Spiritual mentors (part 2)

These are my friends Kirk and Jenny. Kirk is the preaching minister at my home church in New Orleans and Jenny is his sweet wife. Kirk started working with our church several years before the storm when we were looking for a new minister. Kirk wasn't interested in the position at the time as his kids were in H.S. and he didn't want to move them, but he would periodically come and preach adn take care of preacher-ish things at the church. We finally hired someone who was there for about a year before the hurricane. That family was unable to return to Carrollton after the storm, and Kirk and his wife Jenny made the decision to move to New Orleans after their youngest son graduated. For quite a while Kirk drove back and forth between Abilene and New Orleans (which is quite a trip) to make the transition, until finally, his son graduated and he and his wife were able to move to New Orleans! Kirk and Jenny didn't buy a big house in the suburbs, they bought a smaller (but infintiely more fun) house in the heart of the city. Once in New Orleans they embraced the culture in a way I have never seen another one of Carrollton's minister do. They went to Jazz fest and Mardi Gras, they walked the Cresent City classic, they listened to jazz, they ate crawfish and shrimp and even buy their oysters by the sack. Even more importantly, they embraced the Carrollton family as thier own right away.

I could go on and on about how thier life has been such a testimony to me, however, I want to tell you about my relationship with them specifically. Like I said above, Kirk and Jenny were living in Abilene in the months after the storm and were of great support to me. I always knew that I could go to thier house if I needed something. My mom was particularly nervous about telling me about the loss of our family pet after the storm so she called Jenny, who came to the dorm that night to tell me about it in person. After they moved to New Orleans, Kirk and Jenny had a series of extreme challenges in thier family. However, they were and are faithful to the end. In light of everything that's happened to them, and to their Carrollton family they always find a reason to be full of joy. And they have served to guide me in times of struggle or when I just didn't know what to do or how to handle what was in front of me. Kirk especially, as I worked at the church with him, has served to help me learn some of the hard lessons one has to learn when becoming an adult. Throughout my many blunders working with him, he never gets angry or makes me feel stupid for my misguided ways, but he always tells it exactly like it is. :-)

In short, Kirk and Jenny are the greatest example I know of what it means to walk by faith and not by sight. Thanks for you love and encouragement!