Friday, August 16, 2013

Mercy Me... and Debby

At the concert... 
Love you Deb




  Ok Debby, you did it! 
So you are officially forgiven for all the mean things you did to me as a kid... sike. Love you!

My sister, Debby, nominated me for the Mercy Me, Beautiful contest. She called the station telling them about me, her little sister, and my painful circumstances. 
It turns out she won us the tickets to go see Mercy Me and get a personal photo shoot with them! I am so excited to go and hear them live and am expecting to just feel the Lord so incredibly when I go. I am looking so forward to this... Listen to my sister sweetly speak of me here.

Their song, Hurt and the Healer, really helped me through a hard time in my life. I posted this to my other art teacher blog in 2012 to share the healing. I had avoided art that was connected to my emotion for a whole year because the pain was deep, but this song birthed a very important picture for my healing process before I became a widow. See here...
Read the post below on link...

Now, after hearing the song through a widows heart, it is an entirely different experience. I am more open with my art now. I know that He can take my pain inside and use it in a beautiful way to share with others, in the process of helping them and ministering to them.
I am so grateful for the way the Lord works out our tragedy and pain. I know He has plans for me and my girls, The opportunity to go see Mercy Me and meet them is a sure manifestation of the Lord showing me his love by putting people in my life that think I am "beautiful".

Love You Debby,
Your Little Sister
Ta-Ta Pooper

Three Leaves in the wind... poetry of a mother widow.



For those of you who do not know, I am an art teacher. 4 weeks as a widow and I am back to work again. It will be bittersweet. I was super blessed to have my husband, Shannon, as theater arts teacher at the same school. We ate lunch together everyday, drove together, and much more. I am here in my art room cleaning up piles of papers left over from the last year and I stumbled apon some artwork that Shannon created this Summer during our Art Teacher Workshop we had here. 
See info about this here:
 http://tabithaannthelostsock.blogspot.com/2013/06/east-texas-summer-art-share-fair-2013.html
At this summer event, Shannon helped me a lot putting it all together and it was amazing. He was my helper, making copies for any of the art teachers that needed anything... he was always very supportive of anything I did. When he was not busy running errands, he sat and listened to the lessons the other art teachers shared. He participated in one of using oil pastel in layers to scratch off designs in leaf shapes. You can see it below (the second attachment). I always tried to nurture his artwork because he was really good. He had a passion for it, but felt it was ruined by a bad experience with an art teacher when he was younger. I loved his art. I always told him he could be the art teacher if he wanted to, he was good enough. But, he used a lot or art in his teaching of theater. When I found this leaf picture, I felt like I had just found a treasure that GOd put there for me amongst all of my papers to organize. I looked at the leaves and there were only three. It reminded me of what he left behind and God began to minister to me right here in my room. I decided to take the picture he started and use it to help me and the girls (daughters 2 and 6 years old)  know it is not just us.. like three lonely leaves, but that Dad is still here, in the breeze. So, I decided to use his art as an illustration of a poem. I think this is amazing because even though he is gone, we are still working as a team.. making something together... like we always did. We were an amazing team. Ever since college at SHSU, as we took classes together we would just work together and rub creatively off of each other 
to make each other better..
Isn't that what a couple should do? Increase eachother's value, encourage eachother as a team. 
Support eachoterhs talents and dreams... 
That is what we did and I thank God for letting me have this amazing man for 10 years as a husband, and even longer as a best friend...

Hold you loved ones tighter, and always kiss goodnight. 
God Bless...


(click to enlargen)

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Come in...


Come in and get comfortable Lord in my home, 
I saved the best seat to act as your throne.

Please shut the door behind you and never walk out,
 for you are all I want my home to be about. 
If something come knocking, you must let them in, 
cause I trust your answer more than my skin. 
My flesh has opened doors that brought in thieves, 
with winds that kicked up dust and dirty leaves. 
My answer left me sweeping the stoop and the entry, 
bringing my faith back to elementary. 
I don't want you hanging out there on the porch, 
wanting to brighten my dark home with your torch. 
I want live here and be the man in my life, 
you are husband to this widowed wife. 
Be at watch and answer all calls, 
for in your hands responsibility falls. 
I surrender on my knees, 
humbly holding out the keys... 
Thank you Lord.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Sliding and Swaying Faith...

I never wanted to be here in this place I am in
dealing with spinning emotions under my skin.
I am pulled from here to there
my duty calls me to motherly care.
I don't have the strength to answer thier cries
when i am laying here weak with tears in my own eyes.
They look at me with such needy faces
I am pulling my strength to fullfill them from the deepest places.
It takes all I have and I am left with only a crumb of my own
I am needing a meal in peace alone.
I am a mother bird with one single worm
feeding these mouths that continually squirm
is taking the breath out of me till I am worn thin and weak
with no strength to hunt for more to feed my own beak.
These days are so long and I hope to wake up
to a new day as fresh as the coffee in my cup.
Where I will realize all this was my dream
as I happily stir in my sweet cream...
But it hasn't happened yet and I know it never will.
My pain is lonliness and there is no healing pill.
I just keep praying for strength and for His way
but I am too tired now to continually pray.
I need to see something of this faith I hold tight,
but it is hard to see anything in this continual night.
I look all around and hope to feel His hand
or just something that will help me understand.
Why did he put me in this predicament,
I need an answer, a breath, just a hint...
It's just too much for me to keep inside
my faith is feeling on the slide...
God show me your love cause I need it right away
I am a boat lost at sea that is starting to  sway.
Throw me a rope, let a whale swallow me...
whatever it is... I just want to see.
 
 
 
by Tabitha Seaton
a young widow

Diary of a Young Widow...

I am a young widowed woman, artist, mother, and daughter of Christ...
I usually blog about my art and how each creation fits into something I am going through in my walk of faith... I have done some since my wonderful husband, Shannon, left us. But, I do not feel like that is what the Lord wants me to do in my current mourning state. Although I do need to get things out of me that are sitting inside. I thougth this may be a good time to begin documenting my roller-coaster days of mourning. Some days I feel close to Christ... then other days I am in the pit of loneliness...
But, here is where I am going to let it all out for me, or you, or whoever may need it.

Just in case you are reading this and have no idea who I am or who my husband was, this is a blog I created in his memory.
How this works...
click on the links to view these VLOGS (video blogs)
from out YouTube account...
Dedicated to My Best Friend...

Before Shannon passed, I taught my girls to take pictures with their hearts to hold forever. I am so glad I did this before he left. Because we are relying on a lot of memories to keep our spirits up.
This video was created before our mourning;
Photos of the Heart...

This was my first Vlog I created a little shy about doing so. It felt strange and like untouched territory of my heart... but here it is.
When we are falling and hit rock bottom,
He is there waiting. He is our rock...

I went through a confusing time of loneliness. I wanted things but knew I didn't need them. I do not want to be a fool that listens to her heart, but more a heart that listens to her Father. I want His will, not my own. Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." We cannot trust our own hearts. If we follow them, they will lead us to a destructive place. We have to ask God to look inside them and deroot all the things that He does not want... and on a DAILY BASIS!
 Having passionate feelings
but not knowing if they are His will...

When all I want to do is cry and fall down... I cannot because my little girls are there to pick me up and wipe all my tears away like a game of catch. They are amazingly strong. My littlest one goes around singing, "Day by Day" from the Godspell Musical all the time. She also sings "Jesus loves Me" randomly through the day and just at the right times. My eldest daughter singe "Somewhere over the Rainbow" to me when I cry... she likes the verse, "where troubles melt like lemon drops, oh way above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find DAD (changing the words)." I am NOT a singer, but here is an attempt at us making a trio happen with the song "Day by Day"...
Holding the family together is a day by day process...

Phones ringing, bills in the mail, people knocking, they mean well. I know they want to show me they care. And I would do the same thing for anyone in my spot... but sometimes I just want to be alone...
When you want to be alone, but need to be wanted...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6q3kFBK4Jg

4 weeks have passed, finding it hard to sleep with my brain going over the speed limit. Sleeping in a room that had plans, left unfinished...
Bedroom redecorate, left undone
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niem6eNPTC0

Finally got some alone time with no time limit. Off to nature with my drawing bag and an open heart. Started a picture at the Nature Preserve, but the camera battery dies. That's ok, it gave me more time to really just concentrate on my Creator's glory around me. I got so into my groove, the sun started going down and wolves were howling (not kidding). Moon started rising and sun definitely was gone. I heard them getting closer so ran to the truck much earlier than my heart wanted to...

See video here...
Creating for my creator- Part 1
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMNKGdibXAU&feature=youtu.be
FYI, this video just stops in the middle because God wanted me to shut up and spend time with him... not my IPAD. That is why there is a part 2.

The basic line drawing traced...
As a mom with a career, I have to work in spurts. I hunger to work, so any spare moment of free time is a blessing for me; naps, car rides, teacher meetings (shhhhhhh!), or anywhere. I prefer to work outside or by a window, listening to Christian music, and being alone. 
But, those are special and rare blessings of intimate time with my Creator... Oh so treasured. That is when His voice is clear and my mind is unleashed with my heart unchained!
So, another day on my porch I wanted to share more about my alone time with my Creator in my "secret place" in hopes of inspiring you to do it too...

Creating for my Creator- part 2

Lord Lay My Bricks... and HURRY!
This video is in reference to my yellow brick road theory and artwork
which is a previous blog post...
http://thelostsocklife.blogspot.com/2013/08/where-is-my-yellow-brick-road.html
Feeling now that my yellow brick road cannot be put down fast enough!
God is probably giggling at my giddyness to GO!
I am ready for what he has planned for me and my family.
I just want it now!
Hopefully I won't land down the "bad egg"shoot with Veronica Salt...
But I am trusting the Lord in His Brick laying process and speed.
Feeling all dressed up and nowhere to go.

See Vlog here on YOUTUBE link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg5pwN4sE1k


The Lord is our Compass
discovering the way through new places by using His direction.

Read more about being forced into single parenting... and finding your way through.


BABYSTEPS TO BRAVERY

 Finally some alone time with my man JC at out in Creation. I usually go to draw whatever it is that my heart is inspired to create... but His voice is calling me to do something different. Those nature trails have been whispering to me, "come, see what we have down deep here... run down us and set yourself freeeeeeeee." Every time I go to the Mineola Nature Preserve, I just want to run or ride down it's mysterious paths. Without a bike, I have no choice but to foot it. Here I go.. am I brave enough?
See video here..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGIv9ZmFfxQ






A WIDOW'S WEEDS...
10/19/13
3 months plus into the grieving process.
Finally clearing my heart of all the foolish clutter that has been keeping me from getting to the heart of the matter... the loss of my husband. It is true that there is no "proper" way tor grieve. I have been pushing away even thinking about my husband, numbing myself to it all by finding ways to fill the hole he left. I found things I wanted that were not God's will and planted them in that hole and just let them grow up into weeds that eventually were strangling out all life that God had planted there. For weeks, God had been telling me to still my mind, "Be still and know that I am God". I even made a picture to illustrate it.
Read more about it here...

But it still took time to soak in. It is easy to tell yourself what needs to happen, but harder to actually let it happen. So, here I am, weed free
(not the marajana kind, but I am free of that too, not free like I once was not free, I have actually never done, it,... ok, now I am rambling, sorry)
 and facing the truth.
My... Husband... Is... GONE! I... am... all... ALONE!


Read more about drawing here...
 So, here is the part where I mope around, wear no makeup, cry at work, feel pathetic, feel like a limp noodle, want to lock myself away from the world, crawl in a ball, and just BALL MY EYES OUT!!!
So, I did that for a couple days... then faithful friends swooped in to save me.
I am blessed to have a weekend night alone to get my thoughts together... I did some thrifting therapy and disappeared into the piney woods of the Mineola Nature Preserve once again.
THis time I planned on taking my bike! I got the bike holder on my car, I was pumped, so were the tires (ha ha ah), and read to go. But, i could not figure out how to get my bike on the rack after many many tries. So, I just put on my red ruby walking shoes and went for a hike on foot. That is what GOd wanted, you will see.
Watch the video(s) here...
Part One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWQnHqeIPfg

got embarrased by a man on a bike, so I had to stop and continue
here is Part Two...
http://www.youtube.com/edit?ns=1&o=U&feature=vm&video_id=TD9ybyqXd2s


I wanted to make it a bike ride... didn't work.
That's ok.. I was going to go further than last time. I was going to be brave.
This was my destination... I was so excited to go down the
"wobbly bridge" that I have heard of from other people.
I wanted to have this adventure!
I got there... and I find this! WHAT!?
God laughs at our plans sometimes...

The earth seems so big here at the preserve..
makes me feel small in His Mighty Creation.
So humbling.

I can't wear my ruby red slippers down this trail,
but I can wear the ruby red sneakers!
Follow that yellow brick road Dorthy...
I mean... follow that dirt trail Tabby!

Looking off to my side of the trail hovering over the swamp,
I see some GIANT sticker burrs. God's voice was finally putting things together for me.
Stay on the trail I lay for you, if you go off it, it will lead you to valley of  pity, plateau of pride, and both ways are filled with prickly pain.
But if you do go there, I will wait here for you patiently till you realize I am the only way.
When you return. I will not condemn you but will love you.
(John 3:17)
NOt too high, not too low, just the right height to see eternity and His face.
This is BALANCE!

The swamp around the prickly sticker burrs.
A sign warned me not to feed the alligator...
feed him and he will never leave you alone.
Kinda like selfish sin, feed it and it will bite your leg, or eat you for dinner.
CHOMP!

Look at this windmill! There are signs all around.
The wind is invisible but can give us so much power!
Faith is believing in what you cannot see...

PRAISE AND WORSHIP 
despite the circumstance...
These girls like to dance and sing for Jesus even though we are in a storm. 
Check out how we show Him Love!

Dancing to Jamie Grace's Beautiful Day
and Jamie Grace's God GIrls
______________________________________________________________

 Beginning a New Year of Hope
and Leaving an Old Year of Loss...
New Year's Eve 2013, getting through the holidays without the one you love is the hardest. 
Here are some things that helped my through my first 5 months of widowhood...
See my YouTube Videos 
Widow's Survival Tips 
(part one and two)



more to come...




Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Where is my Yellow Brick Road?

 
 
I want to walk your way
& am taking life Day by Day.
I'm changing my perspective hoping to clearly see.
I've put on my ruby slippers my Father gave to me.
I'm ready to follow wherever he may lead.
... He is my sun and I am his submissive seed.
I have asked Him for his wisdom to help me find my way. I've asked for His guidance to strengthen me this day.
I'm waiting patiently for my Yellow Brick Road to appear. I'm eager to hear His answers whispered tenderly in my ear...
But a fog is densely covering this land,
blocking the view from where I stand.
This yellow road will not be what leads to my rainbow...
it's not what's beneath me that will show me where to go. He is showing me to walk without looking down,
but instead steer my eyes to His Son's thorny crown.
It is not a magical road that is mortared by man's hands, but a King of all kings that understands.
He wants my eyes to remain on Him without doubt, knowing His hands will mortar and grout.
He will not lay the road long in front of me,
but brick by brick reveal His plan surprising me.
For He knows what lies ahead
and my life's pages
He has read.
I will trust Him brick by brick,
to His face my eyes will stick.
Amen...

My Best Friend...

We vowed to be together in every kind of weather.
Through rain or shine, we would stay together.
We went through nature of all kinds
and found the third chord to binds.
Without our faith in our Creator
our love could not be any greater.
Neither you or I promised to perfection, 
but we know that God planned our wedded connection.
He took our sunshine and raindrops combined
and made a rainbow that some sadly never find. 
Some leave without looking through eyes of hope
not knowing that three chords must make the rope.
When all three are held strong in matrimony
In all weather this rainbow they will see.
For without the rain we will never grow
and this bow of color we will never know.
We held on tighter when the waves began to pound
and lowered our anchor to reach solid ground.
He is the rock on which we hung tight
in the brightest day or darkest night.
He was the light that we followed
when others were being swallowed
by the tide that changed it's course
and is full of hate and hungry for divorce.
We were strong till the end
because we called Him our friend.
There is no other possible solution 
that could have given us this perfect resolution, 
but to give credit to the strongest chord
the One and Only Savior and Lord.
We remembered the promises we made to Him from the start...
We vowed to be together till death do us part.
Just as He planned a day for our lives together to cleave
He planned also the day from here you would leave...
________
This end has come where you part from here
and go home to be where the weather is clear.
There is no thunder or stormy blast there, 
just gentle breezes and light that is fair.
The grass needs no rain to keep it growing green
just the light of the Lord to give it luminous gleam.
He has taken you now to this beautiful place
that one day I'll go too and will see again your face.
The flowers will grow reaching out for Him
singing praises, psalms, and a hallelujah hymn.
We will not have to worry for what kind of weather
for that third chord that bound us together
will be the bright loving light that will never sever.
I will meet you there my love when he calls us back together
and we will walk hand and hand and talk about Heaven's weather.
I love and miss you Shannon.
Till we meet again, 
Your wife and best friend, 
Tabitha

THE MAN
Shannon Thomas Seaton
November 9, 1977-July 17, 2013
A man of faith, a loving father, a wonderful husband, a good son, a passionate teacher.
Shannon 

Shannon was my best friend in the world. He had a lot of sides to him that I was so blessed to see. His favorite kind of animals were hard calloused types like the rhinos ans elephants. I think that was because that was how he wanted others to see him. He wanted to appear strong and intimidating on the outside. But inside he was a soft sentimental man.

He got so excited when he saw this Sippin' Syrup truck in H- town and wanted to pledge allegiance to his hard core rapper side. Ha ha. 
This other picture of him is when he restored and painted a vintage trailer we hauled from our first house to our new home in order to make it an art trailer for me to work in. He even hooked up air for the summer so I would be comfortable! I never did work in it though... beccause I would rather just work along side of him in the house in our His & Her Lazy boys. Loking back now, I am so glad I never did. We eventually turned it into a Barbie trailer for the girls and he lovingly and supportively moved my art space inside. 



                                      
Origami cranes and sock dolls? Not what you would normally think of when you thought of
Shannon Seaton... 
But he did them with me cause he was my creative friend and mate. He liked to create side-by- side with me at times. These were some of my most favorite memories together because it is how we fell in love working creatively together long ago in Mask & Puppetry class at SHSU...

This was taken on one of date nights at Kitchen's... He is pretending to smoke.
So don't be alarmed.
My cutie at another Kitchens date night. 

He loved Bar-B-Q.
He wanted to try all of the to[ picks on the Texas Monthly Magazine.
I've said if he could have changed one thing about me, it would be that I would have shared in his passionate affair with BBQ...


He was just a meaty man... "GO MEAT!"




 One of my favorite things about Shannon was the silly things he would do to make his girls happy. For example: The picture below shows this weird white rectangle that was a random piece of trash accumulated at our home that somehow got turned into a dental guide by the imagination of our daughter Maisy. He let her give him a "examination" to keep her happy.... These are the moments only the fortunate family witnessed.



and this one of him wearing a necklace made out of toy beads made by our jewelry designer daughter... Maisy. This was taken his last week here.



He painted rooms colors for me apon special request. He trusted my decisions as a crazy artist no matter what. He wanted to make me happy... And he succeeded. This is him painting our 2nd daughter Madelynn's nursery before her arrival...



I went through this crocheted creature cup cozie obsession where I made almost everyone in the family a cup warmer. I made him pose for these photos so I could do a special blog post. I am so glad he did.



Here he is at Tyler zoo in front of his favorite animals. I wonder what he was thinking...
We looked forward to working on the Miss Mineola Girl's Scholarship Pageant every Summer. We worked as a team painting, cutting, and glittering. Yes, Shannon glittered! 


Maisy has beeneyeballing this dollhouse kit at " Hoppy Loppy" ( how she said hobby lobby) for almost a year. Shannon got it for her on her 6th Birthday and they were building it together. Sadly the shingles never got done. 


Shannon was very excited about planting a garden with Maisy. They had worked for 2 years trying to perfect tomatoe growing, but ironically... Neither of them liked the fruit. 
I guess they were doing it for me.
Shannon was a very supportive husband that went out of his way to spoil me and always make me feel loved and appreciated. 


                                                                        THE DAD
Shannon, Madelynn, And Maisy,



Maisy was truly Daddy's little girl. Here they are building a gingerbread home and collecting tickets from Pizza Palace.




Forget Zack... it was Shannon the Lego Maniac! Building Legos with the girls was a long intimate process. Shannon was a child at heart in many ways. Buying Legos for the girls was just a good excuse for him to sprawl on the floor and be an adventurous and maticulous architect. He definately passed this genius trait down to both our girls... I am still stepping on those legos not seen by the naked eye at clean up time... OUCH!

Swinging the girls on the back yard swing set that he put together from the box. 
I have never seen him get so angry about anything before in his life than he did at this building project. But, it was all for love.



Shannon with Maddy at her first Mineola Jackets football game. I always loved seeing him hold her because they looked so much alike,




Please forgive this picture of Shannon with the girls (gun fingers to head). But, it makes me laugh so hard inside. It was just one of those days on family vacation.  It's was hot at the cattle show in the Texas StockYards and we were having to wait for it to start... the girls were being totally cra-cra!
I had to take a picture to remember his comical patience through the misery.
We very often used comic relief to help us through parenthood and our marriage.
It is what kept us living... was laughing through it.


Stock Yards, Spring Break Vacation 2013





Shannon always pushed a cart full of girls on our shopping outings. There is nothing more attractive than a man that can handle his girls In public! Seriously...

He was always so sweet to help entertain the girls when we went out to eat at restaurants. 
He was not above holding a Barbie, coloring a kid's menu, or wipey swiping a dirty baby face.


May Days 2013 and Galveston Aquarium




Daddy and Maisy in Galveston. He always wanted to move there when we got old and retired so we could be close to Maisy as she studied to be an underwater veteranarian. 




We were starting the vacation tradition of photographing the family when we went to my most favorite of all childhood vacation spots
 Wimbetley, Texas...


I am joyfull to be blessed with these memories of sharing a little bit of Heaven with my Shannon.
Now he is able to see the entire thing.





Here they are in WImberley, our last family vacation.
June 2013



Shannon loved napping with his girls...

                                              


This was the girls with thier daddy at the Mineola Train Station. We always watned to ride AMTRAC to go back to the Hill Country.
He loved Mineola and all it's history. He was always on EBAY triying to snag up some vintage postcard or picture from Mineola's past. He was a history nerd.

We always wanted ald fashioned family photos for our mantle. 
This was done in Galveston, Texas Summer 2012.



He even love his cardboard wife!

Maisy's first bike... red triycle.
Shannon just took her training wheels off her 2nd "big girl" bike the week before he left.




Shannon would always use the ketchup to draw little pictures on a dip plate for Maisy. The waitresses would always smile... And so would I.



This is a totally hilariously sweet memory...
when Maisy was little she used to have these Disney Princess mini dolls that were a pain in thr rear end to dress up,! Well, Shannon would. Frequently lay on the floor and arrange all the dresses for them to play "Sebastia's Dress Shop". Shannon would imitate Sebastian (crab from Little Mermaid) and dress up all the dolls. Eventually this game was requested so frequently by Miss Maisy that e every time he cringe! But... Like a good dad, he always would.


THE HUSBAND


I made Shannon fake drink coffee for a blog post... He hated coffee,  but loved me.

Here we are at Canton Trade days which we almost monthly attended.
We love collecting antiques: weather houses, paint by numbers, and anything that caught our eyes. I will have many memories of this shopping spot.
We loved the corny dogs and acting a little corny too!



10 years together...

This is us on the weekend of our 10 year wedding anniversary. 
Shannon surprised me with the renewing of our vows,

Thank you Lord for allowing me to have 10 awesome years married to the best man a girl could find.

After the renewing of our vows, he took me to get my nose pierced and go bowling,

We stayed the night at a bed and breakfast in Tyler and tried on hats with a stuffed stranger!



MAN OF FAITH



Shannon was shy about his faith at times. He always complimented and admired me for being brave enough to pray and speak my heart about the Lord in church and public. But, he prayed at home every night before we went to bed and we prayed before we ate. The Lord touched Shannon a month before his passing in a special way. Shannon attended tje UM Army trip with our church's youth group and came back revitalized spiritually! I was sad to be away from him for a whole week this Summer, but to see how God's hand was working in the whole scheme of faith was more than priceless.

This group of kids blessed him more than they will ever know. 
He bragged about their attitude to work for Christ without complaining or ceasing in the heat. He came home from the trip very sentimental and renewed. This lead us to many follow up conversations about our thought of Heaven and dying. God put peace in my heart before Shannon left by me knowing without a doubt that Shannon was spiritually ready to go home to Heaven.
For this I am forever great full!

HIS DREAMS...
He had an eye for beauty...
He didn't like to be in front of the camera, but he loved it behind.
He was beginning to bloom with creativity.


 
The blog he never started... going around the state to eat beans, bacon, and other random foods.
His biggest dream was to make by biggest dreams come true...
it's true, that's just how he rolled.

He loved football...

He wanted a tattoo...
There were things still left on Shannon's dream list ... Like being a photographer, traveling the world to eat BBQ, watching the Cowboys play, and getting a real tattoo,,,
But life itself is like a dream. One happy day we will wake up in the arms of our loving Father and have no worries, shame, fear, hate, or tears. These are things of the world. Things of this world will pass away, they are dust in the wind, flowers quickly fading, moith eaten and filled with rust. He is in the light of his Father singing with the angels and carefree as a child, 
I know I am changed for the better by marrying this man. I know his girls will always lve to remember his love and laugh. 

I love and miss you dearly Shannon. 
Till we meet again...