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.

Never Give Up

This is an incredible video about never giving up. Even when we think we don't have the strength to go on, as Christians we know that God can do the seemingly impossible. Watch this video and be reminded of that fact (You Tube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agetT6qKpA8).

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!