December 20, 2019
Reflections Lead to Awe and Gratefulness
I have been more reflective in my prayer time recently, as the close of 2019 approaches. It's made me realize
how much God has moved in the past year in our community
, and helped me foster a sense of awe and gratefulness. I’d like to share a few of my thoughts.
About 18 months ago, after studying multiple financial scenarios, the school's board of directors decided to move forward with a public capital campaign to build an athletic complex. At that time, our school owned 26 acres of prime commercial land in Cedar Park that we tried to sell for over a year. The board decided to proceed with our new building project with or without the sale of our property. The best-case scenario? A contract and quick-close on our land to extinguish the associated loan. As November 2018 began, we had no contract on our land, and carrying the land-debt into a new building loan would have been a heavy financial burden for the school to carry.
As you may know, our community reached $4.5M in pledges for the MAC construction in October 2018 (plus another $160k for the 2018-19 Annual Fund). However, you may not be aware that the school signed a contract to sell our land on November 18, 2018, with a 30-day closing! The sale closed one day early, on December 17, 2018, a few hours before our scheduled December board meeting at which we annually set tuition for the next school year. The land sale netted more than $200K in additional MAC funding and paved the way for a financial best-case situation for the school in 2019-2020.
The Lord provided a last-minute buyer so that our school could effectively enter our building project debt-free.
Life moves so quickly! I often have a hard time remembering much about what my family was doing a year ago! The recent reflection reminded me of how the Lord removed significant obstacles to allow the school to build the MAC in a manner ideal for the school to prosper. We broke ground back in April 2019, and now that seems like such a long time ago. I walk outside to view construction progress on the MAC almost daily, and I see tangible evidence of God's amazing provision.
How is the Lord moving in your family?
Consider sitting down together this holiday season to make a list of things for which you are thankful. Reflection helps us recall progress otherwise lost in our busyness. It also fosters gratitude.
I see the hand of the Lord on our school and see Him moving in many aspects of our community. I pray that He continues to expand our territory in north Austin, so we can proclaim Him and make Him known. For His glory.
Merry Christmas,
Dr. Jeff Marx
