JEFF FIELDER Editor
TORRINGTON, Wyo. – Morgan Cross-Shoults of Torrington has been attending SONrise Church in Torrington since 2016. She and her husband, Travis, started leading a college life group at the church in the fall of 2020. She and another member of SONrise Church, Steve Heilbrun, also lead a grief share group at the church. Morgan, 37, has been living in Torrington for 16 years. She and her husband have two children: Truett, 8, a second-grader at Valley Christian School in Torrington, and Amaris, who’s 8 months old. Morgan grew up in Buffalo, Wyoming, graduating from Buffalo High School in 2002. She then earned an associate’s degree from EWC and then a bachelor’s degree from Chadron State College. She and her husband are full-time ranchers, operating a cow/calf operation.
Q: How much have you enjoyed attending SONrise Church in Torrington?
CROSS-SHOULTS: “It’s been a huge blessing. There’s a background to the story. I was married before, and my late husband and I went to the Church of Christ in Scottsbluff. We attended church there for 10 years. We liked going to church there, but it was a long drive for us, especially since we ranched. In April 2016, we decided to find a church in Torrington to cut down on the drive time. So, we started attending SONrise Church. Three months later, my first husband was killed in a car accident. When that happened, our church family in Scottsbluff really rallied around us, and the people at SONrise, who really didn’t know us yet, rallied around us, too. They gave amazing support right from the beginning – like we had been part of their family for a long time. I’ve continued to go to SONrise since then. The congregation at SONrise has been amazing. They do such a good job of serving the community.”
Q: How many years have you been a Christian?
CROSS-SHOULTS: “Almost 18 years. I was raised in a Christian home. My mom always read the Bible. She lived her faith in front of us, and we admired her for that. As for my dad, he was a strong man with a tough personality. We admired him for that, and my siblings and I followed his example of being strong with a tough personality rather than surrendering to God and walking in obedience. Later in life, though, me and my siblings came to follow my mom’s example. … When I was 19, I was in a really bad accident on my way back home from college. It was a rollover accident. It was miraculous that I didn’t break a single bone and that I lived. Everybody who saw my vehicle after the accident said I had an angel flying above me. My mom said, ‘God left you here for a purpose.’ That’s when I really started seeking Him. When I was 20, I finally accepted Christ as my Lord and savior, and I was baptized. I really started growing in my faith from there.”
You can read the entire story in the February 2022 issue of Nspire Today! magazine. A one-year subscription (12 issues) is only $20. You may sign up for a subscription by sending $20 to Nspire Today!, P.O. Box 454, Scottsbluff, NE 69363, or you may pay with a credit card by calling 308-220-8865.
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