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In Ecclesiastes 3:11, we read that God makes everything beautiful in its time. It is comforting to know that nothing is wasted in God's economy, but all of it will be used for our good and His glory. You're invited to join us for poignant conversations and compelling interviews centered on believing for His beauty in every season.
Shannon (00:02.99)
Well, hey there everybody. Welcome to episode 40 of the Everything Made Beautiful podcast. That feels like a bit of a milestone. 40 episodes of conversation, encouragement, reflection, and hopefully hope. know, lately I've been thinking about the number 40 and also the number seven, interestingly. Why?
Well, because this episode marks our 40th conversation together and I've now lived in Franklin for seven full years. That felt worth paying attention to as I was thinking. And I don't think it's just a coincidence because both of those numbers, seven and 40, show up all throughout scripture and they are never random. So seven is the number of completeness, of divine fulfillment.
In the creation story, God worked for six days and rested on the seventh, not because he was tired, but because his work was finished. The seventh day was a holy pause, a declaration that everything he had made was good and whole and complete. All throughout the Bible, seven carries that same weight. Seven days, seven lampstands, seven churches, seven seals in Revelation.
It's a number that signals God's perfect work, his finished purpose, and his invitation to rest in what he's already done. 40, on the other hand, is a number tied to testing, transformation, and preparation in scripture. Noah endured 40 days of rain that led to the promise of new life. Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness before God called him to lead.
The Israelites wandered 40 years before entering into the promised land and Jesus, well, he withdrew for 40 days in the wilderness before stepping into public ministry, fasting, resisting temptation and aligning his heart with the Father. 40 is never just a waiting period, it's a weighty one.
Shannon (02:16.526)
It's the kind of season where God strips away distractions, clarifies callings, and prepares us for what's next. So maybe, just maybe, this moment, seven years in this town, 40 episodes into this journey, is a divinely timed invitation. And maybe that's why it's been on my mind so much. Maybe it's an invitation to reflect on what has been made complete and to step into a holy pause.
to trust that the transformation God has begun in me and maybe in you is still unfolding even in the quiet. And that's what today's episode is about, a pause. This will not be a surprise to those of you who were in the Bible study in the book of Ephesians that we did this week, not this week actually, for seven weeks.
But over those weeks, I've been asking the Lord to give me fresh clarity about my yeses and my nos in this season. I didn't want to keep running on autopilot or saying yes out of obligation, but instead from a place of obedience. And I'm so grateful to say he has been clear because I've been asking. He's been kind.
And with his help, I've been able to say no to a few small things and a few big things that even though they were good, weren't best right now. I've also been able to say a joyful yes to some other things and there are some fun things coming that I'm hoping to say yes to. Which brings me to this. After these 40 episodes, I'm pressing pause on the podcast just for a bit.
It's not goodbye, it's just a break like we took at Christmas. I will be back. But for the next several weeks, I'm stepping away on purpose to be fiercely present for the final days of my youngest child's senior year and graduation. I want to be all there, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. I want to greet the summer not with more hustle, but more with a holy hush, prioritizing rest, reflection.
Shannon (04:27.404)
and renewal. I also recognize I need to process something deeply personal. Recently, painful information has come to light about an organization and a leader that I spent decades working with and for. And while I'm still sorting through it all, one thing I do know, I don't want to rush past it. This isn't just news for me, it's part of my story.
And stories like that deserve time, reflection, and honestly, real grief. So to bypass that would be to bypass something sacred. So I'm choosing to sit with it and to be intentional to let the Lord do whatever refining, healing, or clarifying work he wants to do in me in regard to that really painful situation. Another clear no in this season is social media.
I'm stepping back from daily engagement there too. Thankfully, I do have a team that will continue posting what's needed and let's be honest, what's fun on both my personal and my podcast accounts. But I've reclaimed something I already knew recently. I am less anxious, less distracted and quieter in my soul when I am not scrolling. And that kind of soul quiet is something I need right now.
especially as I begin writing two books, Everything Made Beautiful. You probably saw that coming. But Anchors for the Soul is the second one, which explores four unchanging truths that our souls can cling to about the sovereignty of God. These aren't projects I can write on the go or squeeze in between errands. These are heart and soul deep messages that need space, stillness, and surrender. And just to be clear,
Stepping back from social media doesn't mean I'm going off the grid. I'll still be writing just more intentionally and intermittently over on Substack. It's become a quieter space for me to share what God's teaching me in real time in longer form without the noise and the algorithm and the pressure to perform. So if you're looking for updates or reflections during this pause, that's where you'll find them and I'd love to have you there.
Shannon (06:48.972)
But maybe most significantly, I'm becoming a full-fledged kind of almost overnight empty nester. And I wasn't expecting that. Jack has decided to move to Chattanooga and Allie, our baby, is moving to England for a worship internship. I am thrilled for both of them. Proud doesn't even really begin to cover my feelings as a parent.
But I also know this next season is going to bring a mingling of gladness and sadness that I don't want to rush past. I want to feel it. I want to honor it. I want to let it mark me. I don't want to be so busy creating content that I forget to fully live the content of my own life. So I'm not disappearing, but I am intentionally retreating for a bit. I call it a bit of a soul sabbatical. I'm still around.
And I've actually got some exciting collaborations coming up, especially with Kava that I can't wait to share down the road. But right now I'm choosing to close one season well, enter the next with intention and ask the Lord again to direct my yeses and my no's. And friends, maybe this is a gentle nudge for you too. Maybe it's time for you to ask the Lord for clarity in your life, to consider what brings a settledness to your soul.
What helps you hear him more clearly? What might need to be laid down, not forever, but for now? We talk a lot here on the podcast about living with intention, about recognizing the season you're in and responding accordingly. But that kind of clarity only comes when we slow down long enough to ask the deeper questions. Not just, what do I have to do? But what is God inviting me to do? Not just what's urgent.
but what's essential? One verse that's been a steady guide for me lately is from 1 Thessalonians 4. It says, aspire to live a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your hands so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and you will not be dependent on anyone. On the surface, it's simple, but the more I've sat with it, the more I've realized how countercultural it really is.
Shannon (09:15.212)
The Greek word for quiet in that verse doesn't mean silent. It means settled, peaceable, undisturbed. A quiet life is not an invisible one. It's a rooted one. A life lived from a grounded center, not the chaos of comparison or the striving for significance. And when Paul says to aspire to that kind of life, that word implies ambition, intention.
It's not passive, it's purposeful. It takes effort to live unhurried. It takes courage to step out of the noise. And maybe that's why a quiet life feels so elusive, because it requires us to confront what's actually driving us. When we slow down, the noise inside gets louder before it gets still. The fears, the insecurities, the need to prove or perform.
They all rise to the surface in the silence. But here's the beautiful invitation. When we stop striving, we start hearing. Not the voices of culture or comparison, but the still small voice of the shepherd who leads us beside quiet waters and restores our souls. The quiet life isn't about doing less for the sake of less. It's about making space for what's eternal.
It's where we become reacquainted with who we are without the noise and even more importantly with who God is in the quiet. The phrase minding our own business in this verse isn't disengagement, it's discernment. It's asking what is actually mine to carry? What's my business? And working with our hands.
That's a reminder to embrace the kind of faithful, everyday stewardship that doesn't get platformed, but is deeply pleasing to God. Minding our own business can feel counterintuitive in a world that rewards hot takes and constant commentary. But Paul isn't calling us to apathy here. He's calling us to attentiveness. He's urging us to pay close attention to the plot lines God has actually written us into.
Shannon (11:32.386)
There's wisdom in knowing what's yours to steward and what isn't. We waste so much energy weighing in, worrying about, and working toward things that were never ours to begin with. But when we focus on the assignments God has actually given us, our families, our communities, our callings, our lives bear the kind of fruit that lasts. And when Paul mentions working with our hands,
He's dignifying the ordinary. He's saying the quiet, consistent work you do, the unseen faithfulness of showing up, creating, tending, repairing, nurturing, that matters. It forms you. It honors God. It doesn't need applause or affirmation to have impact. In a world obsessed with platforms, Paul draws us back to practices.
to the kind of life that's built not for spectacle, but for substance. A quiet life isn't small, it's solid. And it's often in that quiet, steady obedience that the deepest transformation takes place. The verse closes with this phrase, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and you will not be dependent on anyone. And that part matters just as much.
Paul's vision here isn't just for our inner lives to be peaceful. It's that our outer lives would bear quiet witness to the world around us. That people would see our everyday rhythms, our integrity, our kindness, our work ethic, our presence, and be drawn not to us, but to the God we reflect. It's not about putting on a show. It's about living in such a way that even those who don't share our beliefs can't help.
but respect the way we walk through the world. And that line, you will not be dependent on anyone, that isn't about rugged individualism or self-reliance. It's about living responsibly with wisdom and margin so that our lives aren't constantly in crisis mode. It's about cultivating a life that isn't reactive, but resilient. I need that.
Shannon (13:53.1)
I need a life that's rooted enough to weather the storm and steady enough to be a shelter and a shelter for others. When we live with that kind of quiet strength, we don't just survive, we create space for others to breathe easier too. Because the fruit of a quiet life isn't just peace for us, it's witness for them.
So this verse has been a North Star for me over the last several months. A reminder that faithfulness doesn't always look flashy. Sometimes the holiest thing we can do is get quiet, pull back, and let God reorient our pace and our purpose. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is not push through, but pause. Remember, there's power in the pause. So instead of powering ahead, it's pulling back.
Not because you're giving up, but because you're choosing to grow. You are not a machine. I am not a machine. We are human beings made in the image of God and invited to live in rhythm with him. And if Jesus himself often withdrew to quiet places to be with the father, why do we assume our lives need to be full throttle all the time? So if your soul feels cluttered,
like mine. If your calendar feels like it's controlling you, like mine. If your piece feels like it's gone missing, well maybe this is your cue. You don't have to earn rest. You're allowed to recalibrate. You're allowed to reclaim margin. You're allowed to pause. And if you're afraid of what might happen when you stop striving, let me gently remind you.
God is still moving even when you are not. He is faithful in your activity and in your stillness. He's not in a hurry and you don't have to be either. So I'm cheering you on as you seek Him for your own story. I'll be back soon, but I feel that unmistakable leading in my spirit to follow what God is asking of me and to trust Him with my obedience. And in the meantime,
Shannon (16:13.26)
May you be present in your own life, attentive to the spirits leading and open to the beautiful work God wants to do, not just through you, but in you. After all, God is always in the process of making everything beautiful, including us. I love you all and I will see you soon.