It is a difficult task to write and record ten new songs for a CD.  It is more challenging to write songs along with an original script for a new women’s event.  It is especially hard to do both sitting in a hospital while your husband undergoes cancer treatment.  But Shannon Perry – singer/songwriter/speaker – found the entire experience to be a healing balm.

“I got the idea for ‘If The Shoe Fits’ conferences when talking to one of my staff members on the phone,” says Shannon. “We were laughing and joking and during the course of our conversation she said, ‘Knowing you and as much as you love shoes, you could probably even take that topic and make it about Jesus!’  I laughed, and then got busy brainstorming.   But almost one week after I began writing the script for the conference, my husband David was diagnosed with cancer. For four months following his surgery, I carried my computer to the hospital and while I sat in the waiting room during his radiation treatments,  I silently cried out to God to fill my heart with ways I could help others and keep the focus off myself and my circumstances.  I had plenty of time to pray, study and write the notes for each of the topics I felt God was giving me.  This conference became a healing agent to me as I walked through the fears and all of the other ‘unknowns’ that cancer brings.” 

Indeed, both the new “If The Shoe Fits” conferences and the songs on her new CD, The Real Thing (produced by renowned Lifeway songwriter/producer Paul Marino) give voice to many disappointments and triumphs that Shannon has experienced over the years.  But this ex-school teacher minces no words or feelings as she shares intimate details of her life with her audiences  -- her childhood struggle with weight issues; how she was single for most of her life and cried out to God for a mate and to be a mom; living through broken relationships; finally finding a husband and then walking with him through cancer. She finds that women especially relate to her journey, and with topics such as “Goody Two Shoes” and “Lacing Up the Tongue,” and song titles on the CD like “Bad Hair Day,” Shannon’s combination of speaking and singing has become an instant hit with women’s groups.   

“One thing I hear a lot from women is ‘thanks for being real,’”says Shannon.  “I prayed that God would make me transparent with others because for so many years I allowed fear and insecurity to rule me.  I did not trust that I was ‘good enough’ for God to use me, so I played the ‘good church girl who had all the answers.’ But the truth is, God is calling out to be our strength, and if we think we are enough, we have no need for a Savior.  I no longer hide my weaknesses because in my weakness, He is made strong.” 

No newbie to either singing or speaking, Shannon earned her Master’s Degree in Education with an emphasis in counseling and taught in the public school system for over 14 years before entering into full-time ministry.  She has previously-released projects with both Daywind and Benson Records which garnered radio airplay on the national Christian charts.  She has performed with the Houston Symphony and had the distinct privilege of performing at Carnegie Hall. Shannon has ministered with best-selling authors Karen Kingsbury, Jan Silvious (Women of Faith), Joanna Weaver, and Di Ann Mills.  She has also shared the stage with artists such as Larnelle Harris, Gordon Mote (keyboard player for Bill Gaither), Calvin Hunt of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Jeannette Clift George (A.D. Players), Allison Durham Spear, and Michael English. She has been a featured soloist at the J&J Music Conferences in Houston, Texas, and led praise and worship at numerous women’s conferences and for the national Lifeway conferences held annually in New Mexico and North Carolina.  But for Shannon, her desire to combine her love of teaching and singing into an event that will encourage women of all ages is finally come to fruition.

“Far too many women are buying into lies these days,” she says.  “The enemy tells us-- ‘you’re fat, ugly, short, tall, worthless’ and the list goes on-- so that we are stuck, not growing, and live in the same rut for many years of our lives.  My prayer is that these events would help women find truth for their lives so that they not only leave the conference changed, but their marriages, children, families, friends, church and world are changed because they are finally set free to live the life they were called, anointed and chosen to live.”

Though the “If The Shoe Fits” series and The Real Thing cd are brand-new and just beginning to garner attention, Shannon is already making plans for more projects.  She’s working on a book to be released next year, and she’s also offering an event specifically for teenage girls entitled “Don’t Flip-flop in Your Walk with Jesus.”  But with all her undertakings, Shannon doesn’t want to become famous as the “Imelda Marcos of Christian-dom.” Instead, she hopes her efforts are pointing clearly heaven-ward.

“If the women and girls I minister to are looking to me to give them what they need, we are all in serious trouble,” Shannon admits.  “While I can attempt to present the truth of the Word so that it is palatable, real and understandable, I cannot change lives.  That is God’s job, and I know that through His power, the truths presented in these conferences can have an eternal impact.  But if I ever try to do all this without Him, well then, we’re all better off to stay home and bake brownies.

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