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Last weekend, I heard Jen Schmidt speak at a retreat.  The topic of her book, “Just Open the Door” and the retreat was hospitality.  Jen inspired me to think about how I could love on God’s people more.  Part of Jen’s message was to be bold in opening up our lives to encourage, disciple, and share the gospel with others.  So, I thought I would open myself up to my readers by sharing 10 things you may not know about me.  This can be difficult when all you want to do is hide.

Recently, I was hurt and it caused me to close myself off from the world.

I didn’t want to be around people at all.  I wanted to stay in my house and be alone with my God and my husband.  After being active in a thriving ministry for many years, I was discouraged, broken, empty, unable to serve.  I wrote about this in another post called “5 Ways to Restore Joy After Adversity”.  You can read it here.  I could not even be around people without crying.  Now looking back at what I just wrote I realize how self-centered and self-focused pain can cause you to become.  Every sentence even started with the word “I” for goodness sakes!

Isn’t that just what the enemy wants?  He wants us distracted with our own pain so we can’t function or serve God at all.   And I had become paralyzed.  I had allowed a few misguided people to quench the Holy Spirit in me. Even though I have forgiven them, the memories were still there and Satan replays the hatefulness of it all over and over.  He wants me crippled and discouraged.  WELL…ENOUGH!  I’m tired of it.  I’m done with that!  “He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world”(1 John 4:4).

Jesus said,“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength…Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”Mark 12:30-31 New International Version (NIV)

Hiding myself away was selfish.  I DID need some time to heal and rest in Him and allow God to love on me.  However, I have to get back in the game at some point and start loving on God’s people again. Closing myself off from the world isn’t healthy for myself or God’s Kingdom.  We need each other.  So, here goes…

10. My Senior year in High School, I was the editor of the High School newspaper called the “Stingaree Tales”.

Originally, I thought I wanted to become a journalist.  After I graduated, my Journalism teacher’s husband was a dentist and he was looking for a dental assistant. I worked for him a few years.  The dentist’s wife, my high school teacher, encouraged me to go to college.  She helped me apply to dental hygiene school and for scholarships and grants.  Thirty-three years later, I am still a registered dental hygienist.  Teachers make such a difference in our lives.  They are truly unsung heroes.  Thank you to my sweet teacher, Karolyn, for believing in me and encouraging me to get an education.  I still have my license and will never let go of it.  I DO NOT ever want to retake that board!  Ugh…

9. I grew up as the middle child between two precious brothers that I love dearly.

I also have half brothers and a sister I have never met from my biological father who left when I was an infant.  However, through the miracle of facebook I have gotten to know my sister.

8. Here is a weird one for you…

I have had, at various times while growing up, a pet snake (a green grass snake we caught, named Annie, that would crawl up in my hair), a pet skunk (yup), ducks, goats, a pet armadillo that we would walk on a leash, birds, fish, hamsters, guinea pigs, horses, tarantulas, and of course dogs and cats. My mother was very adventurous and a little crazy.  It’s no secret.  She will admit it.  Lol

9. My first job…

was at Wendy’s and then Mr. Gattis Pizza. I also worked at a flower shop delivering flowers and in the cash office at Kmart later in high school.

8. My secret favorite past time is coloring.

I love to color and paint.  Some of my favorite things are colored pencils, markers, crayons, paints, colored pens, and pretty stationary.  The school supply aisle still calls my name to this day.  Which was also one of my favorite things about children’s ministry! That and play dough.  I love play dough.  Lol

7. I served in children’s, youth, and women’s ministry for 26 years at the same church.

It has been a blessing to do life with and serve two generations of children and families. Some of the kids I will never know what happened to until I get to Heaven but some I had the pleasure of serving with as adults and teaching their children.  God is so good.  In 2018, I earned a certification in children’s ministry through Baptist General Convention of Texas.  It was well worth the work and time and it was the reason our children’s ministry was as well structured as it was.  Thank you BGCT!

6. Last year, I started beginners dog agility classes with my border collie.

We adopted a 3 year old Border Collie and we both needed exercise so we started taking agility classes last year.  You know, the kind where the dog runs a course and jumps hurdles and goes through tunnels, yeah…that.  We also have a cute little long haired chihuahua and a gray tabby cat.

5. I have written a couple of children’s books I am trying to publish.

The first is about a little girl in the Autism spectrum and the way she sees the world. The second is about what happens when we lose a loved one and another about where babies come from, all written from a Christian worldview.  This is on my bucket list.

4. My mom got the name Shawna from an Indian girl on the TV show “Gunsmoke”.

My middle name is Alicia and it came from my mother’s grandmother. “Leash” was her nickname and she was a schoolteacher.  My great grandfather (her husband) was a Baptist minister.  He died at a young age from kidney failure caused by what they called “Bright’s Disease” back then.  My great grandmother was left to raise 6 kids alone during the depression.  She was a strong, Christian, intelligent, kind, and wise woman.  It is an honor to be named after her and I hope to be like her when I grow up.

3. IgA Nephropathy is an autoimmune disease that is causing my kidneys to fail.

In June 2017, I started the Ketogenic diet.  This diet and Jesus are healing my kidneys. (Praise God!) My mother, who also has this disease, received a donor kidney in 2010 when she went into complete kidney failure and still struggles with her health.

2. I have two grown daughters and 1 son-in-law.

My oldest daughter teaches second grade and rides her pretty paint horse, Ace, in rodeos with the Catelina Cowgirls (so cool!).  In 2017, she married a precious man of God who sells commercial real estate and loves to fish and hunt.  Our youngest daughter has a degree in environmental science and works for an oil and gas software company but lives way too far away from her momma.  She has a green thumb like my granny and has about a bajillion plants and a sweet, treasured gray dog named Luna.  We are so proud of all of our kids.  They are strong, independent, loving, kind, and beautiful people.  No grandbabies yet though.

1. I accepted Jesus as my Savior at the age of 12 in Vacation Bible School at First Baptist Church in Texas City.

My granny taught me about Jesus all of my life. In VBS, the pastor talked about sin, repentance and salvation.  He said if we would repent of our sins, believe Jesus was God’s Son and proclaim Jesus as Lord of our lives, we would be saved and have eternal life.

My heart was beating so hard I thought it would beat out of my chest!  The Holy Spirit was working on me.  I knew if I didn’t go forward and accept Jesus as my Savior, my heart would go up there without me.  I believed in Jesus Christ as my Lord and I was baptized.  However, I didn’t surrender my whole life to Him until after my husband and I married.

I had not been praying, reading my Bible, going to church, or even thinking about God much.  Jesus was with me, I was His, He loved me, and I knew it but I had taken Him for granted.  When we were considering having a child, my husband was Catholic and I was Baptist.  We didn’t attend church regularly and fought over where to go.  We had some serious discussions about how we would raise our children.  This made me start praying and talking more to God and asking Him for help.

Ultimately, this brought us back to God.  I’ll share more about that another time.

Well, there you go, 10 things you may not know about me.  This may not seem like much in the way of opening up or healing but…you know…baby steps.

Please leave a comment and tell me something about you or email me, Shawna@streamspouredout.com.  I find it fascinating to know there are people reading this from all over the world that I don’t even know.  Google tells me where people are visiting from but nothing about the person.  I would really love to know more about my readers.  Sometimes as a writer you feel like “a voice calling in the wilderness” and you wonder if anyone is listening or even cares.

Jen’s book on hospitality is called, “Just Open the Door”.  Check it out here.  Jen’s book is about opening your door and welcoming people into your life. So, here you go…an open door…

Leave me a comment and tell me something about you!

Love,

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