We discovered a tiny little lemon tree when we first moved into our Huntington Beach, California home. It produced lemons year-round regardless of how I cared for it. They weren’t your average lemons, either. They were the coveted Meyer lemons, more sweet than sour. I couldn’t keep up with all the fruit this tree would regularly pop out. I’d often pile all the lemons into a cardboard box, write “free lemons” in Sharpie on the side, and plop it on the curb for the neighbors to share in our bounty. I was amazed that no matter how much I ignored this tree (which was quite often), it would continue to produce fruit. Eventually, I ran into a problem with this prolific tree. I found it was infested with snails who were getting to the fruit much faster than I could. It was time to take action.

Surrounding the bottom of the tree with salt, I hoped to get rid of the snails without putting my dog at risk by using snail bait. Eventually, the snails left. But then I noticed many branches that looked a bit like petrified wood. I’d never claimed to have a green thumb, but after a quick Google search, I learned I should get rid of all the dead wood I could find. Now, I rarely attack a job using the proper tools, usually just grabbing what I can find and getting to work. I entered the garage, knowing I didn’t have the ideal trimmers. Instead, I grabbed a saw with a handle and went to work on my sad little lemon tree.

The work was so satisfying that I kept checking each branch and removing the dead wood. Once I was finished removing all the useless branches, I stood back to admire my work and thought, “Well, I may have gone a little too far.” My tree looked like a kid who’d tried to cut their own hair. Off-center, haphazard, and close to bald. I figured I’d probably killed the poor thing.

If you have a green thumb (unlike me), you already know where this story is going. Not only did my lemon tree survive, but it came back more fruitful than I’d ever seen before. The tree thrived because all the dead parts had been removed. As a result, all its energy could be directed toward growing new leaves—and, most importantly—producing new blossoms that would become fruit. Without the intense pruning I gave it, the tree wouldn’t have been able to create such an abundance of good fruit the following season.

This is how God works in our lives. Sometimes, we may look like my lemon tree: barren. We can feel as if God has stripped absolutely everything away, leaving us dead inside.

But, when my tree was pruned to the nth degree, it was far from dead. Beyond what my human eyes could see, the tree was repositioning and adapting. It focused on the essential things, such as deeper roots, which would support all the new fruit. When you’ve been pruned so much that you feel dead, you can know that growth is happening under the surface beyond what you can see. God’s drawing you to put down deep roots with Him, to seek after Him for the nourishment you need to grow. And He’s growing you in humility, so when that beautiful fruit comes, there will be no pride in yourself because you’ll recognize that growth as a work only God could do.

We simply surrender and allow God to do His holy work of pruning. He’s the one who brings the increase. Through every season, we’re growing. We must trust God’s careful pruning and rely on His nourishment to make us more fruitful than we could imagine.

“He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit
so they will produce even more.”
John 15:2 NLT

Editor’s Note: The above is an excerpt from God Isn’t Hiding: Volume One — The Spaces and Places I’ve Found Him, available at shannonquintana.com or your favorite bookseller.

“I’m calling on the God of Moses, the One who opened up the ocean. I need you now to do the same thing for me” were the words being sung by hundreds of fellow worshippers around me.

Standing in the third row, I clutched my hands together on my chest because they felt too heavy to lift. The lump in my throat wouldn’t allow me to sing without cracking. Closing my eyes, hot tears ran to the corner of my eyes before rolling down my cheeks. As more tears continued to flow, I moved my hands over my mouth to quiet the impending sobs. As if the bright yellow shirt I’d chosen to wear that day wasn’t bright enough, I felt as though my heart was on display for all to see. I remembered the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, who was in such anguish as she cried out to God in silent prayer that Eli, the priest, assumed she was drunk. The miracle she prayed for was different than mine, but the sorrow was the same. I knew God was able, but I wondered if He was willing. Like Hannah, I was hoping and hurting at the same time.

This is the tension of hope. I believe God is powerful. I love Him, I know Him, I trust Him. I‘ve watched Him come through again and again. I feel the hope welling up in my heart when I ask Jesus to open up the proverbial ocean, knowing He can. Yet, at the same time, I’m faced with the fear that He may again answer with a “Yes, I will, but not yet.”

The weight of this delayed deliverance is heavy. As I stood wanting to worship Jesus with hands held high that Sunday morning, my sorrow kept my hands close to my chest. A sort of sign language cry to God asking why such a precious and wholesome request couldn’t yet be met. I lack the long-suffering that’s necessary to endure. I’ve seen Him deliver in miraculous ways in the past, but I also remember the time frame and the cost. And sometimes, I just don’t have what it takes to accept the delay in God’s answer.

I want to borrow from a teaching my friend gave me titled “P.C.H.” and taken from Romans 5. Living in Huntington Beach, California, the initials P.C.H. are part of our daily vocabulary, and they’re short for Pacific Coast Highway. Aptly named, this long highway stretches the entire Pacific coast from California in the south all the way up to Washington in the north. While these initials were easy for us to remember, they really weren’t about this road. Let’s read the verses to get a glimpse at the real meaning.

“We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Do you get it? The initials P.C.H. stand for perseverance, character, and hope. These three things run on a continuum; we must develop one to get to the next, eventually landing us back at hope. It’s pretty handy that the initials match up with a highway because we can look at them as pit stops along the way. But instead of this road running north to south, it runs in a continuous loop throughout our lives. Hard times will come, and we need to develop a strategy to arrive back at hope each time. So, let’s go on a quick drive down P.C.H.

Stop One: Perseverance

We all hit a rough time eventually. We can’t just throw up our hands and quit. If we believe God means what He says, that He will be with us through trials (Deuteronomy 31:6), and He will make them work out for our good (Romans 8:28), then we can trust Him enough to choose to keep moving forward. This act of developing perseverance is rarely a sprint, more like a trudge through mud wearing the wrong shoes. The walk forward will always feel like too much, and that’s by design. We were created to lean on God for strength. Our human efforts will always be lacking, and therefore, we’ll always need to ask God to fill in the cracks where we just don’t have what it takes in our human will and strength.

Stop Two: Character

After walking through the mud of perseverance, our character is built. Resilience and strength develop in ways they wouldn’t have without the trial. Where we would’ve thrown in the towel and given up before, God has given us the capacity to keep moving forward. The mud feels less restricting than before, and the weight of the trial feels lighter. We begin to realize we may just make it out alive after all.

Stop Three: Hope

The last stop on our continuum is hope. Do you see how we had to make the previous two stops first? Without perseverance and character, we’d still be in the middle of a mud pit, sinking deeper each moment as we surrender the pull of despair. Once we hit hope, we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We can see with our own eyes that God really is going to come through. What started as an obedience to persevere has become something tangible. Hope restored is a beautiful thing, as you feel the weight completely lifted because your hope can’t be squashed by your circumstances. Your God gave you perseverance and character, and that same God is overwhelming you with great hope.

Perhaps you’re reading this and thinking a drive down P.C.H. sounds great, but it hurts too much to hope right now. I understand that pain well, my friend. We’ve all felt a deep desire to hope for something, but we’re too scared of what the timing and the cost will be, so the hurt can keep us from making it to hope. What I’ve learned through many trials is that hope hurts sometimes. We can take our drive down P.C.H. with tears in our eyes, hurting and hoping at the very same time. Those are some precious, delicate moments, and I don’t believe Jesus looks upon them lightly. He isn’t standing at step three, checking His watch, just waiting for you to get through the first two stops so He can give you hope already. He sits, stands, walks, and drives right alongside you every single mile. He alone is the one who can hold your hurt and fill you with hope simultaneously.

Let’s go back to the beginning real quick. As I stood with my hands tightly clasped over my heart, longing for Jesus to bring me hope when all I felt was hurt, He met me. Surrounded by hundreds of other voices singing loudly, with hands lifted victoriously, Jesus stepped right up to me. He didn’t judge me for not lifting my hands high. Rather, He wrapped His loving hands around mine and reminded me that He was with me. And in whatever longing you have right now, wherever you’re asking God to show up, I want to remind you that He is. There’s no speed limit on the P.C.H. we talked about; it doesn’t matter how fast you go. What matters is who you go with, and He is never, ever going to leave you hopeless, my friend.

“We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” —Romans 5:3-5 NKJV

Editor’s Note: The book Shannon refers to is God Isn’t Hiding: Volume One — The Spaces and Places I’ve Found Him, available at shannonquintana.com or your favorite bookseller.

It was a cool fall afternoon in Southern California. Holding a steaming cappuccino, I took a seat on a rainbow-striped bench outside a local coffee shop. The colors of the bench were so beautiful, and the light was hitting it just right, so I figured my cup o’ joe deserved a little photo shoot. As I was slightly turning the cup to see the logo and moving my phone to get that perfect angle, a text alert dropped down on my phone. It read, “I started and couldn’t stop. Shannon, this is extraordinary. Oh, my. God’s given you a gift … I’d be honored to work with you.” Tears flooded my eyes as I read the words over and over again. I had to quickly walk back to my car, where I had a good, solid, happy cry, celebrating what God had done.

Seven Minutes

Before stepping into the coffee shop, I’d sent an email to a potential editor for a book I felt the Lord nudging me to write. She was referred to me by a friend. I’d asked if she’d read a few chapters and let me know if I were a writer she’d want to work with. However, it was Thanksgiving week, so I encouraged her not to rush, considering the upcoming holiday. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a reply at all. I figured I’d follow up after a week or two. But, exactly seven minutes after sending the chapters, I received her response—and it blew my mind.

It wasn’t just an encouragement in regard to writing. It was a generous confirmation from the Lord that I’d heard Him correctly and that I was moving in the right direction. He really did give me a gift, and He was walking right alongside me, making all the pieces fall together perfectly. As we continued our conversation over the coming weeks, we realized we’d actually met several years before when I was singing at a beach festival. She said God had brought me to mind quite often since then, directing her to pray for me. She believed that throughout those years, she’d been praying for this very project! I was wowed by the intricacy of God’s planning.

Going Back in Time: From July 2023 to 2016

This story really started many years ago though. Let me take you back in time seven years before that moment, back to 2016. I was a full-time traveling worship leader, and I kept an online blog sharing ways God revealed Himself to me in everyday life. I felt Him encouraging me to create a book from these online blogs, and so I started taking steps toward that end. I finished thirty chapters, paid to have them edited, and sent them off to people I looked up to seeking feedback before moving forward with publishing.

One response in particular brought this project to a screeching halt. “Your stories are cute. I just think you should be careful being so open about sharing your story. You could lose a lot of people.” The words came through the phone but felt like a punch in the stomach. Hearing someone I looked up to criticizing not only my writing but also my transparency and honesty caused me to freeze in fear and abandon the project.

I set it aside and went on with life as if nothing happened, assuming I just wasn’t meant to write a book: I must’ve heard God wrong.

Returning to July 2023

Let’s hop back in that time machine and set it for July 2023, which is only ten months ago. I could hear the voice of God whisper that He wanted me to pick back up that dream of publishing a book—and finish it. And so I said yes. I opened that old file on my computer and began reading the stories I hadn’t looked at in seven years. Some made me smile, others made me cringe, and were immediately deleted. I was left with twenty good chapters and ten left to write. I was a little scared, to be honest.

I wondered if my dream would actually come to fruition or be another failed attempt. I tend to put myself out there on social media, sharing my heart honestly, the good, bad, and ugly too. So, I posted an Instagram and Facebook story sharing that I was picking up this dormant project simply as an act of obedience to God. I was a tiny bit afraid. But over those seven years, God had taught me that sometimes it’s necessary to do things while scared. He will often call us to do things slightly out of our reach. Not because He’s cruel, but because He wants to show us that our human effort can only accomplish so much—but with His help, we can do amazing things!

Four Months Later: November 2023

Within four months, the chapters were completed. And that fall afternoon, as I sipped on a fresh cappuccino with tears in my eyes, I knew I was in the palm of God’s hand. He really had led me to this project, and He would bring me through to its completion. This confidence in Him carried me through the tough days as I learned all the tedious bits and pieces that go into publishing a book. There were many potential roadblocks, making me want to quit. But God turned them into speedbumps, places to slow down and ask Him to remind me that I was simply participating in the work He’d already completed.

Just as Paul states in Philippians 2:13, “It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure,” it’s been my joy to finish this project hand in hand with Jesus, the lover of my soul. His timing is always perfect. Seven years ago was just the beginning, and He had a reason for the pause. I’ve grown closer to Jesus: I know now that there’ll be naysayers. Everyone may not enjoy my transparency. And that’s okay. My responsibility is to say yes to Jesus and to leave the results up to Him.

Do You Relate?

I wonder if you might be in the same place I was seven years ago—or perhaps ten months ago. Wherever you are in the process, know that when God calls you to something, He will walk through it with you. And along the way, He will draw you closer to Him and teach you, deepening your confidence in Him. God really means what He says. If He led you to it, He will bring you through it.

“Jesus came and told His disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in Heaven and on earth.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”
Matthew 28:18-20

The final words Jesus said to His followers (and to us believers today) was to go, continue following Him, and to tell others about Jesus, show them how to walk with Him. We call this the Great Commission, and our call is no different today than it was all those years ago: discipleship.

Discipleship isn’t one of the gifts of the Spirit spoken of in Scripture (1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4). Rather, God will utilize the spiritual gifts we’ve been given in order to disciple new believers. It’s a non-negotiable call to every single person who calls themselves a Christian. We can’t escape this commission, but how do we do it, and what does it look like? Do we have to start a weekly small group? Do we have to create a big conference, or meet one-on-one with a person and go through a book? The short answer is: sure, if that’s what God is calling you to. But discipleship will look different for every person and in every season.

Always Be Ready to Answer the Call

In September of 2022, my husband and I were called to move across the country from the west coast of California to the west coast of Florida, where I would be leading worship at a new church plant. God impressed on me that while I would be going to lead worship, my main priority would be discipleship. The two years prior to this move, I’d been discipled by a group of godly women who displayed the gifts of the Spirit in beautiful ways. He put me into a safe bubble of familiar and loving women who taught me a better way to pray, a deeper way to study God’s Word, and a more intentional way of discipleship. I learned that discipleship doesn’t always have to be a weekly Bible study or going through a discipleship book. The true call of a disciple of Jesus is to be right with Him and ready to answer God’s call of discipleship at any given moment.

The Holy Spirit gives us gifts in order to build up, stir up, and cheer up the body of Christ. So, if we’re operating in these spiritual gifts, we won’t miss a moment. Isn’t that exciting! That’s not to say I don’t miss the first cue sometimes. One Sunday morning after church while we were still in California, I wasn’t really interested in mingling afterwards. My husband and I were both real estate agents at the time and we had an open house to get to. He’s usually the one placing a gentle hand on my back signaling that he’s ready to leave, but that day our roles were reversed. I was impatiently waiting for him to wrap up an unusually long conversation, when I was introduced to a woman. Never having met until then, I tried to be pleasant, but I really wasn’t interested in talking.

To be honest (and sadly), I only listened half-heartedly as the cute, petite young woman told me she’d recently moved away from her family and was living in the area on her own. She was a doctor who focused on street medicine in the tough streets of downtown Los Angeles. I’d never heard of this specific profession before but was amazed as she told me that her team would literally walk the worst streets filled with people who were the worst off. She was feeling discouraged, and my heart began to soften as I heard her speak of her discouragement at not being able to witness to people, or pray over people, because it was a government-funded endeavor. As I saw the weariness in her face, my impatience melted, and I was able to see the clear opportunity God had given me.

I told her she reminded me of the stories in the Gospels, where Jesus would tell His disciples to do a simple task such as prepare a room for dinner, with them not knowing it would be the Last Supper. We modern-day believers have the entire Bible. We marvel at all the disciples did, when to them it all may have seemed like simple tasks. As I listened to this petite young woman tell me of the courageous work she did while walking through the roughest streets, I was in awe! I reminded her that Jesus has given her His Holy Spirit, that she could see beyond people’s physical ailments and into their souls. I reminded her, too, that God has the ability to tell her what others need deep down inside, and that as she cares for a person, she could actually be lifting them up to Jesus and asking for a healing deeper than her medical training could deliver. I then asked her if I could pray over her as I gently placed my hand on her shoulder.

After we finished praying, she had a look of relief on her face. After thanking me profusely, she asked if we could be friends, to which I wholeheartedly agreed! We exchanged phone numbers, and I was off to our open house, arriving there within five minutes. After our first meeting, we only managed to get in a few coffee dates between both of our busy schedules, but the Lord taught me something. If I’m willing to be used anywhere and at anytime, He’ll use me to touch people’s lives. He simply asks me to have a heart for discipleship, to be open to give my time and energy for His use. God knew I had an open house to get to, and He knew this young woman was in need of encouragement. I learned that day to take every single opportunity to invest in whoever God chooses to put in front of me.

Just Say “Yes” To Discipleship

Our time in Florida was not all roses and rainbows. There were a myriad of emotions involving leaving our kids, family, and friends back in California; moving three times; having to give away our dog; and navigating a new place, new friends, and new ministries. But through it all, we said “yes” to investing in whoever God put in front of us. For some friends, it was a couple of coffee dates. For others, it was a weekly Bible study or an occasional walk on the beach. I was blown away by the blessing these new friends were to me. God blessed me with beautiful lifelong friends who won’t ever be rid of me, even if they want to, haha!

So, my fellow believer, you’re called to be a disciple (to follow Jesus) and to make disciples (to help others follow Jesus). A quote I read years ago inspired me, and I will now pass it on to you. It’s taken from a book called “Replicate: How to Create a Culture of Disciple-Making Right Where You Are” by Robby Gallaty and Chris Swain. Their charge was to “Fearlessly invest your time in others.”

Put away the fear of how much time, energy, and effort you’ll have to invest, and just say “yes,” knowing God will give you all you need to encourage others. You’ll both reap the benefits of saying “yes” to the call of being and making disciples!

Welcome to episode 2 of the Cultivate Church Planting podcast. We believe that the gospel is the hope of the world and that the world needs more gospel-centered churches. I’m your host Brian Kelly, and in today’s episode Shannon Quintana and I are talking with Pastor Bill Welsh about some of the difficulties of planting in another culture.

Shannon has over 20 years experience in ministry and is currently the worship leader of our new church plant in Bradenton, Florida. Pastor Bill just so happens to be her dad, and Shannon was gracious enough to help co-host this episode.

Bill Welsh is a church planter and pastor of Refuge Calvary Chapel in Huntington Beach. He planted in the eighties with his young family in Australia and has a lot of wisdom and insight into ministry and planting overseas.

Her first self-titled CD was released in 2006 and she just recently release a new CD. Quintana is the worship director and leader at Refuge Calvary Chapel and can also be seen around the country at various churches, conferences and events throughout the year. To learn more about Shannon Quintana and her music visit her website.

I recently returned from a trip to Israel, where I led worship for a church tour! It was a super full trip, but always such a gift to be where Jesus walked, worked and gave His life for us!

During the first week of the tour, our team was staying in Tiberias, which is on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee. We spent a few days in the town, and one of those days we were able to take a boat ride across the sea as we shared worship and heard a teaching. The Sea of Galilee looks less like a sea and more like a lake, so it can be hard to picture the story in the gospels that talks about Jesus calming the stormy sea when he was on the boat with his disciples. You may look at what seems like a harmless sea and think, “Really, guys? THIS sea scared you?” But, I was actually happy that for the few days we were around Galilee, it was stormy! I mean, massive thunder, lightning and major downpours off and on for three days! This stormy weather made it WAY easier to understand the fear the disciples may have felt as they bobbed around on the stormy sea thinking they weren’t going to make it.

Now that I have set the stage for the story, I want to tell you a modern story of servanthood.

While we were on our bumpy boat ride, the wind was whipping through any crack and crevice of the thick, clear plastic sheeting that was meant to keep the wind out. Us Californians hunkered down as much as we could to try to stay warm under our hoodies and single-use plastic bag type ponchos. Sitting next to me was a woman named Diane, her husband Harold was sitting on the other side of the boat. During the teaching, he walked over to her, took off his thick coat and wrapped it around her shoulders so that she would be protected from the wind. He then walked back to his spot wearing only a long sleeve t-shirt in the freezing wind! I was struck not only by his thoughtfulness for the woman he loves but for the joy it brought him to serve her. He smiled brightly as he looked at her from across the boat, content that his sweet wife was now warm and protected from the wind.

It was then that I realized that the definition of being a servant is allowing yourself to be uncomfortable, in order to make someone else comfortable.

Harold didn’t give his wife his jacket so he would appear to be husband of the year. It was apparent by the joy it gave him, that he gave her his jacket to ensure that she was taken care of, comfortable and happy. What a true example of a servant! I wish you could have seen these two during the trip! They were so cute; Harold was always making sure Diane had what she needed, helping her walk on uneven ground, taking her hand to help her up steps, and they even walked together holding pinkies! It was the cutest thing ever!

In the books of Mark and Matthew, you may have read the story of the sons of Zebedee. There was a bit of an argument on their account because they asked Jesus if He would do them a favor and let them sit in places of honor, one on His right and the other on His left in Heaven. Silly sons of Zebedee! They were wanting status and thinking all they had to do was ask for it because they had connections with the big man.

Little did they know, status was the very LAST thing Jesus was about. On the contrary, Jesus was all about serving others and giving away His status, His position to become just like us. In Mark 10 verse 42-45 Jesus reels His disciples back in because they were getting a little irritated at this whole “place of honor” business.

It says: “Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’” (Matthew 20:25-28).

So, Jesus set those sons of Zebedee straight by letting them know that they had it all backward. His whole reason for coming was to serve others, not to be served, and as a matter of fact, He came to give up absolutely everything, the ultimate sacrifice, His own life to ransom all of ours. Talk about being uncomfortable to make others comfortable…Jesus took death to give us life!

Our “sacrifice” in this life is nothing compared to what Jesus did for us.

As I watched Harold care so tenderly for his wife, not for his gain, but for hers, my heart was completely touched and stirred. It reminded me that my job is to be a servant, not to be served, in order to make myself more comfortable. And another thing, not once did I see Harold point his thumbs towards himself and say, “Did everyone see me? I gave up my jacket to my wife! I am the husband OF THE YEAR! Take notes, boys!” No, he did it in humility and genuineness and simply because he really loves his wife, and he showed it by serving her.

What ways might God be asking you to serve others? Have you had times where you have thought, “Well, if I do that for them, then who will do it for me?” Or maybe you’re like me, “Well, if my husband eats my last french fry, there will be fewer fries for me! No one gets between me and my fries.” I know, it’s a problem; pray for me.

One of the last things Jesus did with His disciples was to wash their feet, an act of total service to them. In this way, He showed them that even He was willing to bend low to serve others, and He was GOD! What an example left to us by Jesus. I hope that this encourages us to live our lives looking for ways to serve others. Try to think of some simple ways today that you can reach out to help someone else; I know you will be blessed for it!

I buckled my seat belt across my hips, sat back in my seat and rested my head back on the head rest. I had never been so happy to get on a flight in my life. Sure, I was excited to go to Israel to lead worship for a church group, to see the places Jesus walked; it was the trip of a lifetime. But, I was more excited to just escape. As I put in my headphones and got settled in, I felt myself breathe deeply, because for the next two weeks, I was free. I wonder if you have ever had that feeling of being completely overwhelmed by all your commitments, so much so that you were screaming inside, “Get me out of here!”

The flight to Israel is a long one, leaving me plenty of time to ponder, read and pray. I got out a piece of paper and started writing down everything I was responsible for in my life. I included everything from leading worship at churches, down to feeding the dog. The list grew and grew, and as I looked at the page filled with WAY too much, I closed my eyes and said, “OK, God, this is too much for me. I need to take some things off this list, and I need you to help me. What do you want me to keep, and what do you want me to cross off my list of to-do’s?”

Of course, there are some things we can’t get rid of; I still have to do the dishes, be available for my family, and yes, I still have to make sure the dog gets fed. But my goal in refining this list of responsibilities was to only keep what God really wanted for me and dump the rest. It was tricky! Every responsibility I was crossing off the list meant that someone else would have to pick up where I left off. At first, I felt awful crossing things off the list, but then God changed my perspective. What if I wasn’t dumping these things on other people but actually was handing someone else a great opportunity that they may have been waiting for.

Perspective changes everything!

There were things on my list that needed to remain my job, being there for my family is a job only I can fill. I want to be faithful first and foremost to my family. Everything else should be secondary, yes, even ministry! Gasp! And honestly, looking at this giant list of ministry, I started to feel like a worship ministry hog! I was scheduled to lead worship on the weekends, Tuesday mornings for a school chapel, Tuesday nights for a women’s ministry, Wednesday nights, monthly Friday mornings and an event here and there! It was WAY too much for one person, and I started to wonder if these opportunities would be a huge blessing for someone else. I found that as soon as I marked something off of my list, I would feel a sense of freedom and was able to breathe a little deeper, knowing that not only was the extra responsibility off my plate, but that God was going to gift it to someone else who would be excited by it, rather than overwhelmed!

I always do my grocery shopping on Monday mornings, and I usually have the same cashier. We were talking about the Christmas season, and how people get really stressed out. She said something I found interesting and sad. She said that she calls Christmas the “Have to Holiday,” because you have to bake cookies; you have to get presents; you have to get a tree. As we chatted, while she rang up my groceries, I told her about my list of responsibilities, and how I had taken some things off my plate earlier in the year; and that only now was I getting to see the full benefit of lifting that weight. As I left the store, I was so grateful for the choices God directed me in at the beginning of the year, realizing that it has had a long-lasting effect on my everyday life and ministry.

This year has been one of the calmest years I have had, and I have never felt so confident in my calling.

The things God has called me to are a joy and not a burden. And I have been able to watch others flourish in the areas where I had previously been just trying to hold down the fort. And as far as Christmas this year, it has been the chillest Christmas season I have had in probably 10 years. I have been able to have a day to just bake cookies and lovingly decorate them. I have been able to breathe deep and enjoy the season with my family and friends; it is far from the “Have To Holiday” for me this year.

I wonder if you are struggling to keep your head above water when it comes to your list of things to do?

Maybe God is calling you to make a list, pray over it and then get out the red pen to start making more room in your life for what you are really called to, and not just what you can do.

The ministry God has called you to isn’t meant to be a burden. Yes, we do have work to do, and yes, it can be hard. But I truly believe that our desires will line up with our calling, and if you feel that you are just filling a need, perhaps someone else is eagerly anticipating an opportunity to do what is a burden to you. So, my friends, go to God today; give Him your attention, and most of all, give Him your time. We will never get our time back, so let’s make sure we are using it the way God really wants us to! Merry Christmas!

My 16-year-old daughter was able to participate in a six-week program in Hungary called “A Vision For Life.” It’s basically Bible college condensed into six weeks for high schoolers. It was a mix of Bible classes, outreaches, dorms and general “parent-free living”. She had some incredible opportunities to share her story of hope in Jesus. My heart smiled when I saw photos of her talking to a group of hundreds on the streets of Vienna, hosting Vacation Bible School for kids, making new friends, and I knew she would come back changed. I’ve been on multiple mission trips in my life, and the effort is always to go touch other people’s lives, but in the process, it completely changes who we are and what we believe. The same happened for my daughter, and I was so ready for her to come home; we really missed having her around. There was one thing I had forgotten when it comes to mission trips, especially as a teenager…the culture shock.

I remember the first time I went on a mission trip was to Juarez, Mexico. I had never seen such poverty, and when I returned home, it was Christmas time. Talk about culture shock, I was angry at every bit of American excess I saw around me. I had just seen firsthand people who literally didn’t have anything, and I didn’t understand how people didn’t feel guilty for having all they had. The culture shock my daughter faced was different. They didn’t really visit poverty stricken areas, but she had done a lot of really important things for the kingdom of God and coming home just felt, well…ordinary.

It’s no fun coming home to parents and rules and chores, after you just spent two months with a group of awesome new friends who were on fire for Jesus and couldn’t wait to tell everyone they met about Jesus. Now she was back home, picking up her school schedule, locker combination and getting ready to start her junior year of high school. Along with the regular jet lag that comes with international travel, there was a bit of an aimless feeling of, “What am I supposed to do now?” I could totally understand where she was coming from, and my mama heart started asking God how I could help her navigate this moment of uncertainty. I thought about Isaiah 43:18-19 that paraphrased says, “Don’t look back on the old times as if they were the best of times, I have more ahead for you!”

God has promised that He is always doing something new in us, and so, if we keep our head stuck in the past, we may miss the new that is coming.

It would be pretty mean of God to give us all just one highlight reel to keep looking back at our entire lives. Thankfully, that’s not what He does!

What a great encouragement to us! It’s ok to reminisce about the good old days, but we can’t dwell there as if that’s as good as it’s ever going to get. I received a tea towel from the famed Magnolia Market in Waco, Texas, that reads, “The good old days are still to come!” I love the thought that in the future we could be looking back on these days right now saying, “Oh man, that was an awesome time!” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get so stuck in the past triumphs that I leave no space for new victories!

Let’s hold on to this Scripture and to the knowledge that God is doing a new thing today!

We all go through seasons in our lives. It can sometimes feel like everything around us is flourishing much like springtime, or that we are losing all our hard earned work, resembling the trees dropping their leaves in the fall. Sometimes we just cruise and bask in easy days like summer, and other days, you can feel cold and barren like the frozen days of winter. If you wait long enough in any season, it’s bound to change. If I’m being transparent, which I always try to be, I think I’m somewhere in the “in between.”

Have you been there?

That “in between” season can be the hardest as the glimmer from what is fading, and the hope of what’s coming is still too far ahead to see. There are times when God plants purpose in our hearts, and we are filled with such passion that we pour everything into achieving that purpose. The drive to reach it is so thick you could almost reach out and grab it! I love those times!

In 2011, I had a beautiful springtime moment when I won the Star Fish contest and got to play the main stage for Fishfest, a huge Christian Music festival in front of 12,000 people! My call time was sandwiched between David Crowder Band and Third Day. I cried happy tears as I listened to David Crowder sing “He Loves Us” from backstage and smiled when Mac Powell said, “Hey, good job,” to me as I walked on stage. I remember taking pause in that moment and thinking, “This may be the only chance I have to sing in front of this many people,” and so I took it all in.

Following that moment have been many amazing moments getting to see people worship Jesus along with me. I have seen God fulfill the deep purpose He placed in me over and over again. But I feel a stirring in my heart. Like the scent of jasmine on the evening breeze, a new purpose is calling me, but I’m not sure what it is quite yet. To be honest, it’s a bit uncomfortable. It feels like that hot, muggy air that comes at the end of summer right before the crispness of fall.

So, what should you do when you feel the seasons changing, and you’re kind of stuck in the “in between,” waiting for your new purpose?

Well, have you ever seen roses that have feen fully pruned and cut back? They look sort of ugly when they are trimmed down to branches, and aren’t much to look at. But the deeper the pruning, the bigger the bloom.

When we are feeling stuck, we are actually being prepared.

If you’re in a season like me, where you are feeling like those scraggly, old rose bushes that have been pruned mercilessly, just wait a little longer. But don’t be dormant; a rose bush isn’t dead. It’s being fortified, nourished and is just waiting to flourish when the time comes.

God says in Isaiah 43:18-19, “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland!”

You see, the “in between” season is God’s chance to feed, fortify and fill you with all you will need to bloom. He will be revealing the new purpose He has for you bit by bit. So, if you are in the space between seasons, remember along with me that this time is never wasted. Seek God, and wait expectantly for the new vision He has for your future!

Almost a year ago there was a need for a new youth worship leader, and therefore I was thrust into a whole new world. I thought, “I’ve led worship for years. This’ll be easy!” Famous last words.

I committed to a year of serving in youth, leading worship and leading a small group for the junior & senior girls.

I was so stoked at first, excited to make some much needed changes and see the students grow in not only their music abilities, but in their hearts for the Lord. And then things got real. I realized that leading worship for women’s retreats, church services and special events was filled with pats on the back and praise for a job well done. Youth worship had none of that. I remember thinking, “This is harder than leading worship in jail! At least the incarcerated are happy to see me!”

Something happened that I wasn’t expecting. Something that takes great humiliation to admit. It didn’t happen right away, but it was slow and sneaky. As I was winding up cords and turning off lights all by myself after service, I thought, “Nobody even notices what I’m doing. Nobody appreciates this; youth ministry is a thankless job!” While that may be true at times, I let this momentary discontentment in my heart grow like a cancer, and I lost sight of what I had set out to do. It changed from an opportunity to a burden, from a blessing to a chore. This tumor of doubt grew to a point that it started effecting the way I responded to the Lord and those I had set out to serve.

Youth ministry is like a picture of organic farming.

I’m not really an all organic, non GMO, raw milk drinking mama…but bear with me as I paint this picture. In order for a plant to thrive, the soil needs to be tilled; the seed needs to be planted, watered, warmed by the sun, and weeds need to be tamed. And at just the right time, that plant will flourish. When serving young people, sometimes you till, sometimes you plant, water, warm or tame weeds, and none of that is wasted. All of it leads to a healthy, nourished and fully mature plant that will bear beautiful fruit.

How hilarious it would be, if with every seed a farmer planted, he announced, “I’m planting a seed! Just planted another one! Oh look, now I’m WATERING a seed! Aaaaaand I just pulled a weed, yay, me!” Sounds silly, right, but it’s the same as me wishing that someone would come up and congratulate me on a job well done. I was saddened by how deep I had let that bitterness sink in and only by acknowledging it before the Lord was I refilled with that passion I started with, but now reborn with a new excitement! I get to be part of the growing process, what a privilege!

Have you been in a place where you were so excited to start a new ministry or church or small group?

It was SO clear in your mind how things should go, until they didn’t, and then things got blurry and boring and burdensome. In the words of Ice Cube, “Check yourself before you wreck yourself.” Don’t lose the vision just because it didn’t come to fruition as fast as you wanted it to. Zechariah 4:10 says, “Don’t despise the small beginnings.” Be faithful in whatever you have been called to do, knowing that the timing of the fruit isn’t up to you, but God! Do your part then sit and watch Him work!

The pain got worse, as all my gym friends surrounded me on the ground, and I heard one of them whisper to the other, “Oooh, it’s…” I could only imagine that my ankle wasn’t looking so hot and was possibly ballooning to double it’s size. Sure enough, that ankle had surpassed “cankle” status and was now heading straight for elephantiasis standards. Off to urgent care I went, for examination and x-rays. The diagnosis, a severe sprain. This meant crutches and of course R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). My mind was reeling as I thought of all I had to do that day. The worst part was, I didn’t fall doing anything spectacular, like sky diving, gymnastics or wrestling an alligator. Nope, I had properly messed up my ankle simply walking.

In only three hours I was scheduled to head out to lead worship for a women’s retreat. Not any women’s retreat, a retreat with 1,200 women, where Kay Arthur would be the speaker. I’m not real big on name dropping and throwing numbers around, but umm…this retreat was a bit of a big deal, and I was now relegated to pain, crutches and a foot that needed to be elevated. Hmm…those three things and standing to lead worship don’t mix.

What on earth was God’s plan?!

My sweet husband tried his best to help me as I quite literally was falling apart. I sat crying so hard my husband popped his head in worriedly asking, “Are you ok?” I answered back, “NO!” Making it clear that I was, in fact, not OK, but there was nothing he could do except let me cry. It was a painful cry but also a confused cry, “Lord what does this mean? You know I have to go to this retreat! You know I have to stand and lead worship, and You know how much I LOVE leading worship at this retreat! What are You doing?!”

I had two choices, I could power through, go to the retreat, or I could cancel. I had good reason to. But I didn’t want to make a decision based on my human wisdom; I wanted to know what God wanted me to do. It would be nice to stay home and keep my foot up all weekend, but I REALLY wanted to go to this retreat; it’s been my JOY to be part of it for many years. However, maybe God had another plan, maybe it would be another worship leader’s chance to have the joy of leading…? I called the retreat directors and said, “Okay, friends, here’s the deal. My foot is royally messed up! I will literally have to sit with my foot up on a chair and a few pillows, or I can’t come. I want to come, but I get that it’s odd aesthetically, and I am up for whatever you guys want to do.” After five minutes of deliberation, they let me know that they wanted me there. With new resolve and a chauffeured ride by my husband, I was off! Thankfully, my 16-year-old daughter was already planning to sing with me that weekend, so I had my own personal roadie to carry all my gear for me. We enjoyed the weekend immensely; one of the highlights was getting to see just how big my foot could swell up and what sort of colors it would turn from bruising!

I can now speak from experience and say that leading worship from a chair, with one socked and braced foot up on a pile of pillows is pretty humbling. It’s really hard to look cool in that position. This injury taught me two things: humility and dependence. I’m typically a “do it yourself” type of person. I don’t like depending on other people, and I am proud of the fact that I don’t generally need much help from others. But God had a lesson for me to learn. My entire weekend was filled with needing the help of others and humbling myself enough to let people come to my aid. Something as simple as carrying a glass of water was an impossible chore!

More important than depending on others for help, God blessed me with some forced rest time even after the retreat was over.

I was able to stay in bed, foot elevated and the Bible in my lap. I had recently told God I wanted to become a student of His word, and not a reader only (James 2). The three words I felt God speak to me during that time was: “Don’t Waste It!” I was able to pretty quickly see this inconvenient injury as an opportunity to be that student I wanted to be. Now that I am back on my feet and limping my way back to a 100% recovery, I am thankful for the opportunity to be humbled and dependent. Sometimes, God has to get my attention in some ridiculously obvious ways. I wonder, what are the ways God may be trying to get your attention today? Keep your eyes open looking for Him; it may help you not lose your footing like I did. But just in case you end up hitting the deck like I did, give me a call, I’ve got some crutches you can borrow.

James 1:22-25: “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only deceiving yourself. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in the mirror, for he observes himself, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in all he does.”

I was driving alone in the car, and I was thankful for the solitude. The silence was like an old friend I hadn’t seen in a long time, and I yearned to just visit with for awhile. As I drove up Warner Boulevard, my head was spinning with the way things weren’t working out, and my heart was broken that God hadn’t seen fit to do things the way I wanted Him to. I stopped at a red light and just began speaking (a.k.a. praying) to my best friend, Jesus. “I am mad! I’m mad that you aren’t doing things the way I thought you would. I’m angry that you aren’t changing things and making everything OK and allowing this difficulty to continue! This isn’t the way things are supposed to go!” I have to be honest and say that I didn’t have a kind tone; I wasn’t even really being reverent. I was just being honest.

I want to pause and ask you a question…having read my prayer above, did you say to yourself “Whoa Shannon! Looks like you forgot your place! I can’t believe you would pray like that!” Now let me ask if you have ever felt those raw, honest, angry thoughts deep inside your heart? I know we all have, even King David himself did! In Psalm 22 we see David crying out, “God where on earth are you?! Why aren’t you helping me?!” Of course, that’s the Shannon version, he used an even more desperate term, forsaken, which means to abandon or desert. Did David really believe God had forgotten all about him, abandoned him even? I don’t think he really BELIEVED he was forgotten, as much as he FELT forgotten, but only for a moment.

Have you been there?

The beautiful thing about coming to Jesus with our heavy hearts is the fact that He is eager to lift that burden and remove the blinders from our eyes to cause us to see! Before the anguished words from our lips reach His heart, He is already lavishing us with hope. You can see David’s struggle throughout Psalm 22 to grab onto that hope with everything he has. He jumps back and forth between proclaiming God’s holiness to detailing the ways people persecute him and how strapped of strength he is. Oh, how thankful I am to have the Bible that reminds us that the people who came before us were JUST like us! They wavered in their hope and needed restoration, and doggone it, they just needed to vent sometimes!

As I continued my drive up Warner, speaking honestly and openly, God’s hope began to wash over me. I began to see that though His way may take longer in my eyes, the deep healing, depth of character and hope that is cultivated has no comparison. I am thankful for a God who allows us to come to Him in whatever state we may be in. He can see past our moodiness, through our irreverent tone, deep into the heart that is longing for a reminder that He sees us, understands us; and that His future plan for us, our families and even our teenage children is beautiful. Let me encourage you to go to Jesus honestly today, pour out your heart and wait for the softening that can only come from your loving, Heavenly Father.

Maybe you’ve heard of CrossFit. I’m one of those crazy people who have bought into their way of using constantly varied, functional movements at a high intensity. Basically this just means you work really hard, never at the same things, in a way that will make your everyday life better. This isn’t an ad for CrossFit, but I wanted to share a parallel I found in regards to my walk with God. CrossFit is hard and walking with God is far from an easy road at times. One of the benefits of this type of workout is that you should be ready for anything life may throw at you. This can be described as a hopper, think a drum full of different workouts or movements. The idea is that you would turn the cranks, spin the hopper and then blindly choose a workout. Some movements you would excel at; others would be more challenging and make you want to run away screaming.

The goal is to accomplish the hard stuff, rather than sticking to the things you are already good at.

Otherwise your overall fitness will be stunted.

Doesn’t life feel like this hopper sometimes? There are seasons when things seem to run smoothly, falling into place like a storybook. Other times it’s as if someone is playing a series of practical jokes on you, because nothing seems easy and everything hurts. I understand. Greg Glassman, the creator of CrossFit, said it like this: “There is more traction, more advantage, more opportunity in pursuing headlong that event or skill that you do not want to see come out of the hopper than putting more time into the ones where you already excel.”

Paul, an apostle of Jesus, talked about facing hard things like this:
“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[a] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:12-14).

The natural inclination is to try to run away from the hard things, but we can’t just wish the difficulties of life away.

We have to be grown ups, don’t we? We won’t get any stronger, wiser or better equipped for what is ahead unless we run straight into what we don’t always know how to accomplish. The cool part is that God gets it; He knows the road ahead and the way to navigate it. If we will let God into our hearts and our lives, He has promised that He will walk along with us, strengthening us when we are inches away from giving up.

Life is unpredictable, something I am learning more and more each day as my two daughters are now in high school. My list of “conversations I thought I’d never have” is getting longer and longer. But something else I am learning is that once we come through a difficult conversation or an intense situation, we end up being stronger than we were before. Just as I am getting stronger by practicing new ways of fitness, I am learning to not let myself be controlled by the fear of what might possibly come out of the “hopper” of life. I can trust that no matter what is coming next, God is already there, like the best fitness coach I’ve ever had. He will correct things I am lacking, encourage me when I’m faltering and will ultimately celebrate with me when I conquer what felt unconquerable.

We all had a starting point in life. I was born into a Christian home with a pastor for a father. My parents have been married about four decades. My family ate dinner around the table almost every night, did Bible devotions and went to church every Sunday. This was my beginning. We all have one, and it’s easy to get where we started all mixed up with our identity.

Being raised in a Christian home doesn’t make me a Christian, and beyond that, being raised in a Christian home doesn’t define who I am. It helped shape me, train me, and I am absolutely privileged to have grown up in the home I did. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized that my beginning was rare, almost movie like. That many of my friends came from homes where they were quite the opposite.

The crazy thing is…our identity is the same.

No matter what our beginning was, every single one of us was made in the image of God.

God says so in His Word at the very start, so we wouldn’t wonder. Genesis 1:27 says, “He made mankind in His image, making them male and female.” Further in His Word it says, “While we were still sinners, [before we called ourselves His] Christ died for us!” (Romans 5:8). What do we make of this? I see two things to make a big deal about: 1) God made us and 2) He died for us! This means, you guys, that He loved us, EVEN before we chose to follow Him!

This is where our identity is! It’s not in how we were raised; it’s in who we are! And we are God’s!

This is where our identity is! It’s not in how we were raised; it’s in who we are! And we are God’s!

Yes, my name is Shannon. I am married. I have two kids and a dog. I lead worship, and I burp a lot (don’t be jealous). But none of these things make me who I am.

Who am I? I am made by God. I am loved, cherished and treasured.

I was bought at the highest price that could ever be paid. I have made many mistakes in my life, yet Jesus will still look down on me, pick me out of a crowd and say, “Yep, that one is mine, and isn’t she lovely?!” And He does the same for you! Yes, YOU! I don’t need to know who you are to know you are loved extravagantly by God! You are a human aren’t you? (If not, I’m not sure how to proceed, hmmm). Our identity is in Christ, and no bad beginning, bad ending or horrible stuff in between can change that! You were created by God, in the image of God, and He looks at you with nothing but love in His eyes! Even if you haven’t taken notice of Him yet and realized that He has an abundant life planned out for you, know this: There is no identity thief that can steal a life that is hidden in Christ! No person, no hardship, no demons, no sickness, no broken relationship, no mistake, not even death can take away God’s love for you! (Romans 8:38-39 the Shannon version).