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What to do When Your Children Throw Their Shoes at Strangers

by Shawn April 11, 2012

Then it comes time to look first for respite, especially after long days on the road. We walk into these plastic palaces, their AC blasting, their primary colors tearing holes in my retinas. The cool air instantly chills my skin’s thin layer of sweat and grime. We herd the children to the playground in the [...]

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The Joy that Accompanies Empty Pockets

by Shawn April 9, 2012
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We walked up Tchoupitoulas Street towards the French Quarter in New Orleans. The sky? Blue cotton candy. The breeze? A cool sheet. The streets? Alive and beautiful and carefree. We walked up Tchoupitoulas Street towards the French Quarter on that day between Good Friday and Easter and I noticed a man sitting with his back [...]

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Like Children Who Build Their Home Among the Graves

by Shawn April 6, 2012
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I sat at the back of the bus on Friday, Good Friday, and my eyes swam in tears as I soaked up the photos of a memorial service for my dear friends’ baby: a willow tree, pink balloons scattered in a blue sky, and a small white box that fit comfortably in one hand. I [...]

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Embracing the Life You Never Wanted

by Shawn April 5, 2012
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This guest post comes to you via Mark Hughes, author of Buzz Marketing and Sons of Grace. I had the privilege of hearing him speak at the Killer Tribes conference in Nashville last weekend – his message was both practical and inspirational. If you’d like to win a free copy of Sons of Grace, leave [...]

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The Return of the Voices in My Head, and the River of Yellow Flowers

by Shawn April 4, 2012
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“No man can be an exile if he remembers that all the world is one city.” -CS Lewis, Till We Have Faces * * * * * The sky over Memphis tonight is cobalt blue, the color of an old bruise, the kind that lingers after a heavy storm. The streets glisten, the cool macadam [...]

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What the Voice in my Head Keeps Saying

by Shawn April 2, 2012
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Tomorrow we leave Nashville. Cozy Nashville with its rolling hills and skyscrapers hiding amongst the forest and so many new friends. Our stay here has felt much like I imagine base camp feels to mountain climbers – the last stop, the last stretch of almost-level ground, the last nervous smiles, and all the while the [...]

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Make Decisions Based Not on What’s Expected, But On What’s Possible

by Shawn March 30, 2012

This adventure, the one Maile and I began when we stood at our kitchen counter in Leesburg, Virginia and realized we were going to have to move into my parents’ basement: it’s just beginning. For the longest time I’ve been waiting for it to come to an end. I thought that after making the “right” [...]

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