Hall of Fame: Marilyn Jones

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When you enter my Youth Group Hall of Fame (located on the first floor of the Betsy B in North Myrtle Beach- well, it will be as soon as one of my readers buys it for me!) you will enter an open area and see signs leading you to various rooms.  There will be a room for each ministry I served, featuring various artifacts and the busts of each inducted Hall of Famer.  It will be a great place, and admission will be free! It will be s shrine to to love and grace of Jesus Christ.  And the first thing you see when you walk in will be the statue of the one person who was significant to every ministry I was ever a part of-  Marilyn Steele Jones.

I met Marilyn in 1981, and from that day forward she has been a part of my life and a part of my ministry.  She went with a group from New Garden Friends Meeting and NC Yearly Meeting of Friends to New York in November of 1981, and God only knows how many trips she helped lead (and how many vacation days she used to do it) after that one.  We were married August 30, 1986 (anniversary #24 is a week away!) and began serving Springfield Friends Meeting upon returning from our honeymoon.  From 1986 -1994, she was the unofficial associate youth pastor at Springfield.  She was at TNT every week, often driving kids home when it was over.  She went on every trip.  Many of the girls in the group turned to her for help and friendship.  God used her is some great ways in High Point. 

We had only been in Kissimmee a few months when she became pregnant with Will, and her role changed quite a bit for a while as he became her priority.  She hated missing youth stuff, but she knew where she needed to be.  Any of you who have met Will over the past few years as he has become a teenager already know what an amazing mother she is and has been.  He simply could not be a better kid, and she deserves most of the credit. And yet, even with her time with the youth cut back, she always had a ministry of her own.  She often taught Sunday School.  She shared her beautiful singing voice at every stop along the way.  She was there when the youth needed her.  She chaperoned the last ski trip we took (from Waycross) even though she was sick.  She was always there when I needed her.

She is my rock and my best friend.  The only constant of youth ministry is change.  It is often a whirlwind of activity, with many people moving in and out of your life.  It is not an easy life to be married to a pastor; you truly live in a glass house.  She always did it with style and flair.  Marilyn has always been there for me.  She was there in the times when we laughed for hours on end.  She was there when we cried and tried to figure out God's will for our lives.  And she stayed with me when my professional ministry ended, when it would have been so easy to give up on me as a person and a husband.  I had taught people for years about the grace of God as found in Jesus Christ.  Marilyn (and others) have shown me that I really had very little idea what grace is really all about...

So welcome to the HOF, Boo.  I love you more than I can ever express, and it fills my heart with joy and hope to know that whatever God has planned for us in the future, we will face it together.  And to all of my readers that know Marilyn and understand the impact she has had on so many lives over the years, leave her a comment today.  Let her know what she means to you.  And welcome her to the "front row" of my Hall of Fame!

Because of Jesus,