I should have known. God had me pegged right from the start.\u00a0 My path, whichever way it turned, would always involve an effort to bring joy to people.\u00a0 Trying to run from it, trying to ignore it, was a futile as trying to run from God.\u00a0 You can’t run from something that’s an innate part of you.\u00a0 And nowhere was this more on display than in a grade school gym on August 9, 2001.<\/p>\n
On that day, I was fulfilling a life-long dream.\u00a0 I was recording my first album<\/a>!\u00a0 Since I was short on funds, I decided to organize a concert and record the album live.\u00a0 The plan was for another band to serve as the opening act, pause for a short intermission, and then my band would play our set.\u00a0 During that intermission, a friend of mine asked me if I was planning to play “Mexican Caf\u00c3\u00a9”<\/a>, a funny, but dumb song I made up during a retreat a few years prior.\u00a0 I told her that it wasn’t part of the set, because my intention was to make a serious Christian album.\u00a0 (This, of course, was a ridiculous answer because I was already planning to include “Chickenwire Joe”<\/a> and “Matilda the Gorilla”<\/a> on the album.\u00a0 Serious is not a word I would use to describe either one of those songs).\u00a0 Anyway, after some discussion, I agreed to play the song during a part of the concert where I had already planned to sing “Happy Birthday” to someone.\u00a0 The concert went very well, and a few weeks later, I found myself sitting with a guy named Joe, who would mix the album for me.\u00a0 As we listened to the various tracks, he asked me which songs were planned for the album.\u00a0 After I shared the list with him, he asked me about one other song he had captured.\u00a0 Sure enough, unbeknownst to me, “Mexican Caf\u00c3\u00a9” had been recorded.\u00a0 I told him, “no”, it wouldn’t be on the album.\u00a0 He then asked, “Are you sure? The audience reaction to this song was the better than any other song.” I was stunned, but in the end, agreed to keep it as a “hidden track” at the end of the album.<\/p>\n This moment of my life is significant to me because it represents one of many times in which God reminded me of my gifts, reminded me of one of my vocations.\u00a0 For some reason, God created me to help spread joy.\u00a0 I often feel I am at my most effective when I am making people laugh or leading people in a song that lifts their spirits.\u00a0 I can and do write and lead solemn songs of prayer and worship, but I am always drawn back to that which spreads the humor and joyfulness of God.\u00a0 I’m sure my joking nature isn’t always appreciated, but I have been told countless times the positive effects my attempts to be jovial and funny have had on other people.\u00a0 I know it’s a gift and I know that gift needs to be shared for the glory of God.<\/p>\n What is that gift for you?\u00a0 Which part of your nature is so strong that it defines you?\u00a0 Could God be calling you to share more of it with the world?<\/p>\n -Shannon<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I should have known. God had me pegged right from the start.\u00a0 My path, whichever way it turned, would always involve an effort to bring joy to people.\u00a0 Trying to run from it, trying to ignore it, was a futile as trying to run from God.\u00a0 You can’t run from something that’s an innate part…<\/p>\n