Shane

In the "NOTES" section in my iphone, you will find a section called "Blogs" with pages and pages of potential blogs just waiting to be written. When inspiration strikes, or the Lord teaches me a lesson, I log it in there so as not to forget it. There they wait, anxious to be written and viewed by the 30 people who read this blog.

Those ideas, however, are just going to have to wait. Because there are some very important life changing things happening for some of my friends and I feel the need to log somewhere in the world how special and important they are to me. So prepare yourself, as the next few posts from me, will probably be about people that I love. And if you love me, then you should (and probably will) love them too. So I encourage you to read, as this one is about my Shaney.

Shane and I met at church during the Easter musical in which he wrote/directed 3 years ago. I was a baby Christian and fresh on the scene at Southwest church after having taken a leaf of absence for several years. I knew him as the amazingly talented directed with a voice bigger than his body (and a sass to go along with it!) Over the course of the summer, as we found ourselves thrust into all of the same extracurriculars and same posse of friends, we decided to become friends on our own accord. Hanging out and sharing life with one another. The type of person that Shane was then intimidated the type of person that I was then. He was the kind of guy I was desperate to be liked by because he held strong opinions of everything in his life. And I longed to be something he held a great opinion of. Neither one of us were very gentle with the other one's heart. Things got ugly. God intervened. Then things got beautiful.

I had the privilege of teaching alongside Shane on Wednesday nights to 3rd and 4th graders. We were on the praise team together, and every Sunday I got to hear his beautiful tenor voice behind me was nothing short of a wonderful blessing. Come two Easters later, after much growth from both of us, we decide to tackle the Easter musical again--together. It was an amazing time where a beautiful narrative was told and the broken, hurt, and angry people telling it 2 years prior were now blossoming into instruments that the Lord was using daily. Thriving in all He had prepared us to walk through. Our bond was strengthened as we needed one another to accomplish a common goal. Shane was no longer someone I was desperate to be liked by, he was now a beloved friend whom I knew loved me. And not because of what I had or hadn't done---but because of who I am. He was one of the very first people in my life to ever point things out about myself that I never knew. And never in a judgmental or condemning way....but in a way that was grace filled and accepting of loving me for exactly who I was. No expectations. And I love that about Shane, because he has grown to love and see everyone in that same way.

His presences has challenged many people in our church, community, and circle of friends. He has challenged us to look beyond material things and recognize the hurt in a broken world. Hurt that money can't fix. He has challenged us to live a life that looks more like the life of our Savior. He has challenged us to put our money where our mouths are and to get off our butts and DO SOMETHING. To stop complaining and stand up in the name of Christ to fix the problems we can and pray about the ones we can't--all while loving others as Christ would have us love. And love them as we ARE loved. One of the most important things Shane challenged us to do, was to be a family. A community of friends who are there for one another in the good, the bad, and the horribly ugly. He encouraged us to walk through our lives together, sharing every heartache, every bruise, every tragedy--for only then would we be able to see God's glory first hand when He took those heartaches, bruises, and tragedies and turned them into a vibrant healed heart beating the Lord's rhythm for all who is listening. We shared that. Together. And in large part to Shane and his motivation to always seek to be living how the Lord instructed brothers and sisters in Christ to live.

I will forever be thankful for knowing him and forever be grateful that he has loved me in return.

"I thank my God for every remembrance of you"
In Him,
Meg