Getting Ready

What has happened to the Pattons in the last few years?

Briley, Evie, and Logan at G'ville Zoo

Well, we now have three children: Briley (4), Logan (3), and Evie (2 in August).

• I graduated with an M.Div in Church History in 2012

We moved to Wake Forest for 4 months, then moved to South Carolina.

We have started the process for going overseas.

I am now Assistant Minister of Missions at First Baptist Spartanburg.

We're living in a rented house in the metropolis of Startex, SC.

Life for us over the past year has been essentially one big change.  Whenever we begin to get settled into any semblance of normalcy something else happens to keep us on our toes.  We moved to Wake Forest so that I could pursue a PhD in Historical Theology; however, because of the job market we ended up leaving before any schooling actually took place. 

I took a job with a Miracle Hill Thrift store in Spartanburg, SC.  It was basically the only thing available, and God used it to move us to a position where we were willing and wanting to go overseas.  About the time we settled our hearts on going overseas God opened the doors to this job at FBS.  Right now I am in a part-time position working with the church's national and international teams. 

We are continually grateful for God's provision and faithfulness.  

Thank you all for your patience, and we'll be working on posting more frequently as we are a bit more mobile and not bogged down in schoolwork.

It's been over a year and two months since we posted anything here, so we have some changes to tell you about. : )

I don't even know what you don't know so I'll just update on what we're up to now.

So, my (drew's) family is coming to Fort Worth Monday and we're excited that we get to do touristy stuff around where we live, since we usually only do life stuff like Wal-Mart, Target, CVS, church, and school. We're planning on Babe's, the Fort Worth Zoo, and a Ranger's game, so we've got more room if anyone has suggestions of things to do in the DFW area. This will be the first time my brothers and Erin (Philip's girlfriend) get to see Logan, even though she's over three months old now.

Melissa and I are teaching the 9th and 10th graders at Hulen Street Baptist Church and loving getting to know them. I've also started leading worship on Wednesday nights for the youth and am having a blast teaching the worship team how to truly lead their peers in worship.

As far as Briley goes, at 16 months she is in the throes of the rite known as toddlerdom. We're experiencing all the fits and attitudes, yeah, but this stage also has a ton of cognitive developments that most people just completely leave out when talking about toddlers. She's picking up new words everday, learning how to do new things constantly, and turning into a little girl. She is such a joy to be a parent to, honestly. Logan, likewise is an absolute dream baby. She constantly smiles and coos at us, and seems to be a more easy-going baby than Briley was, which we thought was an impossibility. They're both absolutely beautiful...

We are busy beyond belief, but confident we’re in God’s hands. Melissa has two Bible studies, one Monday night and one Thursday night. I work (for security at SWBTS) 2^nd shift on Tuesdays, lead worship on Wednesday evenings for the youth, work 3^rd shift Thursday night and Friday night, work a swing shift on the weekend (either Saturday evening or Sunday morning), and over the summer I’ve been working 3^rd shift on Sunday night too. We’re teaching on Sunday mornings and trying to find time to hang out with friends all while trying to give our girls the love and attention they need. It’s exhausting, yeah, but awesome!

Anyway, I'm sorry its been so long since we've updated. Perhaps we'll be a little more consistent, all I can say is we'll try. We love you all, please let us know what's going on with you and how we can pray for you.

Drew, Melissa, Briley, and Logan