I grew up in a Christian home and was in church every Sunday and Wednesday. I went to vacation Bible school, was really involved in the youth group, FCA, etc. As a sophomore in high school, my family moved to Abilene, TX, which was good and bad, but I found myself in an internal fight against becoming “religious.” I also noticed that the intimacy of my relationships was not the same as they were prior to moving. Anyway, I went to college at Texas A&M and attended one of the “mega” churches there. I found it really easy to get lost in the shuffle, and being pre-med, studying made it difficult to attend events during the week. Although I was serving in a ministry within the church, I did not feel like I belonged to a church. After 6 years and 2 degrees at A&M, I was accepted into med school in Phoenix, AZ. This is where, for the first time since leaving Nocona, I felt like I had a church home. By the way, I promise this will tie into the Commons. In Phoenix, I attended a small service on Sunday evening called Crash, which is part of North Phoenix Baptist Church (yes, John McCain goes there). Being in med school, I spent almost all my time studying, and as it is now, I had a hard time making a lot of things other than Sunday night (this seems like a common thread in my life.) Rather than getting lost in the shuffle, I found people who met me where I was, supported and prayed for me as I went through one of the most difficult endeavors to that point I had attempted. One of these people is named Ken Pettis. Ken is an ex-convict who runs a ministry for guys getting out of prison. Every Sunday he greeted me with a hug and would ask how I was, not how’s med school. If I couldn’t make it on Sunday night, the following Monday I would get an email from Ken with a word of encouragement and asking how he could pray for me that week. For one of the few times in my life, I had someone take an interest in me spiritually, and I had never had someone outside of a Bible study ask me how they could pray for me. It was the intimate, rawness of Crash that made me realize that my days of attending a “mega” church were over, and I would always search out a small community of believers. (I still email with Ken every couple of months, he has since been diagnoses with AIDS, but despite his illness is continuing his ministry.)
Ok, so the Commons. My best friend, Kirk Gentzel, and Steve are good friends. Kirk began to tell me about Steve’s idea for starting a church in South Fort Worth. The more he described it, the more I loved the idea of creating a church that had the goal of being like yeast in a neighborhood. During my 4th year of med school, I lived in FW for a month while interviewing at John Peter Smith, so during that time I had the chance to meet Steve and attend the Commons, (it was still meeting at Joy and Steve's house). Once there, I realized I knew several people from my days in Abilene, one of whom would come to my parents house for dinner and then tutored me in Spanish my Junior year of high school (Kristen Horton). So when I made my decision to move to Fort Worth for residency, the Commons played a huge role in this decision. I knew my life would be dominated by work and that I would be working more Sundays than I would have off. Also, I knew that I would need someone to look out for me spiritually, this was a hard realization, since I’m usually the one taking care of people.
The Commons I feel has been my link to the outside world for the last 12 months. I’m forever indebted to this community for the love they have and continue to show me, even though I only get to attend maybe once a month. So that's my story. Our Lord has used the Commons to help me through one of the hardest years of my life, and is the constant reminder that there is hope despite suffering and that hope is and always will be Christ.
Ok, so the Commons. My best friend, Kirk Gentzel, and Steve are good friends. Kirk began to tell me about Steve’s idea for starting a church in South Fort Worth. The more he described it, the more I loved the idea of creating a church that had the goal of being like yeast in a neighborhood. During my 4th year of med school, I lived in FW for a month while interviewing at John Peter Smith, so during that time I had the chance to meet Steve and attend the Commons, (it was still meeting at Joy and Steve's house). Once there, I realized I knew several people from my days in Abilene, one of whom would come to my parents house for dinner and then tutored me in Spanish my Junior year of high school (Kristen Horton). So when I made my decision to move to Fort Worth for residency, the Commons played a huge role in this decision. I knew my life would be dominated by work and that I would be working more Sundays than I would have off. Also, I knew that I would need someone to look out for me spiritually, this was a hard realization, since I’m usually the one taking care of people.
The Commons I feel has been my link to the outside world for the last 12 months. I’m forever indebted to this community for the love they have and continue to show me, even though I only get to attend maybe once a month. So that's my story. Our Lord has used the Commons to help me through one of the hardest years of my life, and is the constant reminder that there is hope despite suffering and that hope is and always will be Christ.
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