Update, Next Week, and Best of Luck to the Sullivans

Friends:

Good evening, everyone! For all the Cowboys fans out there (which includes me these days!), the sun will come up tomorrow. I promise. It may not feel like it now, but life will go on.

Thanks to everyone who came to the Going Away Lunch for Barry & Erica today! We all had a great time. I took a few pictures with Franci R.'s camera, which I'll send along when I get them from Franci. I also want to thank everyone who gave some funds to buy B & E some going away gifts. For those of you who weren't with us today, we got them a $50 gift certificate to Applebee's (yes, they have one in Gainesville!) and we bought them two books: The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama and Leadership by Rudy Giuliani. How's that for balancing the political equation! B & E, I think you will enjoy the books. And, get this. We even had a slight surplus left over from the Sullivan fund drive! I am planning to hand over these funds to our Treasurer, Mr. Jeff Hookham. He will be investing the cash for us shortly. Make us proud (and make the church rich!), Jeff! I have a bit more on the Sullivans in a minute, but, first, let's discuss next week.


NEXT SUNDAY

Thanks to Matt and Beth Ramsdell! They have signed up to bring our goodies next Sunday. We appreciate it, Matt and Beth!

As for our reading next week, we didn't quite have a chance to get through Chapter 14 this morning. Let's do this. We'll plan to read through Chapter 17 for next Sunday. If we're a bit behind the rest of the church, I think that's just fine. Once again, please make a note of a section or two in the book that strikes you as particularly good and plan to share it with the class.


PRAYERS AND PRAISES

Now let's move on to our prayers. Please pray for all of the Baylor students as they return to campus this weekend and as we begin classes this week.

The Buhners will be traveling next weekend to Houston. Please pray for their safety (and sanity, as Shelley puts it!) as they visit family.

Amy Nicholson is headed back to Dallas on Thursday for a check-up on her shoulder. Please pray that she will be "released" to do more with the girls. Pray for nothing but good news for Amy.

We need to continue to pray for the Jantzes and the Mays as they continue the stressful wait to sell their homes. Pray that God will bring closure (in more ways than one!) for the Mays and the Jantzes as soon as possible.

Robbie R. will be traveling tomorrow. Pray for safety for him.

On the Null front, please pray for Mr. Corbin. He's had a fever today and has been struggling with a cough. Please pray that he will have a healthy week. Us Nulls can't afford any more sicknesses!

Also on the Null front, my dad is headed to the Grand Canyon tomorrow with his brother and sister to hike down, spend the night, and hike back out. Please pray for his safe travel.

I also would like for everyone to continue to pray for our church as our search for a new youth pastor comes to a close. We had a terrific meeting this afternoon with Joe Cox, whose family was in town to visit our church this weekend. I am very excited about the future of our Youth Ministry. Joe is a very strong person who has a great deal of experience organizing, leading, and directing youth ministries. Thanks to a great deal of hard work by many people, the future of Youth Ministry at our church is looking very bright. Please pray that God will be with Joe and his family as they travel home tomorrow. Pray, also, that God will continue to be with us as this search comes to a close.

Last but not least, let's continue our prayers for Barry & Erica as they make the transition to Gainesville. Barry began his new role as Gainesville City Manager last Monday. It sounds as though his first week went well. On January 22nd, Erica will begin her new job doing economic development with the city of Denton. Barry & Erica, as I've told you many times, we will miss you terribly, but we will pray each and every day that everything will go smoothly for the two of you as you transition to your new home. I pray that you will find a church home that will bless you the way that I hope our church has. I know that you have blessed us. Dana and I will be forever grateful to the two of you for helping us to build our class. Your consistent presence and support for our class has meant a great deal to us. We would not have what we have today without the two of you. Thank you. Come back and see us when you're in town. We'll have two chairs, some donuts, and a few bad jokes waiting for you.

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I think that's all for now, folks. See you next week!

Wes and Dana