Spotlight Interview with Melanie Shirey

By Melanie Shirey | TRINICY.org

BASIC QUESTIONS

• State/Region, Country: Delaware, U.S.A.
• Profession: Homeschool Teacher, Mother

FOUNDATIONAL QUESTIONS

TRINICY: What spiritual habits and disciplines do you follow on a daily basis?
MELANIE: Each day I engage in fellowship with God through the reading of His Word and prayer. I try to keep the attitude of prayer throughout the day, listening for God’s leading through His Holy Spirit.

TRINICY: Out of all God’s attributes, which one amazes you most? Why?
MELANIE: The most amazing attribute of God to me is His sovereignty. The Lord really drove home this attribute in my heart and this is what has helped me beyond measure during times of great trial and heartbreak, as well as through daily life in general.

TRINICY: What primary talents and gift(s) has God given you? How are you using them for the kingdom?
MELANIE: I believe the Lord has given me a love and talent for writing and teaching, as well as a spirit of empathy and compassion. I try to glorify Him through the gifts He has entrusted to me by teaching my children and sharing with others things the Lord has taught me and opened my heart to. I try to be there for others and listen to them and help in  whatever way I can and intercede for them in prayer.

TRINICY: Which person from the Bible do you resonate with the most? Why?
MELANIE: King David has always resonated with me in a very special way - not so much in his outward valor and being a man of physical war, but through his Psalms. His great and candid spiritual warfare resonates with me very deeply. His struggles with doubt and despair, confusion and fear, and also his possession of a desperate spirit for God’s wisdom, protection, guidance, and comfort speak to me and my own soul. These raw and honest outpourings touch my heart on a very deep level and have helped me through times of great spiritual warfare and trial in my own life.

TRINICY-RELATED QUESTIONS

TRINICY: What does being a Christian mean to you? Why Are you a Christian?
MELANIE: Being a Christian is the most humbling and blessed honor and most critical part of my, and any person’s, life. The knowledge that Jesus sacrificed Himself for me to cancel my sin debt is an indescribable honor. God calling His people through the power of His Holy Spirit and His sheep hearing His voice is a wonderful and miraculous part of His sovereignty and redemptive plan. That I was among those God chose to call, that He moved me to a spirit of repentance and adopted me as His own child is the most important thing about me, and being a Christian and child of God steers and drives all other parts of my life.

TRINICY: What does being a Conservative mean to you? Why Are you a Conservative?
MELANIE: Being a Conservative to me means staying as close to God’s Word and commands as possible. The opposite, “Liberal," comes from the word “liberation." People of this mindset feel they need to be “liberated” or freed from conservative, and Biblical, principles. I cannot subscribe to that ideal as I do not see God’s commands as something to be liberated from, but rather I see that the true freedoms people seek lie only in obedience to our Lord and His Word. Conserving and preserving God’s ideals is the pathway to a life, a family, a community, a society, and a world that has taken God’s authority and wisdom as preeminent over all other false ideas.

TRINICY: What has your experience been like as a Conservative Christian on and/or off campus?
MELANIE: Being a Conservative Christian can bring many sneers and misunderstandings from people. However, to value God’s Word and His commands takes priority over any opinion or adversity that may come as a result of remaining faithful to the ideal of being Conservative in God’s honor.

TRINICY: What were your first thoughts when you heard about TRINICY?
MELANIE: My first thoughts of TRINICY were of rejoicing that God was using this organization to foster and support Conservative Christians in various situations. My prayers are with them as they minister in the name of the Lord and His principles.

TRINICY: What book(s) do you recommend conservative Christians read to help strengthen  their faith in a secular and/or liberal setting?
MELANIE: I would recommend Conservative Christians read Morning and Evening Devotions by Charles Spurgeon to help strengthen their conservative resolve on a daily basis. Also, New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp is a very spirit filled devotional that truly keeps one’s focus on God and conservative ideas in line with His Word. However, as Charles Spurgeon said, “Visit many good books, but live in the Bible."

OTHER QUESTIONS

TRINICY: What is an interesting/unusual fact most people don’t know about you?
MELANIE: Most people are surprised to hear that I am a mother of nine children and a grandmother of two. God put in my heart many years ago to walk in faith regarding the size of my family. He gave me just the number He wanted me to have, and when it was His timing, He let me know my childbearing was finished through a medical situation and subsequent hysterectomy of necessity. Most people do not understand my walk of faith in this area of life. God has been faithful even through great trials to provide for all of my children. Each one of them is a miracle and blessing for which I cannot thank God enough.

TRINICY: What are the three greatest life lessons you’ve learned thus far?
MELANIE: I believe three of the greatest life lessons God has taught me are that He is absolutely sovereign, that there is power in prayer, and that God still performs miracles!

TRINICY: What legacy do you want to leave as a Christian?
MELANIE: As a Christian, the legacy I wish to leave behind is having taught my children of the Lord, to have shown empathy and compassion to those God beings into my life, and for people simply to remember that I loved the Lord my God, and prayerfully that some be inspired or encouraged by me in some way.

TRINICY: What is your life verse? Why?
MELANIE: Isaiah 41:10 is my life verse. One night years ago as I lay in the pit of despair drowning in tears after events that had harmed me very deeply and rendered me helpless and hopeless, the Lord whispered this verse into my heart:  

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed : for I am thy God:
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will
​uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

God lifted me up from that miry pit of despair then with this promise, and has not failed to do it over and over in my life. God always keeps his promises. Praise Him!

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