I’m delighted to share with you (and to beat Mike Cope to the punch) that Bob Gomez – one of my elders when my family and I attended at Highland Church of Christ – has been nominated to receive a Jefferson Award in Abilene, an award for community service.

If you’re registered to read the Abilene Reporter-News online, you can catch the entire story here.

One pair of paragraphs reads:

Gomez said he was surprised – and a little embarrassed – to learn his volunteer work had earned him a Jefferson Award nomination.

”I’m not the kind of person that wants recognition,” he said. ”I do it because I enjoy helping people.”

Bob and his wife Jimmie led the small group that we were in at Highland. At that time, the church had 33 elders, each of whom led a small group, became involved in the lives of the families in them, and were tender, caring shepherds to their flock.