A little less than a year ago I met a spunky, dazzling young woman at a local networking event. We were all discussing what we do for a living and later, when the event came to a close, she and I were getting to know one another when she confided that she was a survivor [...]
An on-going theme these past few weeks of my life has been SURRENDER. It is the message that keeps popping up in devotionals, sermons, readings, even the support group I attend. Simply surrender. Surrender to the Lord everything and trust He has your best interest in His plan. Which, if you believe in God, and [...]
Nestled in among twinkling aspen trees along the tallest peak in Colorado is my blessed get away for the next 4 -5 weeks. What we lovingly call the McGraw Compound in Twin Lakes. One week ago I arrived on Father's Day. I drove non-stop from Sherman, Tx, a 13 hour drive, and listened the The [...]
I realize I have been absent lately. Know that many great things are brewing in this beautiful mind ;)... but continue to keep me in prayer. Many changes are happening in my personal life as well as with Hopeful Hearts. Be sure to stay tuned as we will soon have a new website to peruse! [...]
I woke up this morning immediately wanting to write and now I am at a loss for how to begin. It is 6:30am and I couldn't sleep so I perused my social media sites (which I'm not very good at keeping track of in full disclosure) and I hit on Twitter. I never read through [...]
Time has not been my friend. Only 28 days have passed since Dad's last breath and yet I feel as if I've lived through months of emotional turmoil where the days are excruciatingly slow. From the date of Dad's memorial service (January 4th), his sister, my Aunt Dee, was buried exactly one week later. To [...]
It might be too soon for me to try and do this...however, it seems to be the one thing I can do to get out of my head. These past three months (exactly three months to the date fyi) and especially these past six days have threatened to push me to the edge. I've been [...]
Dad's cancer is vicious and rapid. When first diagnosed within the first two weeks we were graced with time alone together he had said to me, "This is growing fast, Shannon, I can feel it." Regardless, Dad wanted to play the odds. He went to MDAnderson and heard that he had a 90% chance of [...]
In full disclosure, because I have been so preoccupied with my father's heath, my own immediate family's health issues, and the survivor's I'm seeing in the ministry, I was not exactly excited to be leaving it all to go spend three days in prison. Well, I mean, who wants to go to prison? ;) As [...]
I've sat down to write this post at least five times in the past week. It's not every day you find out a loved one has terminal cancer. It is not normal to have the time to spend with them one on one the way I have with my father. Dad's lunch group. [...]
