It’s Fall – Let Go!

Today as I look out my window on this breezy fall day, I am feeling very connected to the beauty of creation.  I live in a beautiful location.  My house is surrounded by trees and at this time of year, the leaves are all different shades of red, orange, green and yellow.  When the sunlight hits them, which does happen occasionally in Western PA, they just glow with brilliance.  The leaves on the trees are stunning.  And, then, something magical happens when the wind blows.  The leaves come soaring to the ground.  Some of them spin in little circles with the stem down and seem to just dive to the earth.  Others actually tumble end over end until they slowly float to the earth.  Some start falling one direction and then the wind picks them up and carries them a different direction and then sometimes just before they hit the ground, it lifts them once again for a little glide across the yard.  All these leaves are on different journeys, and they travel at different speeds and in different ways.  They really remind me of life and its journey.  Though all the leaves can represent that journey, I realized today that I identified with a particular one. A medium sized yellow maple leaf halfway up a tree that is smaller than its Oak neighbor.  This little leaf on this smaller tree refuses to let go.  As I’ve watched hundreds, possibly thousands of leaves make their journey from limb to lawn, this stubborn Maple leaf clings on by a thread.  The wind is whipping it in every direction, and I marvel at its strength to hold on.  It reminds me of a child’s wiggly loose tooth that refuses to give up and fall out.  This leaf is hanging on.  For what?  Eventually, we all know it will let go and join the rest of the leaves in the yard, but until it does, it is taking a royal beating in an attempt to hang on.

I am like that Maple leaf many times.  I hang on to things way longer than I should.  I honestly know that if I would just let go, I would softly, beautifully float to new and better things, but I refuse and I hang on to what I know.  I stay in the place I have been for a long time.  I refuse to let go and declare a new season.  Just as I shake my head and wonder about that leaf and its motives, I shake my head and wonder about myself. As I have spent some time this afternoon thinking, dreaming and watching the fall leaves tumble, I think I am excited for the day I do let go. The day I do drift peacefully into the next exciting season. I mean, what are my options? I certainly don’t want to be that lone brown leaf that we’ve all seen during winter hanging on to the tree being pelted by snow and sleet. No.  That is not how I am going to go into the next season, and I hope you don’t either. Let Go!

18 But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I’m going to do! 19 For I’m going to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Don’t you see it? I will make a road through the wilderness of the world for my people to go home and create rivers for them in the desert! – Isaiah 43:18 & 19 The Living Bible

Hopefully Hopeful

Credit goes to Rick Warren who presented a sermon on the topic of “Hope is my Anchor” and gave me a starting point and content for this little devotional. In our previous discussions, we have focused on Love, Grace and now we will tackle Hope, the least discussed of the three, I believe.

It is critically important that we understand hope since scripture says:

 …those who forget God have no hope. They are like rushes without any mire to grow in; or grass without water to keep it alive. Suddenly it begins to wither, even before it is cut. — Job 8:11-13 TLB

But what is hope? I found two definitions. In the dictionary, hope means a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. And, in a Bible dictionary, I found a very similar meaning of to trust in, wait for, or desire something; or to expect something beneficial in the future. Is that the way we use the word “hope?” Are we using the word “hope” in the right way or is it optimism (hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something) we are meaning? What is the difference? Here’s an example: It’s springtime regardless of what the weather looks like outside. So, I can say “I hope it is sunny every day this spring.” We are hopeful of that, but it isn’t a certain hope, it isn’t based in reality, it is optimistic. And, optimism is better than pessimism where we would say, “It’s spring and it will probably be gloomy and cold all season” which is definitely not hopeful. However, we truly do have the hope of spring. It is spring. Optimism only works for things you can control. When something bad happens, optimism says, “It’s not as bad as you think,” but hope would say, “It’s bad, it’s really bad, BUT I still believe it will get better.” Optimism is Psychological and Hope is Theological.

There are three kinds of hope. The first is wishful hope, which is what I described above and what most of us use the word “hope’ for. “I hope the light turns green.” This is worthless hope. It is a false hope. There is nothing that will change the light by your hoping.

The second kind of hope is expectant hope. This hope has some basis in reality. For example, if you plant seeds, you can hope they grow. (Wishful hope would be hoping your garden grew without planting any seeds.) So, you can have expectant hope, you planted seeds and you hope they grow, but will they grow for certain? They may or may not.

Lastly, there is CERTAIN HOPE and this is the Biblical use of the word hope. Hebrews 6:19a says:

This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God… (TLB)

Real hope is based on God’s word and NOT my wishes. There is no doubt in certain hope. You can count on God’s promises because they are sure things and you will want to build your life on this type of hope. The above verse tells us the three things that certain hope is. It is strong, trustworthy and it’s an anchor.

Using the anchor illustration, let’s explore what an anchor is used for. It is used to keep a ship from drifting and it adds stability in a storm. Doesn’t God’s word do that for us? Without an anchor, it is easy to drift downstream and without being connected to God and His word, it is easy for us to drift too. We also need this certain hope for stability. The bigger the ship, the bigger the anchor needed. So in our lives, what does that look like? If you want to live a little life and stay uninvolved and not do a mighty work for God, then you can get away with a teeny tiny anchor, however, if your life involves others and you want to live a big, full, abundant life, you are going to need a big anchor. A big anchor for your soul.

We get this certain hope, aka “anchor” from God’s word. Certain hope is based on God’s promises in the Bible. As Rick Warren stated,

“Certain hope is not based on what is sensed, but what is said. Not based on my emotions but what is spoken and it is not based on my Imagination, but on God’s obligation to do what he says he will do.” 

There are approximately (because who can truly count them?) 8,810 promises and 7,487 of them are made by God to us! One thing we are certain of is that God can’t lie, so these promises are what we should stand on. When we put our hope in His promises we can be certain of them. 

One big ah-ha moment I got when I was studying this topic was that we can be certain of God’s promises, but the thing that I sometimes don’t take into account is that God has all of eternity to make his promises come true. He is not limited to our life here on earth. So when we hope for something, and we check it against His word, He has until eternity to fulfill his promise, but we can be filled with hope because we know that he will!

The more we know his promises, the closer we will be to him, and the closer we are to Him, the more hopeful we will be. I read that hope gives the motivation and courage needed to succeed. It’s been said that a person can live forty days without food, four days without water, four minutes without air, but only four seconds without hope. I think that is a major incentive for us to look for the certain hope that we know is available to us!

100 Days

Today’s the day.  Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. becomes president of the United States of America. The count begins.  The world will watch and see what he does in his first 100 days of office. I’ve read some articles about what he hopes to accomplish and I’ve read articles about what others hope he focuses on, but the take away from all of my reading has been the day count. We want to see what this man gets done in the next 100 days. It has me wondering, what would it look like if we all got rated on the next 100 days? What can we hope to accomplish? Have we made our lists?

There is certainly a lot of unrest in our country and today we focus on the leaders and what we hope they will do to get our nation to unite and to heal from all the negative events of recent years. (A Global Pandemic, for one!) but there is absolutely no way I personally can help President Biden accomplish that.  However, maybe I can make a difference for those around me by focusing on MY next 100 days and what I hope to accomplish. I’ve been thinking about this and honestly haven’t come up with my idea yet, but I think it’s something anyone can do.  I was discussing it with my 91-year-old Mom and said that maybe I should commit to pray for the president daily or get outside and enjoy fresh air daily or some little thing for 100 days.  She suggested, “no complaining for 100 days.”  I, of course, wasn’t thinking of choosing something that challenging, but you get the idea.  Would you feel better if you exercised daily, donated $1/day to a worthy cause, kissed your spouse, or paid someone a compliment every day for the next 100 days? Could you make a difference if you tried to do a random act of kindness or read a bible verse every day for the next 100 days?

I have absolutely no idea how doing any of these things in the next 100 days will affect the economy, the pandemic, or the Paris Climate Accord, but it might make us all feel a little better.  Feel free to let me know what you plan to do…especially if it is something as big as not complaining!

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.     —Proverbs 16:3

Confused About Christmas Plans?

Is Christmas 2020 different for you? Have you decided where you will go, who you will see or what you will do? Are you making plans for the day even if the plans are to stay home? Are you feeling joyful about this? I’m guessing that this year, you may not be as joyful about your plans as you would like.  Your thoughts may be rambling, you may be indecisive and you are confused about the best thing to do. This doesn’t feel very joyful, because you simply can’t have joy when you are confused.

Even though the thoughts of celebrating Christmas during a pandemic brings about a lot of confusion, it isn’t the first time there was confusion about Christmas and it turns out that we are in good company. Think about the Christmas story in scripture, everyone in the story is confused except for the angels. Joseph, Mary, Shepherds, all wondered what was going to happen and what was going on. Even the Wisemen were confused about exactly where they were going, but when they were confused, they chose to follow God’s light one step at a time. 

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” –Matt 2:1-3

These wise men traveled all the way to Jerusalem but still had to ask where Jesus could be found. They were still seeking him.

He  (King Herod) sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” –Matt 2:8

So they continued…

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.  –Matt 2:9-10

Aaaaah.  They found him. When they were confused, they followed his light to wind up where they needed to be. They needed his light to help them and when we are confused we need to follow his light too. It may not be a star in the sky, but God still is willing to give us directions and a path to follow in his Word. He will help us decide how to get to Christmas and what plans we should make. Ask Him to guide you as you make plans, follow His light one step at a time and you, too, will find Him at Christmas. It’s Jesus’s birthday, our Savior’s birthday, and he wants us to celebrate it, don’t allow confusion about holiday plans or the lack of them, rob you of His true joy. Be like the Wisemen and follow God’s light one step at a time.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing (or generous) spirit. –Psalm 51:12

 

A Battle for Joy

It’s December 2020.  Turn on the TV first thing in the morning, and you don’t see Bing Crosby singing White Christmas you hear the news.  Even if you don’t have the news channel on, snippets of the news sneak in between the programming and you can’t escape the reality that this year is different.  We are trying to prepare for Christmas in the midst of a global pandemic. Our minds battle between dealing with safety mitigations and picking up stocking stuffers. It’s hard to maintain joy when you hear a newscaster counting Covid deaths and days ‘til Christmas in the same breath. It’s a battle to find peace and joy, but it’s a battle worth fighting.  I decided to fight it earlier this week and after allowing myself to turn off the news, I turned on the Christmas music and headed out to do some holiday shopping.

At the first shop, I donned my mask, entered through a crowded doorway, sanitized my cart handle, and was hit with crowded aisles, people bumping into me, and people not wearing masks! With every nose I saw I got angrier. The sign on the door said “masks required,” it’s that simple. I don’t want to get political here because this is truly not a masking matter but a heart matter. I was resentful that others weren’t wearing masks. Others’ actions were affecting my shopping experience and I didn’t know what I could do about it. It felt like these complete strangers who have their own beliefs were hurting me. I was taking their choices personally and I was resentful. I quickly grabbed my few items, avoided others as much as possible, and headed to the car. It was then that I realized that I was allowing others’ actions to affect my joy. I needed to stop, pray, and regroup. It was then that all that I have been taught and told in the past, came back to me and I thought I’d share….

Simply put, you can’t be resentful and joyful at the same time. Because of sin and our rebellion against God, we will be hurt…and we will hurt others. But being resentful and bitter about these hurts will keep us from experiencing joy. We have to learn how to let it go and Joseph in Matthew chapter 1 gives us a great example of how to do that. 

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  –Matthew 1:18-19

This is interesting. What Joseph knows at this point is that Mary is pregnant and he isn’t the father. I’m assuming he was a bundle of emotions. He probably felt betrayed, cheated, broken-hearted, and just plain mad, but he “had in mind to divorce her quietly.” He had every right to be mad, and I’m sure he was hurt, but he did not get bitter and resentful. He didn’t plot revenge, when he was hurt, he chose to offer grace and let it go.  and he decides to divorce her quietly. 

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Wow. That Joseph is some guy! AFTER he considered divorcing her quietly, THEN an angel appears to him and explains the plan and the honor he will have as he raises Jesus as his son. Joseph chose to show grace and let it go before he knew the whole story.

Back to 2020. How many times am I hurt or just irked by others and I don’t make the Joseph choice? I don’t choose to show grace and let it go.  Instead, I choose to fester in my annoyances and bitterness and it just snowballs. I may call someone to share with them the number of people that I confronted that weren’t behaving how I would like them to behave, I may make a mental list of the things that have gone wrong with my day, I may wallow in resentment against people or in the whole Covid situation. Holding on to all these negative thoughts and emotions won’t change the situation at all. I need to figure out how to show grace and let it go and then maybe I will be blessed with some better understanding and peace as Joseph was. 

Unfortunately, I couldn’t purchase the grace I need to show others at the register of the store I was just in. Where was I going to get this needed grace to show others so that I could have a better day? 

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. –Psalm 121

I said a prayer (“Lord, help me to not notice the people that annoy me and help me to not annoy others.”) and I entered the next store where things went smoothly for me and I had an enjoyable shopping experience and I felt the joy of Christmas shopping.  I chose to show grace (with God’s help) and I was blessed. This is a true testament to God’s power and might because the second store I went into was Walmart! (Haha) When you are hurt or annoyed, choose to offer grace and let it go. Fight for your joy!

Christmas Anticipation in 2020

Advent has always been a time of sweet anticipation.  I remember as a kid seeing the Advent wreath with candles at the front of the church and getting so excited when I knew the center one would soon be lit on Christmas Eve.  It was a very JOY filled time and it still is as we anticipate the true meaning of Christmas.  However, every year in addition to the advent wreath lighting at church, our preparations at home and with family traditions build weekly leading toward Christmas Day.  We put the tree up anticipating the presents under it, we shop anticipating how the receiver will respond, we bake anticipating the joy of sharing our families’ recipes. We anticipate. And, this year the anticipation may not be as sweet as we remember from years prior. Will there be presents under the tree or will I have to ship them? Will I bother to shop or honestly, does an Amazon gift card make the most sense this year? Do I even need to bake if I’m not entertaining? I may allow my anxiety about not knowing exactly what this year’s Christmas celebration will look like to run away with my joy. Rick Warren in a sermon once listed anxiety as the first destroyer of joy and he said that the antidote to that was to choose to trust God and accept his plan and he gave a perfect example of someone doing just that in the Christmas story.  Let’s look at Mary and see if she, too, was faced with some uncertainty.

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

Wow. That sounds like anxiety to me.

³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

I’m still not sure that the angel’s words would’ve stopped my anxiety. The angel explained a bit more…

³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[a] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

And now comes the antidote:

³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Mary answered. She chose to trust God and accept His plan. There you have it. There is the answer to all of our anxiety due to the uncertainty this 2020 Christmas season.  We can choose to trust God and accept His plan.  Whatever that may be.

Deck the halls, trim the tree, do the shopping and baking, but most importantly, choose to trust!

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”     –Isaiah 26:3-4

Joy During Advent

It’s Advent and many of you know all about lighting Advent candles and having Advent wreaths as your traditions.  During Advent, we light the candles of hope, joy, love, and peace, and traditionally, each week would focus on each of those things.  But, this year, I’ve decided to focus on Joy from the very beginning of Advent. Joy. Joy. Joy. And, Joy.  Light the candle of Joy!

The Christmas season is the time of year when you see the word joy everywhere.  Ornaments, decorations, sweatshirts, and lawn ornaments all have the word. Many Christmas Carols use the word joy in them in addition to songs we sing year-round.  “I have the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart, down in my heart.”  So, this year especially, I think we need to remember that down in our hearts is exactly where joy resides. Joy is one of the fruits of the spirit, so it is within us and not dependent on what is going on around us.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  –Galatians 5:22-23

There is a difference between happiness and joy and to simply try to explain it, happiness depends on happenings.  Things that are going on around you and the circumstances that you are living through.  Joy is different.  Joy is from within and is a feeling. Aaaaaaaah.  We can feel joy even when we can’t be happy.  What a relief. Since joy is within us, no one can steal it. It can’t be taken from us. We have to make a decision to choose joy even when our circumstances are not what we hope for.

My favorite definition of joy is from Kay Warren. She states:

Joy is: “The settled assurance that God is in control of every detail in my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything will be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things.” (from Choose Joy, 2012)

Let’s determinedly be assured that God is in control and that everything will be all right and let’s praise God in all things…even this.  Whatever “this” is for you. No matter what today brings, remember joy is inside of you and you CAN be joyful.

Waiting …

I told K that I was retreating to my studio to write for an hour…I revised it and said “at least 30 minutes” because I have been working on writing an Advent Devotional/Bible Study for a while and I need to be more diligent. I made it to the room, tried to rid myself of distractions, had my cup of tea, found my notes, and began. I needed to print out a resource so I hit the “print” button and that’s where it stopped. The document did not print and my plan of writing had stopped. I did what everyone does and selected “print” again.  Nothing. Maybe I didn’t actually select it, so I tried again. Print. Maybe I’m too far away from my wireless printer, so I picked up my laptop, sat next to the printer on the floor, and selected “print” again. Nothing. I checked my settings and made sure my wireless was turned on and the printer address was valid. Everything appeared to be set up and working. Print. Again…nothing.  Finally, I did what apparently needed to be done.  I turned off my computer. I sat for a few seconds. I turned my computer back on and then I heard it.  The whirring of the printer as it readied itself and began its work. It started shooting out multiple copies of the document that I was waiting for. One neat and tidy document appeared….and then another…and then another…and another…please stop….another…another….how many times did I push the print button?! It stopped. Aaaaah. I now sat on the floor beside my laptop, my printer, and an overabundance of documents.  I only needed one.

It made me stop and think, though, about how many times my prayer life feels like that.  I pray a prayer and want an immediate response. “Lord, fix this. Gimme this. Let me have this. I need this. I want this. Can I have it? Can I have it now?” I try all I can to get what I want. I’m not getting it. I keep demanding. It’s not working. It’s not happening. Nothing. Finally, I sit. I wait. Is that what God was after all along? I wonder. I sit and now I smile because I know that the Lord is just waiting for His timing to be right and then the abundance of blessings will be shooting out of heaven like the papers out of my printer.  I can’t wait to watch them flow! And, the best part of all…I’m not worried about God running out of blessings like I am worried about this printer running out of ink!

OK. I’ve written. Now back to my original task of an Advent Devotional. It’s coming….just wait…I hope.

Micah 7:7
But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  –2 Corinthians 9:8

Psalm 39:7
“And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in You.

Psalm 33:20
Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.

Hosea 12:6
Therefore, return to your God,
Observe kindness and justice,
And wait for your God continually.

Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.

Creature of Habit

I am a creature of habit and my bedtime routine is no exception. Each night, I get into bed, read a bit, set the alarm, put my book on the nightstand, turn out the bedside lamp, hug a pillow and roll to my right side to close my eyes, thank the Lord, say goodnight to Him and got to sleep.

One night I was recognizing how each night I do the very same thing and it doesn’t even matter where I am. Recently I’ve been in my home, at a camp in the mountains, in a travel trailer in the desert and at my daughter’s apartment out of state. Even though the location has changed the routine has not and it brings me great comfort. It’s a comfort that no matter what the day has brought to me or where I am physically I can roll over on my right side, thank God and say “goodnight” knowing that He is there with me, tucking me in.

My comfort comes from the sameness of routine , but more importantly the knowledge that just as my routine doesn’t change, neither does my Lord & Savior. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Thank you God and Good night.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 

                                                                                              –Hebrews 13:8

For I the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob are not consumed.  –Malachi 3:6 ESV

But you are the same and your years have no end. –Psalm 102:27

Comparison Girl – A Book Review

Me? A Comparison Girl?  Yep.  Every single day.  Every single second of each day it seems.  Shannon Popkin in her book Comparison Girl – Lessons from Jesus on Me-Free Living in a Measure-up World pointed it out to me vividly.  In her new book, Shannon shares her Bible knowledge and God’s truth in a very easy, relatable way.

Short chapters chock full of Biblical truths show us, Comparison Girls, how to free ourselves from bondage in the areas of sin, wealth, appearance, ministries, and status. She reinforces our need to stop trying to measure up but to spend our time and resources by pouring out on others.

I found myself saying “ouch” in almost every chapter as she seemed to identify many of my struggles as a woman today in a world full of Facebook posts, filters, and airbrushed pictures.  And, whether I have an over-inflated or under-inflated opinion of myself, my opinion still focuses on self.

In chapter 2, Comparing your sin and mine, she gives a great example of how we notice others’ sin and not our own at times.  Shannon defines the “sin of disgust” as she shares a story of someone walking into the church and this person “doesn’t belong.”  She points out that some people would choose to not sit with this individual.  Just as I was reading and believing that I was one of the “good ones” who would sit with her, she prompted me to examine how I was viewing those who wouldn’t.  Was I comparing down with disgust? ” We comparison girls tend to minimize our own sin of looking down on sinful people …we fail to see our contempt as sin. Each eye-roll horrified gasp, or look of disgust cast toward others is offensive to God, their Maker.”  Ouch! But Wait!  After she points out our shortfalls or shortcomings she recuses us with Jesus’s words in a clear Bible study with relevant questions for self-discovery and scripture leading us to resolve and renewal.  Finally, each chapter closes with a pertinent scripture meditation.

This book would make a wonderful Bible study for a group of friends or a Mother/Daughter book club.  I believe this information is important for women of all ages and I believe we would benefit by learning these truths sooner rather than later.  I’m going to go share some notes with my 14-year-old daughter now!

Connect with Shannon Popkin by visiting www.shannonpopkin.com, following her on Facebook (shanpopkin) or following her via Twitter (@ShannonPopkin).