The Bethel Story, Part III

Back in Tyler, Bethel's pastor went to work.

Pretty soon, he called back with a plan. We were scheduled to head up on a Monday afternoon to take in a few meetings. First, I met with Elizabeth, an amazing woman who has given so much time and energy to leading the praise team in the absence of a leader. I sat down with her, got some info on the team, asked some questions, then met with the Pastor, Ross, again.

A couple of hours later, Ross and his wife, Leslie, picked up Kristen and I at the hotel and we headed out to a dinner with the Elders of the church. It was a great time...very relaxed and fun. We loved meeting the elders and their wives. (And they were great to us - just four days prior, Kristen had been released from the hospital after her pancreatitus [sp?] and gallstone episode. They were very considerate of her and had obviously kept up with her recovery!)

The night was great. Kristen and I led a few songs, then gave our testimonies. After that, we fielded some questions and got to ask a few questions of our own. The meal and the q & a was more fun that I ever expected!

We got back to our hotel around 10:30, but I was too jazzed to go to bed. (I really should have, though, because Ross had scheduled me for a follow-up meeting with some of the Elders at 6am. Yeah. You read that correct. 6:00 AM.) Let me be clear: I can get up early. I can. I promise. But I don't like to...

The breakfast meeting was good. Some of the questions got a bit more interesting...nothing bad, just a little more in-depth. After that meeting, I headed to the church to look over some budget stuff then off to meet the pastoral staff at a coffee shop.

And then, there was lunch!

We met with the whole staff of the church for some fantastic Bruno's pizza and lots of fellowship! We enjoyed meeting everybody and were impressed by their sincerity and friendliness. We walked away even more convinced that God was preparing the way for us to be a part of this family.