A Simple Invitation, a Catalyst for Spiritual Growth

It was just a simple invitation to visit the Friday Morning Men’s Bible Study one day. Or so Prestonwood member Mike Daugherty thought when he extended the invitation to long-time college buddy Thor Hoppess.

Who would have thought that such a simple act would open the door for Thor and his entire family to find the spiritual home they were looking for?

“I had only been in the North Texas area for a month when Mike invited me to the men’s Bible study at Prestonwood,” said Thor, a financial advisor who relocated from College Station. “And since this kind of accountability men’s group has been important to me and my spiritual growth since the late ‘90s, I decided to check it out.”

And after just a couple of Friday visits, Thor made the men’s group a spiritual mainstay of his work week.

“It impressed me then and it impresses me now, two years later, when I see 200 cars filling the parking lot (on Fridays before daybreak),” Thor said, “and to see that many men committed to be there for the same reason I’m there—to become a stronger spiritual leader for my family and my community.”

Once his wife Monique and their two daughters—Hagan, 14, and Madison, 11,—joined him in Frisco, Thor said the Friday Bible study became the catalyst that paved the way for the entire family to experience Prestonwood.

“The first Sunday we came, I saw that something was pulling my wife’s heartstrings, and that was huge,” Thor said. “For it was more important to me for her to feel the spiritual connection that day at Prestonwood, and she did. God is alive and well here!”

Monique says she feels the same way. “I remember our first Sunday as we entered the Worship Center. I was immediately moved by the choir and their music, and found myself tearing up,” she said. “But it all revolves around studying the Bible and connecting to the down-home feeling that my whole family now experiences at Prestonwood.”

Then last year, that spiritual connection resulted in the entire Hoppess family getting baptized together.

“This was special for our family,” Monique said. “And especially because David Shivers (Minister of Married Adult II), who was so instrumental in helping Thor to connect to Prestonwood, performed the baptisms.”

Now Thor and Monique have begun to connect with other members whose relationship to the couple stems all the way back to their childhoods in Sherman.

“It’s amazing how we run into people that we’ve known throughout our lives—like deacon Kelly Caddell, who Thor has known since he was 6 years old,” Monique said. “Prestonwood really is a community, like a small city of believers.”