What a blessing to add our fifteenth and sixteenth families in the last eight weeks to our church family at Marble Falls! It has been a truly amazing beginning to 2006 with additions at the rate of two families each Sunday to our membership. I am thankful for the vote of confidence God has given us by continuing to send quality people our way who can be equipped and assimilated into the family at Marble Falls.
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I got my first taste of the Spirit of Aggieland on Saturday, thanks to Texas A&M alum and friend, Lance Wenmohs. Lance took me to College Station to see the campus, tour the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum and take in the A&M/Baylor basketball game.
Throughout my travels, I've been blessed to attend sporting events at some great college venues. Marshall, West Virginia, Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and Texas, to name a few, but no place, no where compares to Texas A&M. The support of the "12th Man" is truly unique in college sports.
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As I write this blog on Sunday evening at the close of a blessed Lord's Day, my heart is anxious with the arrival later this evening of Jimmy and Elizabeth Mitchell who are coming to fill the Youth and Family Ministry staff position at Marble Falls.
When we were searching for a Youth & Family Minister at the Village, the elders, after a prolonged search, took my recommendation and extended an offer to Jimmy. We worked together at the Village for three years. There were times in that first year when I had my doubts about Jimmy. He was so full of life and energy that I wondered if he'd ever harness it in an organized fashion.
In the last two years, he dispelled every doubt.
What Jimmy's leadership did at the Village, especially among middle school youth, was nothing short of amazing. In a gated, retirement community, the Village church quickly became known throughout the Village and Jessieville communities as a church with a place for kids, all thanks to Jimmy's superb leadership.
When Mandy and I decided God was leading our ministry to Marble Falls, Texas, Jimmy expressed an immediate interest in coming. The camaraderie and mentor-relationship we share is unique.
After an initial search yielded no solid candidates, the elders at Marble Falls agreed to pursue Jimmy for the position. In December, Jimmy and Elizabeth came down for a visit and felt as though the opportunity to move, both for the sake of Jimmy's ministry and future and for Elizabeth's nursing career and schooling was better served by relocating to Marble Falls.
And tonight they arrive, following an emotional day of "good-byes" to all our dear friends in Hot Springs Village.
Tonight, I thank God for Jimmy -- for his friendship, his dedication, his vision for Youth & Family Ministry, and for his growth and development as a solid minister of the gospel.
