Thrive . . . Beloved, Thrive!!!

By Seyi Ajayi

When you hold your baby for the first time, a bond forms; you look out for that child with all your heart. Anyone or anything that touches that child definitely has you to deal with. You are your childs first line of defense. You would protect that child with your life if it came to that; its just a natural instinct.

Day by day, you pray, Lord help my child to do well, help my child to advance, take my child higher. God hears and answers prayers. Your child is going higher...it s time to leave for college. What? So soon? Where did all the time go? Like it or not, its time for your child to move on. The hold on to the apron strings is gently, slowly but definitely being nipped at.

But a mothers heart remains the same. You love your baby with all you have and you just want to make sure your child is always armed and prepared for all of lifes balls and curves. Thrive, Beloved, Thrive is a mothers love letter to her child as he leaves for college.

Filled with words of encouragement, anecdotal stories and Biblical lessons, this book is not only an easy read that every one, particularly, Christian youths embarking on a new venture should read, but if followed closely, it is a guide book for developing critical and essential lifelong skills.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504900478

Seyi Ajayi

The author, Seyi Ajayi, always found joy and peace in writing. Ever since her youth, writing has always been a strategy for dealing with and expressing her emotions. Raised in a loving Christian family, Seyi is a Christian in every sense of the word. She loves the Lord and raised her children using the word of God indeed “for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness.” Seyi and her husband, Julius, co- laborers in the Lord’s vineyard, live in Lawrenceville, Georgia. They are blessed with three children.

Book preview

THRIVE …

BELOVED,

THRIVE!!!

SEYI AJAYI

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AuthorHouse™

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© 2015 Seyi Ajayi. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Published by AuthorHouse 3/24/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-0048-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-0047-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015903935

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Preface

Prologue

Know Who You Are

Be conscious of the power of your thinking

Your speech tells the world who you are

Your actions are undeniably you

Your companions will affect your life greatly

You have great inner strength (resources); use them wisely

Always have a target (goal)

Ensure that you are always going higher on life’s stairway

Devils that attack determination

Devils that bring distractions

Devils that attack diligence

Fear Not!

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my children, David, Samuel and Lydia, as well as to all youth leaving home for the first time.

People embarking on a new venture in life will also find the words in this book helpful as they navigate their new terrain.

The following words of God best express my thoughts;

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6.

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. Isaiah 41:10

Preface

Psalm 127:3 tells us that children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. We thank God for children and the joy they bring into our lives not to mention the stress and stretch marks. I have spent the last few years of my life looking for a manual that gives step by step instructions to me on how to raise my children, I am told that no such manual exists and indeed, I haven’t found any. Yet, the Bible instructs me to train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.

As parents we all do our best to train up our children in a manner that would promote the most optimal opportunities for victories, triumphs and success in the years ahead. Sometimes we know we are getting through to them and they are learning, other times we are certain we are hitting a brick wall. But we never tire. We continue to do our best to train them: Sometimes we discuss, sometimes we nudge, sometimes we complain, sometimes we fuss, sometimes we make deals, sometimes we praise, sometimes we yell, and sometimes we simply talk. We use different methods, hoping and praying that one method will reach them.

These interactions with our children become our life. We send them to school looking forward to their return at the end of the school day so we can continue from where we left off the day before. But what happens as your child prepares to leave home and meet the world? You keep talking and interacting with your child, thank God for technology; telephones, emails, social media, texting, messaging, you name it. The interactions must continue.

This book is written as a mothers next level of interacting with her child as he prepares to head off to college. Although I will not be there to talk and interact with you on a daily basis, I trust that these words will speak to you loud and clear.

At this point I cannot but honor the memory of grandpa. Grandpa enjoyed spending time with us and the children. Fascinated by our interactions, he often told me Keep talking Seyi, God knows how He mixes all the talk up with His power to do the children good; so don’t keep quiet, whenever you feel the need, talk to them. Well, I thank you grandpa and yes, I’m still talking!

I would also like to appreciate some people who gave of their time to read, review and contribute to the material in this book.

I sincerely thank and appreciate aunty Buky for taking the time to read and edit my thoughts to Ayo. She encouraged me in no uncertain terms that this needs to be made available for all youth.

I am immensely grateful to my sister, my sounding board and my friend, Yejide, for the hours she put into rewording, paraphrasing and editing this work.

Ebunoluwa, thank you for