Getting to Know Jonathan & Michelle (Part 5)

Michelle and I moved the majority of our belongings to our new apartment in Maryville on Monday (Nov. 16). Glen Hazel, Mike Parker, Lee Allen, Chuck Drum, Danny Morris and Bill Walt all met us and helped to unload the U-Haul truck in record time! It was clear that this was not the first time that these guys helped with a move! They were professionals!

For the next two weeks, we will be "living out of our luggage" while we are still in Spring Hill finishing up things here and spending time with our families for Thanksgiving.

My first official Sunday at Maryville is rapidly approaching (December 6). It is encouraging to me that there are so many capable men who have been filling the pulpit responsibilities until that time. There are lots of ideas running through my head about sermons for December. We are both excited about a new start and being a part of a wonderful new church family. Thanks so much for your continual prayers for the Spring Hill congregation. Please continue to remember the brethren here as they are working to find a man to continue the preaching work here.

Smoke from My Chimney

My grandparents, Guy and Hope Jones, had six children. They raised their kids on the family farm that has now been passed down several generations. Grandpa used to say that he wished that one day he could stand on his front porch and see the smoke from the chimneys of all his children. He wanted to be surrounded by his family. He wished that his family would stay close. To this day, most of them have.
Many of you reading this can probably relate to the sentiments of my grandfather. In the South it has been common for family clans to stay close together. It is not unusual for grandchildren to visit the same house where their parents were raised. During special family reunions, families across the South return to the old “homestead” and share memories of the past that thread them together.
In the Biblical text, Abraham sent servants back to his “homeland” to find a wife for his son Isaac (Genesis 24:4). Isaac took his bride Rebekah into his mother’s tent the night of their honeymoon (Genesis 24:67). Yet, it is also true that God originally intended for man to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). Sometimes this requires children to launch out into new regions—to make a new “homestead” for themselves. In order for a husband and wife to really be “joined together,” God said they must first “leave father and mother” (Genesis 2:24).
It is really difficult for me to think about leaving Maury County. This place runs deep in my family history. I have the soil of this place coursing through my veins. I will never forget where I came from. This place will forever be deep in my heart. Elmer Lusk told me a few days ago, “Boy…I’ll give you two years…and you’ll be back here.” I’m not sure about that, but one thing is for certain…my mind will often be back here.
Michelle and I are going to make a new home for ourselves in a new and exciting place. While you may not be able to see smoke from a chimney three hours away in Maryville (especially since we will first be living in an apartment!), be sure that the "smoke" from our chimney is blowing west back toward Spring Hill. We love you all and you will be greatly missed!

Getting to Know Jonathan & Michelle (Part 4)

(Note: This is a series of emails from Jonathan Jones for the members of the Maryville Church of Christ. If you received this email by mistake, or had rather not get it (fine, be that way) just send me a note and I will take you off the mailing list).

10 Random Facts About Us
1. We had our wedding rehearsal dinner in an old southern mansion where a Confederate, Civil War General was murdered (for having an affair!).



2. Our favorite television show to watch together is Smallville (A show about how the young Kal-El, a.k.a. Clark Kent, becomes the Superman we all know and love).




3. Since we have been married (two years), our television has never been on a sports network or sporting event of any kind. (Sorry, all you Vols fans!).



4. We are both one of 4 children. Jonathan has two brothers and one sister. Michelle, two sisters and one brother.



5. Our favorite place to eat is Cracker Barrel (We are pretty sure that fried chicken, pinto beans, and grits will be on the table in Heaven's banquet feast).



6. We both prayed for each other for years. We know God put us together. A girl from Denver, Colorado and a farm boy from Hampshire, TN. God completely did it!



7. Michelle is very conservative with money and hates to shop (she is a man's dream come true!).



8. Jonathan loves to play sports, but hates watching sports on television (he is a woman's dream come true!).



9. We sang to each other during our wedding. Well, Michelle sang...Jonathan tried to keep up.


10. Michelle sporadically checks her email. Jonathan checks his email daily, but with very rare exception does he ever open an email that is a "forward." (You can't begin to imagine how many "forward" emails preachers get--don't be surprised if you send me one and I never read it!).

Getting to Know Jonathan & Michelle (Part 3)

(Note: This is a series of emails from Jonathan Jones for the members of the Maryville Church of Christ. If you received this email by mistake, or had rather not get it (fine, be that way) just send me a note and I will take you off the mailing list).

Meet Our Dog, Marco

After possibly grossing out some of you (who are not down with the hunting/fishing thing) with our last "Getting to Know Jonathan & Michelle" email, we will try and appeal to the softer, gentler side with this one.

Soon after we got married, Michelle began to beg me for a dog (can any of you guys relate?). You have to understand, we grew up with lots of animals, and lots of dogs, on my family's farm. However, Dad had a strict rule...dogs belong outside (On an interesting side-note, dad has softened that rule since we left home. Mom now has an indoor German short hair named Sadie). Needless to say, I was opposed to having an indoor dog. But like Dad, I too caved into the love my life. But there was one stipulation, it had to be a dog that we both loved. I have always loved Spaniels. My favorite has been the Caviler King Charles Spaniel. So after several weeks of searching for breeders, I found a man who had a litter with only two pups left in Jackson, TN. This was right before our first Christmas as a married couple.

After returning from taking graduate classes at in Henderson, I walked into the back door that cold winter night with my big heavy coat on. Under the coat I was hiding our new little puppy. I entered the living room and "unveiled" Michelle's Christmas gift. We decided to name our pup "Marco" since we went to "Marco Island" in Florida for our honeymoon just a couple of months earlier.

Marco has a great personality and loves to play and sleep. When he plays he plays hard and when he sleeps, he sleeps hard. We came into the house one day talking and laughing and entered our bedroom to find Marco fast asleep on our bed (an absolute "no-no" in our house). When we finally roused him from his slumber, he knew he was in big trouble.

Getting to Know Jonathan & Michelle (Part 2)

(Note: This is a series of emails from Jonathan Jones for the members of the Maryville Church of Christ. If you received this email by mistake, or had rather not get it (fine, be that way) just send me a note and I will take you off the mailing list).

Both of my grandfathers were avid outdoorsmen. Don, my mom's dad, loved to trap. He once harvest two solid black coyotes. Guy, my father's dad, was the best hunter and fisherman that I've ever known. He has a large fish on his tombstone and the words "A fisher of fish, and a fisher of men" engraved on the marble headstone. He served as an elder in the church my entire life until his untimely death. He was raised on the banks of Cathey's Creek in the Hampshire community. He often went from house to house along that creek after his mother died and lived much like the mythical "Huckleberry Finn." He learned to live off the land. He trapped for foxes and coyotes, he hunted whitetail deer (in his later years) but was best known as an amazing fisherman. He fished with cane poles, new open-faced reels, and even with his hands gabbling for large catfish in the Duck River (also known as noodling).

Because of Grandpa, my dad Jonathan Sr., myself and both my brothers (Brett and Bart) are avid hunters. Even my sister, Jill, has killed her fair share of deer. In fact, she has harvested one of the biggest trophy bucks of any of us boys. We Joneses love the outdoors. I have been taught to have a great appreciation for being surrounded by the things God has made and to glorify Him because of His Creation (see Romans 1:20).

Michelle grew up fishing, too. She loves to fish. Well...really she loves to relax on the shore with a fishing pole in her hand. We love to spend our recreational time in the great outdoors.

The picture above is a 10 point buck that I harvested with a bow on my family farm last week. When I hunt, I usually go to watch the wildlife. Very rarely do I decide to actually harvest an animal. But this deer is the best that I have ever harvested with a bow. After he was down, 4 more bucks walked under my stand. As I watched these majestic creatures slowly creep through the woods at dusk I thought of the words of the ancient Pslamist, "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God" (Psalm 42:1).

Getting to Know Jonathan and Michelle (Part 1)

(Note: This is a series of emails from Jonathan Jones for the members of the Maryville Church of Christ. If you received this email by mistake, or had rather not get it (fine, be that way) just send me a note and I will take you off the mailing list).

Before Michelle and I got married, my good friend and mentor David Shannon did our premarital counseling. He gave us a great piece of advice on being married and working with the church, "Don't be the President and first-lady of the congregation." We try to live by that advice. We don't want to be the focal point of the church--we had rather fade into the church family.
Having said that, it is true that people want to feel like they know their preacher and his wife. So in the next few weeks, I hope to write you a few personal notes to help you feel like you know us before we come to Maryville full time.
Michelle and I are about to celebrate our second wedding anniversary next week. Most people assume that we must have met at college--we didn't. In fact, I was just 3 months away from being "the big 3-0" when we were married. Although Christian college is often called "the marriage factory" it did not produce for me. In hindsight, I'm glad.
Michelle grew up in Colorado while I was working on our family's farm in Middle Tennessee. She lived three years in Dallas before moving to Spring Hill, TN to be closer to her parents (who had just recently moved here because of a job transfer). Michelle visited the worship service at Spring Hill one Sunday night. At the back of the auditorium, after most people had already left, I asked her if she would like to go get something to eat with me. She said, "I've already eaten." (Boy, did I think I was shot down!). Then she said, "...but I'll go have coffee with you." It all started with a cup of coffee (which she had, I didn't...I hate coffee). I think I had a glass of sweet tea. Well, it was the best glass of tea I ever had.