Happy Thanksgiving...!

Thanksgiving Day 2011

Dear Hillcrest Church Family,

Teresa and I want to send you our heartfelt prayer for you and all of yours to experience God's richest blessings on this Thanksgiving Day and throughout this holiday season! As we spent today in Oklahoma with her family, our hearts are filled with gratitude for the health God has brought to her sister and Mother following their bouts with cancer.

As I type this email, my heart is also filled with gratitude for many other things... For the way God's faithfulness has been so evident over these past two years as we have cared for my Mom. Every time her condition has deteriorated to the next level and we did not know how we could continue caring for her in our home, God has provided the answers and help we needed at just the right time... For the incredible wealth of friends and relationships He has given to us across the country and around the world, both old and new. The longer I live the more I wish I had time to sit down with each and every one more frequently and catch up on the latest unfolding developments in God's plan for their lives. Ever since my Dad died two years ago this January, heaven has been more real to me than ever before and the prospect of "renewing old and glad acquaintance there" more precious... For the two wonderful children God gave us in answer to prayer after thirteen years of infertility and the heartache of repeated miscarriage. it is such a joy, especially, to see God at work in their lives and to begin to get glimpses of their destinies and to sense the heart God has given them to help the hurting and touch the world... For the wonderful people of Hillcrest Church, both past and present, who have so enriched our lives... For the way God so suddenly and supernaturally delivered our church from such crushing, debilitating debt and for the incredible, unparalleled opportunity we have to plant a church in the heart of our city that will touch our city and look like our city... And for the deep conviction I have in my heart that the very, very best is yet to come...!

Teresa and I love you and thank God for the privilege of serving you...!

Happy Thanksgiving...!

Pastor Mark