Morning Star Fellowship - part 11

Here's another installment on the history of Morning Star Fellowship.  I have more to write about Shawn. 

Shawn Hart (part 3)
In the course of time Shawn and Marianne had two children.  He had always prayed for a son.  Instead they had two daughters: Shayla and Tristen.  Though Shawn was disappointed that he didn't have the son that he had always wanted, he very much loved his two "little princesses".

He took turns with Marianne in reading bedtime stories to the girls.  He would get down on all fours and give the girls piggyback rides.  Shawn and Marianne often took the girls to the neighborhood park.  They pushed Shayla and Tristen in the swings.  Shawn went down the slide with the girls in his lap.

As the girls became older Shawn started leading a family Bible study at home.  When Shayla and Tristen asked questions he showed them relevant passages in their children's Bibles.  It was Shawn who lead each of his girls to the Lord.

After the girls started school, Shawn and Marianne took turns helping them with their schoolwork.  Shawn tried to be careful to set aside some time each week to be with his family.  He wanted to keep a healthy balance between family time and Church/ministry time.  From time to time he and Marianne spent an evening together going to dinner and a movie.  There were many Saturday mornings when Shawn took one of their girls out for breakfast.  Once in a while Shawn managed to take his family out to the Oregon coast to spend the weekend.

Meanwhile the Church youth group often had special events like game nights, movie nights, car washes, and trail walks at a park some where.  Shawn and Marianne always brought their girls along.

Shayla had some friends from Church, school, and the Harts' neighborhood whom she spent time with.  She went to their homes to play, and they came to hers as well.  A few of her friends happened to have older brothers.  There were even a couple of brother/sister pairs in the Church youth group.  Shawn himself was a big brother to two younger sisters.

One Saturday morning 10-year-old Shayla told Shawn, "Daddy, I wish I had a big brother."

"Why?"  Shawn asked.

"Because some of my friends do, and you're a big brother to your sisters."

Shawn smiled.  "Okay, what do you like about big brothers?"

"Big brothers and their sisters can be best friends.  Big brothers are there when their sisters need somebody to talk to.  They do things together like riding their bikes, and going to the park, and going to a movie."