The famous Candy Cane Coffee Cake

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas. I know it’s only the 23rd, but I also know that life is nuts from here on out – Christmas Eve Services, Christmas, services the next morning and then heading to Michigan for a Shaw family Christmas, so if I don’t say it now, it might not get said. So, Merry Christmas! Remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. Jesus is the best present ever given, and the best one you can receive, and I pray that you know Him this year. And if not, what’s stopping you?

Just adding a little piece of Shaw tradition here: The Candy Cane Coffee Cake (which is really a bread, but that’s not so alliterative). We made it every year since before I can remember, and I’ve done it every year with my kids. It makes three, so one to share (the one here), one for Christmas morning, and one for New Year’s Day. And no, it doesn’t taste like candy canes. Just looks like one. I knew you were wondering. 🙂

The Old Barn Out Back

Last night I played a Christmas party for WTGN, the Christian radio station based in Lima, OH who has been so supportive of my music and ministry for years now. It was a great night – I’ve spent so much time up there lately for events and things at the station that they feel like family. I love their ministry, and their hearts for Christ! We had a worship time with Christmas carols and a couple of my songs, and I did a version of “O Come All Ye Faithful” that I just wrote – hopefully I’ll be able to release it as a single next Christmas, because I really like how it came out! We had it at the Old Barn Out Back which is an, um, old barn that’s in back of stuff. 🙂

Inside the Ark - Freshwater Church

The view from my deal of the century hotel room

Orchard Hill Church's brunch

The women dancing along with me.

It’s been a pretty amazing week all round. I was gone so much of November, and prepping for so many things in December (I’m also the music director at my church and Advent is crazy with all the extra/different/awesome music) that I haven’t slowed down much to think about anything but what had to happen next. This week was no different, but now that it’s over, I am praising God for what He’s done because He is awesome!

I had two women’s events this week. I went with my mom this time, and we headed out Thursday afternoon for Wadsworth, OH, just a little south of Cleveland. When we got to Freshwater Church, it was a super cool older building – we met two of the pastors in the lot (it was so icy, and they were both so kind about helping us to get stuff in!) and they said everyone says it looks like they turned Noah’s Ark upside down, and from the inside, it really does! The women there did a phenomenal job with their planning and decorations, and it was gorgeous. It was also at capacity – they were even thinking of pulling in the table they had set out for registration because they weren’t sure they had enough seats and they’d run out of tables! They told me they had prayed for women to really respond and God was certainly listening because they’d had even people calling in all that day to see if they could still get in. It was so fun. But the best part of the night was that we had some of the women meet the Lord at the event. Thank you, God! It was wonderful.

Some old friends came to see us that night, Lani who was a neighbor of my mom’s and also lost her husband about the time my dad died, and her daughter Shannon who went to camp with me for years when we were little. So fun to see them. Lani moved closer to Shannon when her husband died and we got to stay with her that night which is always such a treat and change from hotels. Then we all went out to breakfast in the morning and talked the morning away. It was so fun to catch up with them, and mom and I didn’t have much of a schedule that day, so the luxury of time was wonderful.

Then mom and I went antiquing and I bought a couple of little things for Christmas for the kids. After that we drove up to Pittsburgh. We had such a wonderful surprise too – I had gotten a hotel close to the church, totally forgetting that the event was hosted by the church, but was going to be held in a hotel ballroom. I was feeling like an idiot, and really hoping we weren’t staying an hour from the event, and when I checked the paperwork, we were staying at the actual hotel the event was in. Thank you, Lord! And, to make it better, I’d gotten a ridiculous deal on it online, so it was super cheap and when they found out I was the speaker for the event, they said I could just keep the room until we were all done, so I didn’t even have to pack up crazy early. Bliss.

Saturday morning was the brunch for Orchard Hill Church and it was also planned so wonderfully and looked amazing. I am really blown away sometimes when I get to events and see how much prep and time and prayer have gone into them. They were sold out too, and so excited to see how many women were there who were being specifically prayed for by women from their church. We also had several women meet the Lord there, and I have since heard from some others. I really can’t describe how humbling and wonderful it is to know that God let me be part of that in someone’s life. I am blown away by Him all the time.

We drove home and the next morning I went and did the morning worship service and watched the kids in the pageant, and now, what can I say – it’s Christmas, and all around me are so many reminders of God. He is Emmanuel, God With Us. He is the greatest gift ever given. He is our joy, our strength, our Comforter, our Redeemer, our Friend. He is awesome, and He is the reason I celebrate. Merry Christmas!

Sharing Emmanuel, God With Us

With Pastor Jerry afterwards - being a man, he was not allowed into the event. 😉

The Barbie-themed table the high school girls did, complete with Barbie herself

Yesterday, I got to do a Christmas brunch at a church in Mason, OH, and I was so excited about it because it is their largest outreach of the year for women’s ministries, and I just loved hearing the excitement these women had over what God would do with the time. In fact, I have a couple more of these events coming up this month, and knowing the prayer, thought, and time that all these women’s teams have put into these events just blows me away!

Anyway, Mason is a suburb just north of Cincinnati, and as we got off the freeway, I realized the area looked very familiar. It was a pretty strange way to get to a church – the GPS routed me right through a neighborhood, and some other strange turns, and I thought, “I know I’ve been here before!” but I also knew I hadn’t done an event for this particular church, so it stumped me a bit. Then, when we pulled into the parking lot, I KNEW I’d been there, but I still couldn’t place it, and then it hit me. This church supports one of the missionaries we stayed with in Kenya, and when they were home on furlough last year, they adopted their third child, a little boy. This church let them park their RV in the parking lot and live on their property for a while, and when I came down to meet their new addition, I did it right in the parking lot of this church! How crazy is that! I found out when I got in that this church has an incredible heart for Kenya – they have four families raising support right now to move there full time.

After that, I knew we would be friends. 🙂 And how fun – one of the videos I show has the very missionaries they support in it, and some of the people in the audience had been to the feeding centers in the video!

We had an awesome time that morning. They have women who host the tables and there’s a competition for different kinds of decorating, so the creativity was awesome. One of my favorites was a cowgirl theme and the hostess even had a tin washtub of root beer next to the table. All the women got lassos for their favor – not your typical. 🙂

I presented “Emmanuel, God With Us” and heard from many women how timely that was to hear. People need to know that God is with them, that He is our joy at Christmas, and that He also comforts because Christmas is a hard season for many. We laughed, we cried, it was all my favorite things about women’s ministry. Had a great time, Grace Baptist – I hope I see you again soon!

Faith Covenant Church's colorful community lunch in St. Petersburg, FL

Our still intact ship, the Ryndam, in port in Key West

My brothers who got into a show on the ship - now you all see what I have to deal with on family holidays!

The beautiful beach we were snorkeling from on Thanksgiving in Honduras

Well, I never thought I’d be writing this blog. Crazy stuff happens sometimes, I guess!

After I got back from the MN, IA, WI tour, I flew to Florida and sang at Faith Covenant Church in St. Petersburg – great church with great people, and they have this cool community lunch afterward right in the parking lot with all these picnic tables and we met more great people there. I’m really looking forward to returning!

After that, my family and I went immediately to the Tampa Port Authority and boarded a ship for a Caribbean cruise. You see, my darling 91 year old grandma decided that she still likes to cruise and she wanted to go with all of us, so she and my mom took our entire family of 19 on a cruise for Thanksgiving. It was my mom, my brothers and their families, and my uncle, and we all had a blast.

The last day on the ship was at sea and we were just cruising home in open waters to get in on Sunday morning. Saturday morning at about 5:30 we heard this terrible grating/crushing sound that woke us all up. My younger daughter jumped in bed with us saying “what was that?!” and I, of course, being mostly asleep said, “I’m sure it’s nothing, go back to sleep.” She was too scared to go to sleep at which point my older daughter said,
“I think we hit an iceberg!”

After we explained that it was hard to find an iceberg to hit in the Caribbean, everyone tried to go back to sleep, but in the back of my head I was thinking, “What could we possibly have hit in open water? What could make that sound?”

The kids all woke up around 7:30, and we were just coming to when they made an announcement ship-wide, even in our rooms which they never did. It was the captain saying that a rear anchor had been deployed at 5:30 in the morning (our room was in the back which explained why it was so loud) and that a life-ring was missing. He had turned the boat around to inspect the area where the life-ring was deployed and if no one came forward with information, he would be forced to muster the entire ship to make sure everyone was on board.

Well, no one came forward and we all had to muster on deck until they accounted for all passengers and crew, just under 2000 people. We were all worried someone had gone overboard, but finally they said everyone was accounted for and we went up and got breakfast and the rest of the day continued normally. I wondered what happened, though.

Today, I found out. One of my siblings saw this on the news and forwarded it to me – the story of what really happened. They said the guy was drunk, but he knew how to break into a restricted area, had gloves (who’s carrying gloves on a Caribbean cruise??) and went through all the steps to deploy the anchor. I guess it could have sunk the ship. I have a hard time believing his story. I’ll be interested to see what happens with it. Just thanking the Lord that we’re all okay!

Mom in front of Modern Cafe - we just liked the irony. 🙂

With David McIver and Matt Brown at KNOF

Ho, ho, ho, he looks really cold.

Getting ready for the live worship show at KJLY

With Beth Crosby and Steve Ware at KJLY

Wednesday we went up to have lunch at another DDD place – Modern Cafe which was very retro which made me laugh. Then we stopped by KNOF at North Central University right in the heart of the Twin Cities. We got a tour from Matt Brown, recorded a few short interview segments and heard a lot about their ministry. It’s so fun to see the energy from this campus and their ministry growing here in central Minnesota.

When we left, I knew I couldn’t avoid it any longer – The Mall of America. My mom has never been there (I haven’t either for that matter, but I hate shopping and she, well, doesn’t – we’ll put it that way) and she needed to go. We went for the afternoon and the highlight for me was riding the flume (really cute) and getting a pedicure because I’m leaving this frozen climate for places south where someone may actually see my toes. I survived and I can say I’m glad we went, although I personally was much more excited about the IKEA across the street. 🙂

The next morning we got up and drove down to Blue Earth, MN. I have since learned that it’s called Blue Earth because the earth is so black, it’s blue. Who knew? When we got off the exit, we saw something amazing! A 60 foot tall giant steel Jolly Green Giant! I suspect they may do something here in Blue Earth. And I have learned two things about him that I didn’t know before. One, he looks really cold in that outfit in the snow (apparently he will get a giant scarf in December) and two, he really needs another layer of leaves on that skirt. Little risque if you ask me, and poor guy, everyone’s looking up.

We went to KJLY which is the main station for a network covering southern MN and northern IA. We spent the last day of their sharathon with them and what an awesome group of people! There were tons of people there, either station people, or volunteers running the sharathon. They even have a room dedicated to prayer and had a volunteer up there praying for requests and the station the whole time. Very cool.

I sat in a couple times on air that afternoon and even spent some time taking phone calls for the sharathon. It was so cool to see God meet their needs – they literally went over their goal in the last couple of minutes of the sharathon. When it was over, I led about 45 minutes of live worship music on air to celebrate and praise God. Loved my time with them, and hope I’ll be back soon!

Mom and I ran away after that. We were going to lose an hour with the time difference, and we had to get all the way home Friday (12 hours without stops) because I’m flying out tomorrow morning to sing in Florida on Sunday. We got in tonight with only a few complications and we’re both exhausted. Repacking and flying out in the morning. We had such a great time seeing all the ways God has been moving, I was almost sorry to be done. But the weather should be a nice change!

Soundcheck at Crossroads Church in St. Paul

Concert at First United Methodist Church in Eagle Grove, IA

With Jay Rudolph from KJYL

With Scott Merry and Diane Thome at KJCY

With Jack Zitzman at KBHL

With my rebel graffiti

Holy smokes, I’m tired. I’ve now been through most of MN, down into and across Iowa, and back up north in MN. I’m writing back very close to where I started on Saturday night, Minneapolis.

Sunday morning I sat with the worship band and did some special music at Crossroads Covenant Church in Forest Lake, just outside of St. Paul. They got about 7 inches of snow and many people (including our lovely hosts!) lost power for a lot of Saturday. With the Christmas decorations up and all the snow, we are having a hard time remembering what month it is!

Right after the services we ran away because I had to be at a sound check for a concert in Eagle Grove, IA by 5. It took just about that long to get there, but we drove out of the snow pretty quickly and had no problem.

I have to tell you, this was the weirdest coincidence. The station there has been really supportive of my ministry and set up a concert. I have a friend 3 doors down from me here who has family in Iowa and her daughter is my daughter’s best friend. She asked where I was going in IA and when I told her she said, “No, really, where are you going?” She thought I’d been stalking her Facebook or something to find out where her family was – they live there. She told me she’d find out her mom’s church and see if I could play there, but I told her the station had already set it up. It turned out to be her mom’s church! That was crazy – out of all of Iowa! Then her mom asked us to stay with her, and my mom and I agree that we are now adopting my friend’s mother – she’s ours. She was just darling.

The show went so well, the people were just lovely, and it was great to meet Jay from KJYL in person – we’ve talked on the phone and done an interview, but it’s always great to put a face to a name.

Yesterday morning we drove to Mason City, IA and met Scott Merry and Diane Thome at KJCY, Mason City, IA and I did a little interview there. They’ve also been great supporters, and I so appreciate it.

After that visit we drove north again, all the way back to Minneapolis and then northwest up to Alexandria. There was a little reception there with the women’s group I was singing for that morning and it was so fun to talk with these women and see where God was leading them and their group!

The next morning I went to sing and the church had a large funeral going on, so we were bumped out of the room we had which also had all the equipment. That was interesting, but flexibility is a virtue and we all made it work. 🙂 We just loved being with this group – they are new, and have such a heart for what God is doing and for following Him. It really touched me.

After that we went to Osakis to visit KBHL, and I really enjoyed seeing the station and meeting Jack and the other people there and hearing about their ministry. That morning so many of the women had told me how much this station meant to them, I was really happy to get to see it.

Mom and I headed back to Minneapolis for the last time, and we have 2 nights in a row in the same place! Bliss! We also tried another of the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives around here. For those who don’t know, this is a show on the Food Network, and I get so sick of chain restaurants, that we try to visit these when we can. We’d already stopped at one in Milwaukee and one in St. Paul. We tried three this time – first one was closed, second one looked REALLY scary, and then we found Victor’s 1959 Cuban Cafe. Holy Cow. Also not a place I would EVER walk into normally, but it was awesome. I don’t even love Cuban food, and I loved this! And they let people write on the walls, so I let my inner rebel out and indulged in a little graffiti. Living on the edge!! 🙂

With Suzanne at KLMP/WNLI

Beautiful Sturgeon Bay, WI

With Chuck and Phil at KCFB/KTIG

The Journey Church where we had the concert Friday night

I’m doing a little radio and ministry tour in WI, MN, and IA this month and my mom and I started our Northern Expedition this past Wednesday driving about 10 hours up through Chicago and Milwaukee to Sturgeon Bay, WI. It’s right on Lake Michigan and it’s beautiful. I was visiting Suzanne Happs at KLMP/WNLI, and we had a great time meeting the other people at the station and hearing about their ministry. We especially enjoyed hearing about all their connections to ministry overseas – really impressive. Loved getting to see this part of the country too.

After the meeting we took off and drove another 8 hours or so to Nisswa, MN, and I got up early to be on the Rise and Shine morning show on KCFB/KTIG with Phil and Chuck. After the show they gave me a tour and it was such a pleasure to meet everyone at the station! They’ve been playing my music for a long time, and I so appreciate their support and their hearts for Christ!

That night I gave a concert at The Journey Church in Nisswa, and it was such a fun night. The church is very non-traditional with half the seating in the sanctuary consisting of couches with end-tables and lamps to make you feel at home. The pastor was so kind to us, and after the show we went out for pizza with him and Chuck and his wife and a lovely woman named Bunny who I was so happy to meet. And we had ligonberries on our pizza which wasn’t as bad as it sounds 🙂 just so we would remember we were up north, don’t ya know.

Today I’m catching up and then we’re driving down to St. Paul. It started snowing, and I think they’re getting quite a bit down in that area, so we’re going to go slow. So crazy – I’m feeling like such a wimp from Ohio, but we never get snow before December, and usually not until January. Our eight weeks of winter are looking pretty easy compared to this up here.

On the music set

On the interview set

With Stefan and Valerie (and yes, I was wearing heels!)

South Side Diner in Goshen

This morning I got to be on The Harvest Show on LeSea Broadcasting. October is Sensory Awareness Month, so we talked about my son, Toby, and the miracle that God has done in his life. We also talked about my dad and my music, and I sang a couple of songs. This is such a great show with a real heart for what God is doing all around the world. During the episode, they were getting live reports from Israel, and I was just impressed with the whole production. They’ve asked me back to talk about our trip to Kenya and some other projects, and I will be excited to return!

I took my ministry assistant, LeAnne, with me this time and we had such a great time. We stopped on the way back at the South Side Diner in Goshen. This place was on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. I get so tired of chain restaurants traveling that I’ve started checking where I’m going to see if there are any cool places like this first. We’ve found some very cute places I would never try otherwise. If you go, here’s my tip – the pie is killer.

I also did an interview on Monday with KJYL in Minnesota. I’m prepping for a radio tour in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa next month, and I will be doing a live worship show for KJYL’s sharathon. This interview was looking forward to that. I’ll also be doing several concerts and a couple of women’s events and church services, so it should be a great tour. Looking forward to seeing the details come together!

I’m looking forward to the worship workshop this weekend. Let me know if you’re coming – helps with the planning. You can comment here, or email us at info@jennifershaw.com. There’s more info below on a previous blog post, but it’s this Sunday in Columbus, OH from 2-5 – see you there!

It’s official – I’m also planning a radio and concert tour next month through WI, MN, and IA. Let me know if there are any opportunities for ministry you think I should know about there! I’ll fill you in as things get finalized, but I am especially looking forward to getting to go to some of the stations out there who have really supported me over the years. It’s so great to put a face to the names.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that I’m going to have to cancel the last Worship Workshop because it was scheduled right in the middle of this tour before I knew I was going. So sorry if you meant to come to that one! I may do some more in the spring if I can fit them in.

And, if you’re in the AL, GA area, I just taped an interview for Faith Broadcasting Network for their show, “The Meeting House” and it will air next Monday – don’t forget to tune in! You can click here for times and stations, etc. October is Sensory Awareness Month, so the interview was about music, but also about my son, Toby, and his struggles with Sensory Integration Dysfunction. Let me know what you think!