Shine On Harvest Moon (Featuring “Indeed” – Original Music by Shelleen)

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My husband Tom and I could be a case study on how opposites attract. Years ago, I dubbed him with the title: “The Man of No Reaction”. (I might even have written a song about him by that name…{snicker!}) He is a deep thinker and processes internally. I, on the other hand, feel deeply and process verbally. One is not right, and the other wrong; just opposite.

 

 

Some of you have asked me why I refer to myself as a Girdle Burr and Beauty Hunter in the poem on the home page of my website. Well here’s what I mean by that. If there is a burr in our girdle (in other words, something is eating at us), so often we are prone to stuffing it and carrying on with life. Yet we feel irritable or unsettled, sometimes repressing it so successfully that consciously we don’t even know what is making us a grouch pot. That’s the Girdle Burr part.

And what about beauty? With our fast-forward lifestyles, if we aren’t careful, we can easily miss the simple joys all around us. For me this is especially true of nature. It’s not rare for my husband, who doesn’t always relate to the intensity of my elation over some thing of beauty that has captured my delight, to begin singing the old Nirvana song to me: “I wish I were like you, easily amused…”! I don’t mind his teasing, because secretly I hold the opinion that he really does! {Snicker again!} Thus the phrase Beauty Hunter. 

It’s something we are born with, you know. Have you ever observed a child’s gleeful delight in a flowering “weed”, woolly worm bug, or perhaps the moon? When did we loose that? Somewhere along the line, we begin to take the simple joys for granted. Maybe we’ve learned to subdue our emotions, or perhaps we just get too busy with the demands of life to stop and drink in the roses (or dandelions). Perhaps it comes a bit more naturally to my personality than some, but the older I get, the more I am determined to no longer stifle that starry-eyed little girl in me so full of wonder. There is a vast difference between childish and childlike, and I endeavor (much to my husband’s bewilderment at times) to set that childlike little girl free.

 

 

I LOVE autumn, and everything about it. It’s my candle-lighting, sweater-wearing, leaf-crunching, cider-sipping, make-me-happy time of year. It ushers in a flood to my senses of my favorite colors, flavors, and aromas. (Tom bakes a sweet potato pie that makes me swoon!) In the words penned by L. M. Montgomery, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers”, and I would add, Novembers too.

 

 

And what about those Harvest Moons? The other week Tom and I were driving when we had another “Nirvana Song” moment. It was early evening and the moon was taking center stage directly in front of us as we made our way home. And it was a Harvest Moon indeed! It was so big; so radiant. It took my breath away. It gave me such a thrill, that I couldn’t help, nor did I desire to cap my elation over its beauty. Although Tom certainly appreciated its splendor, he was by no means as captivated as I, nor could he relate to my inability to move on to another subject the rest of the way home. (Poor guy!)

 

 

That got me thinking though. Did you ever consider that the moon itself isn’t very pretty at all? On its own, it is cold; dark; lifeless. Its surface is peppered and scarred with massive craters. There is nothing attracted to it, for it has no gravitational pull. So how can it be that someone who is 238,855 miles away from a giant pock-marked rock in the sky that has ruled the night since the world was set in motion, can find herself so enthralled?

 

 

The moon is beautiful, because it reflects the light of the sun.

 

 

Wow…let that sink in. Are we any different? If we were honest, left to ourselves, our hearts would be as cold, dark, lifeless, and perhaps hard as the boulder in the sky we call moon. Scarred by its lot of pain and cratered with gaping holes, we look to things outside of God to fulfill it- relationships, power, pleasure, fortune, and fame to name a few. And like the moon, our hearts on their own, posses no pull that is really all that attractive to others, especially if they were privy to what they truly harbor deep inside, which is why few are ever really allowed close enough to see.

The difference between our hearts and the moon, however, is that our hearts are alive. Symbolically speaking, they are a part of our soul. (Mind, Will, Emotion, Conscience.) And thankfully, the One who set the heavens (including the moon) into motion, hasn’t finished molding our hearts yet. The snag we so often hit, however, is that there is a condition. You see God is not pushy. He gave us a free will; the choice as to how much or how little of Him we want to absorb.

Allowing His light to shine into the deep crevices of our souls can be painful however. Sin issues in our hearts are difficult to address. We would so often rather ignore the burr in our girdle, suppressing its irritation, than go through the unpleasant and more painful, yet temporary process of allowing Him to expose and purge the ugly. Yet when we come to the place where we surrender and allow God to go to work in our hearts, something amazing happens. Although our hearts may still bear scars, like the moon, they begin to reflect the beauty of the Son. That kind of a heart -scars, craters, and all- is far more attractive than gravity.

 

     But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

~Ephesians 5:13 (NIV)

 

 

Frankly, I find it quite a relief to know that all I have to do for my cold, dark, lifeless, scarred heart to become a thing of beauty is to yield to the One who is both equipped and desirous to turn it into something breathtaking. Surrender is an ongoing, lifelong process, and it’s often humbling and surely sobering to be confronted with realities we’d rather ignore. But the more we absorb the love of God, the more we reflect His beauty. Then like the old song says, we can “Shine on, Shine on Harvest Moon”, and no matter where you land on the spectrum of deep, analytical thinker to expressive, childlike feeler, you’ll be amazed how the light of Christ reflected in you will attract others to the beauty of our Savior. Let’s reflect on that, shall we?

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Before you click on the song below, a quick update on my book series, Fruit Fables: Although I expected its release by now, I’ve come upon an interesting bend in the road. I’ll keep you posted.

Also, I sure do love your feedback. If these posts bless you, please consider a). passing them on and b). leaving your thoughts in the comment section to let me know how they may be impacting you. (Seriously, am I the only one feeling all this pruning [last blog post] or being confronted with burrs in my proverbial girdle?) And if you want to be sure not to miss any posts, just sign in with your email on my homepage, and they’ll come right to your inbox.

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Wishing you and yours a blessed and reflective Thanksgiving. Now may:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”      ~Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)

Click on the picture below to hear one of my latest songs:

Indeed

 

Holy Fruitopia! -Featuring “Time” -original music by Shelleen

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Last month I spent a day with my friend Erica. She lives right on the Susquehanna River, and our goal that day was to kayak across to an island where there is a natural wading pool area to swim in. However, the river is particularly high this year, and since we had my little guy along, we decided to just paddle around near the bank for his sake, then spend the day hiking. Her house is banked right in the side of a mountain that backs up to 300 acres of land owned by the Boy Scouts. When Erica and her husband bought the property for the riverfront, they didn’t realized it came with acreage on top of the mountain for quite some time until a neighbor told them about it! (BONUS! – She just kills me!)

We spent the better part of the afternoon hiking around the Boy Scout property which was fascinating. There were lots of trails of course, bridges and ponds, two old stone cottages that clearly predate the boy scouts, challenge courses, and even an old wild-west kind of town made of false fronted buildings.

 

 

 

We found plenty of wild raspberries, blackberries, and wineberries along the way which added a bit of deliciosity to our day. (Deliciosity should be a word.) But it wasn’t until we reached her property that I found the mountain-top fruitopia!

Her bonus acreage is largely populated with Paw-Paw trees! What are Paw-Paws you ask? They are only the largest native North American fruit, yet most people have never heard of them. If you have, it’s probably because you remember Jungle Book. In fact, Lewis and Clark recorded that they ate many of them on their expeditions here. They taste like a tropical banana custard (ish), and give an amazing twist to a fruit salad. How do I know? We grow them.

 

Our back yard would fool you if you drove by our house which is one of the last two standing in the middle of what is now the commercial end of town. The other house is next door and belonged to my late in-laws. They look like two peas in a weird little pod with our nearest neighbors being a Sheets convenience store and a Comfort Inn. Across the street there is a shopping center which includes a grocery store, three banks, and a Pizza Hut. But step into our back yard and the commercial stores and traffic almost (but not quite) disappear. Our houses are currently on the market, so we have stopped replanting when trees run their course, but it has produced some true Lancaster County bounty over the years ranging from apples, pears, peaches, multiple varieties of  grapes and cherries, strawberries, red and black raspberries, blackberries, figs, plums, apricots, plumcots (a crossbreed between the two), persimmons (one of my favorite) and paw paws! There are nut trees too, most of which feed the squirrels; even a hazelnut tree.

 

     

When I first met my husband, I was studying for a certification in natural health and had just learned about the almost 60 medicinal uses of the paw paw tree. You can imagine my elation when I learned he had them growing in his back yard!

The point is, I of all people should recognize a paw paw tree when I see one. However, it wasn’t until we were half-way across Erica’s property that I realized it. Why you ask? Because for as many as there were, I didn’t identify them until I saw their fruit. (Chew on that for a moment – Pun intended.) Once I saw the fruit, I began to notice that they were everywhere. It was literally a mountain-top grove of paw paws with an occasional hard wood mixed in. I think you know where I’m going with this…

In Matthew 7:15-20 Jesus is talking about how to identify Christ followers from the counterfeits.

You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?     ~Matthew 7:16 (NIV)

 

 

If we identify ourselves as Christ followers, we ought to be producing a rich harvest of good fruit. There is a big difference between relationship and religion my friends. Jesus hated religion. If you doubt that, go check out the choice words He had for the Sadducees and Pharisees – the “Religious” leaders (counterfeits) of that day. Jesus came because the Father desired to restore relationship with us again. The kind of relationship we had before the fall, when He literally took walks in the garden paradise called Eden with human beings. Sin separated us from that relationship until Jesus Christ took on the wages of our sin by dying on the cross in our place.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.   ~Romans 6:23 (NIV)

The moment Jesus said, “It is finished” and gave up His Spirit, the veil that separated the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence resided separate from the rest of the Temple, was ripped in two from top to bottom. Read the Penteteuch my friends – that veil was not a thin, sheer curtain purchased from K Mart!

This was a declaration by the God of the Universe that we are no longer separated from having a personal relationship with Him. No more religion! Instead, Relationship.

And that’s how we produce fruit. By walking with Him. By talking with Him. By listening to Him. By spending time in worship and just abiding in His presence. (If this sounds like work to you or something you should check off a to-do list, that’s religion. Walking with God in relationship is an adventure like no other!) Most importantly, we produce fruit by living a life yielded to His will and way – a life of surrender. If you have trusted Christ for Salvation, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit of God resides within you, and that the fruit of the Spirit of God should be growing in abundance.

 

Just as the sweetness of the aroma and the beauty of fruit itself causes us to desire it’s deliciosity, (yes, I think that word should go in the dictionary), so should the fruit (evidence of God’s indwelling Spirit) cause others to desire to walk in relationship with our Savior as well. Jesus’ words:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.                                                                           ~John 15:5 (NIV)

 

I’m sorry to say that all to often unbelievers find themselves in a forest of paw paws (Christians) without even knowing it. Or worse, they smell something bad (rotten fruit) because that Christ follower hasn’t allowed Him to do the pruning in their lives that is needed to cause them to flourish in the way the Gardener intends for them to. (There is that “surrender” word again.)

 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patients, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.                                         ~Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)

 

I am excited to tell you that without any unforeseen delays, my first book is set to be published next month! It is entitled, FRUIT FABLES, and is a treasury of 9 short children’s stories written in a catchy poetic fable form unpacking each one of the meanings of the Fruit of the Spirit. I am told that although they are cute and clever little stories, they also carry a lot of meat. I’m interested in the feedback I receive from adults just as much as the children whom they are reading to. The Bible says that the Word of God does not go out and return void, but accomplishes what God intended in the hearts of those on whose ears it has fallen. Children’s stories they may be, but the truths from God’s Word that they impart are ever so powerful.

I don’t claim for a minute to have reached the pinnacle of success in these attributes. Sadly, I have dropped more rotten fruit from my branches than I care to admit causing me to require a great deal of pruning. And just about the time I think I’m doing well, God allows another situation in my life that launches me right back into the refining fire. Hear me…we are all a work in progress. I know the ugliness of my sinful heart and my weaknesses are many. But I am a woman whose roots run deep. I stand forgiven with my feet firmly planted on the solid Rock of my Salvation, Jesus Christ, and I know the joy (one of the fruits of the Spirit) of walking in relationship with my Savior.

I hope you know that joy as well. I hope you know Him. I hope you are a willing participant, uncomfortable as it may be at times, to the pruning necessary to allow you to live a life of abundance – a Holy kind of Fruitopia so to speak. I aim to reap a rich harvest. How about you?

 

 

Stay tuned. (There’s a place on my home page to subscribe to this blog.) I’ll be sure to let you know when FRUIT FABLES becomes available and where you can pick up your own copy (or 2, or 10 – wink!). Until then, know that no matter what season you may find yourself in, there is a time for everything under the sun – sowing, growing, reaping, pruning, resting, etc.. But no matter what season we find ourselves in, it’s always time to walk in relationship with the Lover of our Souls. Click below and listen in to me telling the little bird that lives in my coo-coo clock to go home and stop interrupting my time with Jesus. And if this blesses you, I’d appreciate it if you pass along this post as well as your feedback.

 

The “Blessed” Is Yet To Come! Featuring “Come Away” & “Confide in Me” – Original Music by Shelleen

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I was a child myself when I had my first child, which perhaps is a story for another day. There are pros and cons to everything, but suffice it to say that entering motherhood at the tender age of 18, having another at 24, then being a single-mom for a few years nbefore adding my caboose at 34 has never allowed me much in the way of down time. I don’t regret for a moment all the time invested in my children. In fact, I often long to hit rewind and rock my babies to sleep once more. But with the understanding that there is precious little I have found more fulfilling and rewarding than being my kids’ mom, I have definitely felt a lack in my life of time for me. In fact, for most of us who are blessed to be called by that name (mom), “me time” is not even in our vocabulary, let along a blip on our radar screen.

But as I recently crested another hill in my life called the 40’s, a new concept began to tug at me with the persistence of a child at a mother’s apron strings. If you’re guessing that I wanted some “me time”, well, sort of.

A woman of wise counsel, of whom I’m blessed to call my spiritual mother, mentioned a while back that she goes away for a few days alone at the end of each year to seek God for His vision for the next. This resonated with me deeply. I would love to do something like that, but with children and holidays, how could I? Then it dawned on me that my birthday is my new year, and an idea began to take shape.

A week before my 40th birthday arrived, I did something I have never done before. I loaded my Jeep with the necessary supplies that included my Bible, journal, and keyboard, and headed East- alone. And I didn’t stop until I arrived on the far side of New Holland, Pennsylvania at the home of a retired missionary friend (another one of my spiritual mentors). Nestled in the woods just behind their home was my destination – Uppa’s Cabin – a 400 sq. ft. gem that was once home to her late father-in-law.

 

 

There is so much I would love to tell you that transpired over the next four days as I unplugged from the daily grind, social media, even my family, and just spent time abiding with my Lord. Although I came with the full intention of leaving my agenda out of it and simply listening to what God had to say to me, I must confess that I wrestled at first with two issues in particular that were heavy on my heart. God was so gracious in His willingness to shed light on those things first, giving me the peace I needed to lay them aside with a newfound confidence that those cares were safe in His, so I could then receive all that He had for me. We are told in Scripture that if we seek Him, we will find Him, if we seek Him with all of our hearts. That is what I was there to do, and wow, did He ever hold up His end of the bargain. A blog post is an inadequate place to share all that I would love to about those four precious and rich days I spent alone with God. There are some things that will forever just be between Him and I and others that I will most likely be speaking on as God gives me opportunities to share in ministry settings, etc… But I do want to tell you about something special that happened that weekend, that although may not seem like much, was very precious and wonderful to me.

On day two, I threw on my sneakers and went for a walk. Although I live only 10 minutes away (oh, didn’t I mention that?), this cabin is on the outskirts of town in what we refer to as the “Welsh Mountains”, and I don’t know my way around those back roads. After a few turns, I began to descend a hill when I caught a glimpse of the sun gleaming off a body of water. As a rounded a bend at the bottom, I was thrilled to find a small log cabin with white chinking that sat at the end of a lane on the far side of a large pond. It looked like I had just stepped back two-hundred years in history. I could see two people working outside, but unfortunately they were beyond earshot, or I would have definitely struck up a conversation. The temperature was in the high-70’s and the early June sun was glistening off the pond like diamonds as the wind rippled the water. Everything in me ached to go sit by that pond. Yet, I walked on.

 

 

As the following morning dawned, the song of birds woke me to a day as gorgeous as the former. After breakfast and time in God’s Word, I couldn’t resist retracing my steps of the day before. As I descended the hill again, I was astounded to see that I wasn’t the only one drawn to that beautiful place. I stood in awe, not caring that I looked like a creeper, and began taking pictures. Soaring above this magnificent setting with an air of majesty was a beautiful bald eagle.

 

 

As silly as this sounds, I felt like God was giving me a birthday present, and I was enthralled! Now I really wanted to sit by that pond! I lingered for a few more moments, but I knew I must go on. As I rounded the bend, I paused one more time to take in the simple grandeur of the setting, when a car coming down the road slowed to a stop, and an elderly woman put down her window. In my elation, I pointed up to the sky, and said, “Look! There’s an eagle up there over that pond. Look at this whole setting with the little log cabin, and this beautiful day… Isn’t it amazing?”

“Oh, I’m glad you like it”, she replied. “That’s my home. Hop in. I’ll give you a tour!”

I ended up not only making a new friend that day with a sweet and spunky 74-year-young widow, but at her invitation to make myself at home, I was literally able to sit by that pond all afternoon.

 

 

As I lay in the grass with my sneakers off and toes sinking into the cool mud, I felt so loved. I hadn’t even asked God if He would make a way for me to sit by that pond. As little of a thing as it was, He saw my desire and made it happen. I giggled like a child as I lay on my stomach splashing my hands in the water and digging stones out of the mud with my fingers. And just to prove all the more that this was no random happenstance – although my new friend told me she had never seen an eagle over her property before, what I first thought to be one eagle coming and going, ended up being four! I believe it was a mother with three of her young. I was even able to get a picture where they are all in the frame at once. (Look closely.)

 

 

It was simply glorious. Like David, my meditation of Him {God} was indeed sweet that afternoon as my mind rested on these familiar scriptures:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul…                                   ~Psalm 23:1-3a (KJV)

and…

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.      ~Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

 

Admittedly, the first thing I did when I arrived at my friend’s cabin a few days before was sit down and weep. It wasn’t over any one issue but over the many billows that have rolled in (and at times over) my life throughout the last several years. Nor was it the first and likely not the last time my tears were spilled over present pressures and past wounds. This kind of weeping was more of a cleansing that needed to happen. I came with a heavy sort of weariness, and a desperate need for my soul to find not only restoration, but inspiration and direction as well. One by one, every single concern, fear, question, need, and hope I carried to that place was addressed. I’m still processing all that God showed me during that time. And like Mary Magdalene, having experienced the grace and love of my Teacher, all I want to do now is leave the dishes and sit at the feat of my “Rabboni”.

How about you? Does this sound like the romantic ramblings of a woman gone mad, or like the fresh cup of water that you yourself so desperately need to drink from? In Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV), Jesus said:

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”                                                        

What? You don’t have a friend with a cabin on the other side of town? Jesus’s half-brother James tells us in the book of Scripture that bears his name that “We have not, because we ask not”. So my friend, if you desire time alone with Jesus, ask. Maybe someone will offer out of the blue to take your children for a week like they did my friend right after I shared my experience with her, leaving her at home with time like she hasn’t had in years to breathe in the presence of God.  Maybe you’ll get a beach house for a week. After all, God knows what makes you tick. Perhaps something that fills your time will suddenly be removed from your schedule (even feeling like a loss…at first). Maybe God will simply convict you that your schedule needs to shift so you can align your priorities placing Him at the forfront of each day to seek Him first. It seems like when we do this, things just fall into place for the rest of the day anyhow, doesn’t it? I don’t know what God will go about answering that request, but I know this: If you sincerely seek Him with all of your heart, He will never go back on His Word and leave you stranded.

Can I just encourage you; challenge you; even dare you to forget about the idea of “me time” and give God permission to override your busy schedule and draw you to Himself in a new way? If so, you too will experience the light that chases away the darkness from your path, know the rest He alone can provide for your soul, and experience the kind of love and delight only found in His presence.

You better believe I’ll be doing this again next year. I can’t wait to turn 41!

Confide in Me is a prayer in the form of a song that I wrote while in the cabin waiting to hear from God. I hope you make it your prayer as well.

For Those Who Quietly Mourn on Mothers Day. -Featuring “Lullaby My Baby” ~Original Music by Shelleen

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While many of us will be celebrating the gift of having and/or being mothers this Mother’s Day, I want to speak to those who mourn quietly in the shadows. For those of you whose mothers have passed away, no matter what your age, loosing a mother leaves a tremendous void. And to those who have known the tragedy of life in reverse, where you, the parent buried your child, just attempting to imagine your heartache is honestly beyond my emotional comfort zone. I personally have had a small glimmer of what that is like. My husband and I cared for our nephew until his passing at age 8, so I have walked that road as an aunt. As difficult as that season in our lives was however, I don’t claim for a minute that it carries the same depth of grief as that of loosing your own flesh and blood.

But today I want to speak to those who, as said above, quietly mourn, or for some of you, even secretly. I know this message may be seen as controversial to some, so let me first say that if you knew me, you would understand that is not my heart. However, I am compelled by the stories of friends in my life, as well as women who have confided in me at my concerts and women’s events, to speak this message of hope. And by the way, for my male readers, there is something here for you as well, so read on if you would.

 

 

As many as one out of every four pregnancies end in miscarriage. I have to put the disclaimer out there that I don’t know this grief personally, but I do know the fear of it due to the pregnancy complications I had with my son. Several years ago, a childhood friend, who in many ways is very much the sister I never had, experienced a miscarriage. She being as precious to me as she is, combined with being a mother myself, caused my heart to break. So many mothers mourn the loss of their unborn children quietly – sometimes with just their husbands; sometimes alone. They are not even able to have the closure of a funeral. In fact, depending on how far along they were in their pregnancy, their circle of friends and family are unaware of their grief. If this is you, stay with me.

There is another group of women who I want to speak to today as well. You are the women who suffer from not only the loss of your unborn child, but also bear a burden of guilt on top of your grief. Some of you are my friends, and others of you have been brave enough to entrust me with your stories although our paths have only crossed once. You tell me that not a day goes by that you are not haunted by the regret of the abortion you had years ago. My heart breaks for you the most, and I pray if you haven’t come to understand that there is nothing you can do to remove God’s love for you, that you begin to seek Him for that understanding today. His death on the cross was for us all, because we are all sinners who fall short of His glory. If you’ve asked Him for it, you are forgiven my friend, and not a smudge of your sin remains before Him. He came to set you free from the bondage of sin, and desperately wants you to walk, even dance in the joy of that freedom.

 

as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

~Psalm 103:12 (NIV)

Many of you may be familiar with this verse, but did you ever wonder why the Bible doesn’t say as far as the North is from the South? It’s actually not a random choice of phrase. God’s Words are always filled with intention, and this is a very cool case in point.

Did you ever think about the fact that we have a North and South Pole, but no East Pole or West Pole? The earth is a sphere which turns on it’s axis running from north to south, giving it what is called an east-west continuum. This means we can measure how far the North is from the South. But we have no poles to measure east from west, so there is no measurement for the distance between the two…they have no ending point. They just keep going on…forever. And that’s how far our sins are banished from us when we confess them to God. That is awesome in every sense of the word.

That’s good news for all of us, but here is some more for those of you who resonate with something I have said above. Your child lives. It’s the truth. From the moment of conception, a beautiful human spirit was present in your womb. When our bodies give way here on earth, if we are a child of God, our spirits are taken into Glory. When your child’s earthly body could no longer house his or her spirit, that is exactly what happened, and know this: Someday you will be reunited with that precious one. And what a joyous reunion it will be. There is no sin in Heaven such as unforgiveness or anger on the part of your child (in the case of abortion), and there is no more pain or grief there for you any longer either. Oh how I pray that this will soak in to your souls if any of this applies to you. It does to all of us for one reason or another really. Oh, the precious hope of eternity!

In light of that, my prayer for you is that this Mother’s Day and every day, you can bask in the love of our Savior, experience His healing presence, and know the freedom and joy that defies human understanding that comes through relationship with Him.

The following song is one I wrote for my friend. When she lost her baby, I so desperately wanted to be with her. It was devastating for me not to be there giving her comfort in some way. It derailed me. And when I’m derailed, I write. It was a gift well-received by her, and I believe there are others to whom it can be a small source of healing. Please take a moment and pass this on to them. Let’s make their Mother’s Day a little easier this year, shall we?

Love to each one of you my friends.

About Shelleen

Wife, Mother, Friend, and Daughter
Author, Speaker, Singer, Songwriter
Girdle Bur and Beauty Hunter
Life that's been redeemed
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