Corny Clan Updates

Happy Birthday little Chunk-a-lunk!

A friend of mine writes letters and prayers to her kids on their birthdays.

I thought this was a special idea, so here goes.

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for the gift of Gracie Joy. She was and continues to be a blessing to us. As we awaited her arrival and were deciding on names, we heard a graduation speech in which the speaker was talking about grace and joy. The line that stuck with us was that true joy is only experienced after a realization of grace - specifically God's grace. In other words, you can't have joy without grace - hence, Grace Joy Cornelius got her name as a reminder to her parents of those important qualities (and as a tribute to her cute aunt).

So, anyway, Lord, thank you for her. Thank you for her thoughtfulness. I love that she makes pictures for us and writes us special notes of encouragement. Thank you for placing in her an empathetic heart that thinks of others and their circumstances and brings her favorite card games to school to play with her friend with the broken elbow who can't run on the playground.

Thank you for her love of learning. Help us encourage that love throughout her life and may she never grow tired of it. Thanks for her quick mind. Give us wisdom as we teach her that she doesn't have to be perfect and score perfect scores all the time on math tests to be worthy of love and attention. Remind her that she's perfect just the way you made her - that she gets her value from being your child and from nothing else (especially boys! :-)

Thank you that in her childlike way, she already loves you. I pray she continues to grow in her understanding of you and your love and purpose for her. Give her father and I wisdom to know when to let natural consequences and normal character-shaping event run their course or when to step in and pummel her adversaries. ( I admit; I'm probably going to lean toward the pummelling.) Instill in her a spirit of feistiness (sp.?) and perseverance so that she won't give up when life gets hard - but please, don't let it be too hard. Finally, may she rise to the meaning of her names and act out grace and joy in her life. We love her so much. Thank you for entrusting us with her and give us all we need for the journey. Amen.

Happy Birthday big 1st grader! We love you!