West Ridge Women Spotlight #4 - Shannon Harsh

Recently I had the pleasure of sitting down with Shannon Harsh.  Shannon joined the West Ridge Women’s Ministry Team a few months ago and has had the excitement of giving “birth” to a latest “addition” to the Women’s Ministry, Encourage!

Shannon and her husband, Doug, live in North Fayette Township.  They are the parents of Haley (9), Gracie (4), and Jacob (2).  They are joyfully expecting the arrival of baby #4, Rebekah, in January.

Due to Doug’s job in the military, their family moves quite often.  They are experts at packing and unpacking, even managing to have pictures up on walls within a couple days of a move.  However, Shannon and her family have lived here for a year and a half so far and she’s hoping they can stay in Pittsburgh a few more years.

Shannon’s story is one a lot of women can relate to.  About ten years ago, before she became a Christian, Shannon was in a very bad and dangerous relationship.  She endured various kinds of abuse from her boyfriend at the time.  It wasn’t until she was seven months pregnant with her daughter, Haley, that she hit rock bottom.  She knew she needed to change her life and the only one who could help her out of her desperate situation was Jesus. 

Once Shannon accepted Jesus as her Savior, her life turned around 180 degrees.  Everything in her life changed.  She left her abusive relationship and bravely began life as a single mother.  With the guidance of her grandparents, she started attending church.  She moved to a different home, got a different car, changed jobs, and began her life all over again.

Two years pass by and at Shannon’s new job, she just so happened to meet the man who would be her future husband, Doug!  Shannon says of the day they met, “God told me as soon as I saw him that I was going to marry him.  When I heard that, I just laughed.” But before you know it, the two began going to church together, started dating, followed by an engagement, and were married soon after that.

Fast forward a few years.  After moving to the Pittsburgh area, Shannon and Doug began the search for a church home.  One weekend, while Shannon was away, Doug gave West Ridge a try.  Doug told her he felt like West Ridge was going to be the right place for them.  After Shannon’s visit the following week, she agreed, “It felt like home.”

As the one year anniversary of her first visit to West Ridge approaches, Shannon is very excited to put all of her education, training and life experiences to work in to leading the Encourage ministry. Shannon said, “This is something that I have had on my heart for years.” She actually is hoping that God will grow it into something even bigger down the road, “I’d love to open a house for single, abused moms.”

Encourage will be lead by Shannon and she has three coaches on hand right now to assign to pregnant moms as they enroll in the program.  Each mom will be assigned a coach to walk with them all the way through their pregnancy and delivery.  The moms-to-be will be receiving regular encouragement from their coaches as well as being covered in prayer by them.  All through the pregnancy, coaches will be available to their assigned mom-to be to answer any questions or offer advice.  After their new baby arrives, the new mommas can anticipate being showered with even more blessings such as having meals be delivered to them or baby essentials, like diapers and wipes.

The Encourage team is also equipped for any type of pregnancy as well.  The ministry is prepared and trained to handle such issues as: unplanned pregnancies, single motherhood, miscarriages, and premature births.  Also, Encourage is not limited only to ladies who are members of West Ridge.  “We want to reach out to the community too.” Shannon explains. 

If you are expecting and would like to sign up for the Encourage ministry or if you would like to serve in the ministry alongside Shannon, please email her at: encourage@westridge.cc.

No one escapes a West Ridge Women’s Spotlight interview without answering the Super Six questions…  Here’s what Shannon shared with us:

1. Are you a morning person or night owl?  I’m a morning person, but only because I have to be. I’m in bed by 9:00.  As soon as the kids go down, I’m going down too!
2. What was the last book you read? “Angels Walking” by Karen Kingsbury
3. What is your favorite way to relax? Reading.  I love to read!
4. What would you have for the perfect meal? Jeremiah Fountain’s lasagna. He makes his own noodles. It’s the best I’ve ever had! Oh, and some chocolate!
5. What is your favorite Scripture to meditate on in times of stress? My favorite has always been Jeremiah 29:11. (“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”)
6. What is your favorite thing about West Ridge? It’s family.  I don’t come out of my shell easily and I’ve been able to do that here.  It’s really awesome.