Shannon's Corner

  SHANNON’S CORNER New Growth! The trees are budding, flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and the grass is displaying many luscious colors of green. The beauty of spring – new growth. This year has been growth for me as well. The Lord has been working in me to regain and use my voice that was lost during this season of transition. This transition for me has been like an air plant trying to find where I can attach myself to in order to hopefully grow deeper roots. One way I believe the Lord gave me an opportunity to use my voice was the field visit to the Dominican Republic without my colleague, Bethann. Another Safe Place teammate went with me to minister to the Kids Alive DR team through a retreat and one-on-one care. I felt my confidence returning and my teammate also shared how she could see my confidence building each day as well. While in the DR, I got to see a former missionary and briefly hear how God was working in her and her family’s lives. My colleague, Mark and I h...

  Reading Psalm 105 had me pondering and reflecting on the Hebrew people’s last days in Egypt and what the Lord had done for them. Whether or not the Hebrew people believed it completely or even if they understood all that was happening, they did though prepare for their exodus out of Egypt. The Egyptian Pharaoh drove out the Hebrew people from Egypt. The Hebrew meaning for “ drove out ” is  herding them towards redemption.  The all-knowing Lord seeing the big picture for His people used Pharaoh to do His bidding by helping to herd the Hebrew people from slavery and oppression towards redemption and life.     What should have only taken days to arrive to the Promised Land ended up taking 40 years. So, why such a long journey? God used those 40 years to bring about transformation in the lives of His chosen people for them to be His people and He to be their God. Transition comes from within us, and it takes time to process, to grieve the losses, be equipped ...

  The process of pottery has many similarities to transition.   Think of the potter, the potter’s wheel, green shelf, and the kiln as the change process – what happens externally. Think of the clay as the transition process – what happens internally.   The clay has been moved from where it had been, and the potter places the clay on the potter’s wheel so that she can center the clay. The clay resists the potter and tries its best to not become centered and to jump off the potter’s wheel at the next available opportunity. The clay does not want to be centered because that means surrendering to the potter, the change so that it tries to resist all the craziness and remain being in control. The potter knows the clay’s resistance and is willing to wait patiently and with enough pressure to help the clay to become centered on the potter’s wheel. We start to be quiet, still and let our Father speak to us. It is in the midst of the centering process that clay eventually become p...