Time certainly does hasten by!  It is hard to believe that Abby and I have been here one year already.  It seems like only yesterday that Abby and I were moving in and just beginning to get to know everyone.  In a very short time, the Lord’s body at Mabelvale has become our family, and we thank God for that!
     Dennis’ sermon on providence this past week certainly hit home with me.  I want to believe that it is God’s providence that brought Abby and me to this place.  When June 20, 1999 rolled around (the day I graduated from preaching school), I was the only one in my class who did not have a work lined up.  My dad kept telling me, “Don’t take a work just because you don’t have one.”  The advice was simple, but wise, and it did not fall upon deaf ears.  We waited, and things worked out so that we ended up at Mabelvale.
     When I talk to those with whom I graduated, I am confident that Abby and I ended up in the best work.  That is not to say that the men with whom I graduated did not end up involved in good local works.  It is to say that I know of no better place to be at this time in my life than at Mabelvale.
     I want to thank the elders for giving us the opportunity to labor with the congregation here.  Thanks is in order for Dennis for showing me what God expects of a gospel preacher.  Thanks goes out to the body at Mabelvale for accepting us and opening up your lives to us.  Thank God for the church at Mabelvale!