CFAM Radio 950 was honoured to share a very personal song in memory of well a known member of the Altona community, and someone whose spirit and personality extended well beyond the town’s borders.
In studio we were joined by Shawn Enns, younger brother to the late Darren Enns who passed away April 29th about week shy of his 50th birthday. Morning Show Co-Host Chris Sumner personally knew Darren through his involvement in Special Olympics Manitoba programs. Darren's impact in the community was always positive and his love for music was incredible.
"He was born with Down's Syndrome," shared Shawn while he joined us in studio. "Through the energy of my parents, they pushed boundaries in integrating Darren directly into the regular public school system. His life was filled with opportunity through trying everything that normal kids could do and being ready at any time to give it a shot."
Those opportunities included even trying water skiing, which the family never thought would be a possibility.
"He proved them wrong with so many things," added Shawn. "He was supposed to live to 25, and he lived to 49 and his birthday was a couple days away."
How the song "Unlikely Flowers" came to be
Shawn started writing worship and country gospel music about three years ago, and after the passing of his older brother Darren he says the Holy Spirit directly gave him the words to "Unlikely Flowers" that he shared at Darren's life celebration.
"The song downloaded, and I was off to work and got to my job site where I was working for that day and I just started writing it down," he explained. "I just started hearing the lyrics, and I just wrote it down. It was like half hour, forty-five minutes and everything was written on paper and rhymed perfectly. and I just can't do that, I'm not that talented."
Shawn's son Austin played the drums and his daughter Emma played the bass guitar line (via keyboard) on "Unlikely Flowers".
The song's message is two-fold
"It talks about how God puts unlikely flowers on tall and steep mountains," stated Shawn. "Now, Darren was a challenge for anybody that was teaching him or mentoring him, and it wasn't an easy time, so it was a mountain to climb, especially for my parents and our family there was always adjustments that had to be made for him. Climbing steep mountains is hard, but God putting these flowers everywhere the next step is just like good because there's a nice flower sitting there, and that's kind of what the song talks about."
The song tells the story of Darren's life, and at its conclusion offers another message for listeners to consider.
"The message at the end of the song is a question for other people," reflected Shawn. "As long as where you are at, do you know Jesus? And if you don't, just ask him what's in his garden. Let him talk to you, because he'll answer you."
Getting back to whom the song was created for, Shawn offered this final thought about Darren, "He was always a person that said 'Hi' to everyone with a smile, and brought life to any place where he went."
you can enjoy the music of Shawn Enns and his group King's Worship Saturday, June 7th during a free concert at Bethel Heritage Park in Winkler. The event begins at 6pm, and there will be free hot dogs and drinks available for those who attending.
You can listen to Chris Sumner's conversation with Shawn Enns, below.