My wife Mattie and I first moved from Waco to Fort Worth in May of 2019. We had deep roots in Waco as we had both spent 4 years at Baylor, I had my first full-time job in Waco, we spent our first year of marriage in Waco, and we joined our first church community in Waco. It was the home we did not want to leave. In the Spring of 2019, we joined a launch team for a church plant that our church was supporting. We had dreams of moving into that neighborhood, Mattie would teach in the local elementary school, and I began a fence building company to invest into the neighborhood. I was almost a full year into seminary online at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary before I began to question if I was reaching my maximum potential for theological training. After a spontaneous conversation with Mattie on if we would ever consider moving to Fort Worth to finish seminary in person, we both quickly decided Waco was our forever home… until the Lord convinced me otherwise merely 24 hours later. Our hearts can be so very fickle, and we often know very little of God’s better plan. We prayed, fasted, and sought wisdom from family and friends. With 4 weeks left on our lease, we felt internally and externally affirmed that the Lord was indeed leading us to Fort Worth. With the excitement of a new journey, and the sadness of leaving our community, we began searching for new jobs, a new apartment, and a new church. As Mattie searched for a new teaching position in April and May (usually when most positions are filled), we were limited to what was available. She applied to what felt like every school in the Fort Worth area. As a highly qualified teacher, we were hopeful for a range of options. There was one school district she applied to on a whim, though without much hope because of its esteemed reputation for athletics and academics. For the girl who had all the recommendations, education, experience, and giftings, she only received a callback from two schools - one of which being an elementary of the highly acclaimed Aledo ISD.
As we settled into life in Fort Worth, we began to search for a church. The Lord led us to Grace Southwest (Benbrook at the time) where we met Matt and Codye Weaver. The fall semester of 2019 was underway when Matt and Codye shared their plans to plant a church in Aledo. They had asked us that fall if we would want to plant alongside them. We were thrilled about the possibility but hesitant to commit with two and a half years of seminary left. Not to mention we would find out the next week we were expecting our first son, Charlie. We kept the idea in the back of our minds for two and a half years, hoping and praying that one day it would come to fruition. During this time, the Lord continued to stir a desire in our hearts to be in Parker County. After our first son was born, Mattie quit her job in Aledo and began searching for tutoring jobs in Fort Worth near the seminary. By chance, she came across a post on Facebook looking to hire an elementary tutor. The company is based out of Fort Worth, but the area in which they were hiring happened to be 20 miles west in Aledo, TX. Three years after accepting a seemingly random first grade position in a town about which we knew very little, God has continually affirmed and called us to be a part of this specific church in this specific community. As we waited, we grew in our affection for our church home where I was hired on staff to serve in the student ministry, and over time we made deep friendships with many who live in Parker County. In 2022 Grace Southwest announced the plan to plant a church this year, which happened to be the year we welcomed our twin boys, Samuel and Thomas. To say that it has been quite the year is an understatement. However, it has been in God’s perfect timing that Matt was assessed and approved by Acts 29 to be sent out in September of 2022, four months after my graduation.
We are thrilled to be a part of Grace Church and serve the children and families of Aledo. Our hope and prayer is to see families discipled and formed into the image of Christ so that the next generation of saints may know, trust, and love our good and gracious God. We want to equip and encourage families to cultivate family discipleship within their home so that we may celebrate God’s faithful hand at work to save our children, restore our marriages, and multiply his Kingdom. We want to partner with parents to raise up the next generation of faithful followers of Jesus Christ so that the gospel will continue to captivate the homes of Parker County and beyond!