I was so sad to hear about Jacob's passing and have spent a lot of time thinking about what I would share here. It's taken my heart a long time to be ready to share. He was such a encouragement and visionary here at CCU. I was thinking back on powerful words of encouragement that he spoke into my life as a fellow director and how empowered I felt from his affirmations. He truly had a gift of identifying gifts, talents and callings on each of our lives and he freely spoke them over all of us. I miss him so much in our weekly director meetings and our management meetings. He was always so full of energy and creative ideas. He was so expressive and greeted us so cheerfully. There is such a gap without him. The thing that I loved most about him was that he was a prayer warrior. Whenever he heard of a deep need for prayer from me he would eagerly volunteer and then his prayer would lift my heart and hope. His prayers brought forth fruit too. I remember him praying very specifically for me regarding a deep grief in my life and shortly there after the very thing that he prayed for actually happened. It breaks my heart to know that he's not here face to face, I miss his presence and his competitive spirit that spurred us all on to do more and be better at our roles. Thank you Lord for the amazing gift of Jacob, we are confident that he is dancing freely on the streets of gold. I know you are celebrating with us now because of this inspiring contest in your honor. You were deeply loved my friend and we will miss you always.

In His hands,

Jeanne Birch