfied, fulfilled and content with being loved by Me alone; with giving yourself totally and unreservedly to me; to having an intensely personal relationship with me alone; discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be planned for you.

You will never be united with another until you are united with Me – exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any other desires or longings.  I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing, one that you cannot imagine.  I want you to have the best.  Please allow me to bring it to you.

You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things.

Keep experiencing the satisfaction that I Am.

Keep listening and learning the things I tell you.

You just wait.  That’s all. Don’t be anxious; don’t worry.  Don’t look around at the  things that others have gotten or that I’ve given them.  Don’t look at the things you think you want.  You just keep looking off and away up to Me, or you’ll miss what I want to show you.  And then, when you’re ready, I’ll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you would ever dream of.

You see, until you are ready, and until the one I have for you is ready (for I am working even at this moment to have both of you ready at the same time), until you are both satisfied and exclusively with Me and the life I prepared for you, you won’t be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me, and thus the perfect love.

And, dear one, I want you to see, in the flesh, a picture of your everlasting union of beauty, perfection and love that I offer you with Myself.  Know that I love you utterly. I AM.  Believe it and be satisfied.”

- Author Unknown -