Thursday, July 18, 2019

Growth (Trina Agee Cornell)


Good evening! For the next 19 days, I will be on a mission trip to Vietnam. During that time, I will have new blogs each night from guest authors! (Also, on many nights, I will post pictures from my trip here!) For the next 26 evenings, my spot will be filled by my dear sister in Christ, Trina Agee Cornell! Trina and I went through many mission trips together and I have been a guest in Trina's and her husband, Bob's home. Please keep me in your prayers!


Question #115
I spent an afternoon at Barnes and Noble a few months ago – this is a place where I could spend hours upon
hours. As a reading specialist by trade – and a reader by nature – it makes sense. On this particular trip, I
found a book, tucked away with the journals in their display, called 3,000 Questions About Me. I opened it
and started thumbing through – and I have to admit, I was quite intrigued. I started looking through the
questions, thinking about what my responses would be. I knew I just had to get it – the book sat at my house
for a month, collecting dust. I finally pulled it out and decided to answer one page of questions a day. 3,000
questions can be overwhelming – but how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! As I answer my page
of questions each day, I read the question – and I put what immediately comes to mind. I do not overthink
them – I answer them honestly and openly. My series of blog posts will focus on certain questions that I
believe get to the core of who I am – as a wife, mother, and a child of God.
115. What do you need to do to grow?
I answered this question with these words: “keep reading my Bible and praying”. Two very familiar concepts
for me. Growing up, I observed my parents doing this often – I watched them read their Bibles, pray together,
and pray with us as a family. I watched them struggle – and I watched them triumph – and in everything, they
gave God all of the glory. I watched them rely on their faith when things did not make sense – and when they
could not see the way out. They taught me the importance of these two concepts by example – and I have
carried those with me from a very young age.
As I have grown older – and now have a family of my own – these two concepts have grown in importance in
my life. I start my day in devotion and prayer – and I spend my time at the gym reading my Bible app, other
devotional apps, and journaling. Bob and I pray with Connor before I leave for school – he holds our hands
while we pray, and once we finish, he says, “Amen” with his Dada. Bob and I also talk on the way to school,
ending our conversation with a prayer. We pray before every meal – when we lay Connor down for bed – and
before we go to bed ourselves. We read a couples’ devotional book each night to reconnect, focusing on the
Lord and strengthening the foundation of our marriage. It is important for Bob and I to set this precedent
early – we want Connor to see us lead our lives in obedience to the Lord. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child
in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it”. Our number one prayer for Connor is
that he have his own relationship with the Lord and become a child of His. The only way he will do this is to
see the Christian life exemplified in us. This means that Bob and I need to “keep reading my Bible and
praying” – simple as that.

God bless,

Steve
Luke 18:1

E-mail me at shawley@westburychristian.org

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