HOUSTON CHRONICLE:
In the fall, the cottonwoods and maples of Dripping Springs, Texas are awash with golden brown and brilliant orange. With the change of seasons, the tiny town is at peace awaiting the arrival of cool weather.
Behind the counter in the Starbucks at Voss and San Felipe, Trevor Jones remembers Dripping Springs. He grew up there. His parents worked hard to support eight children, she as a school bus driver and a mechanic, he as an air conditioner repairman.
His most vivid memory is the autumn of his eighth grade year. It was a season of discontent. When his parents divorced, he lived with his father in a pop-up camper for six months.
Now he says, “That was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.”
He found peace with the youth group at the local Baptist church. His father found the courage to make a new start.
“At church I didn’t have to run from my problems. They accepted me unqualifiedly. It was then I decided to become a minister.”
Today Trevor Jones, a twenty-one year old divinity student at the College of Biblical Studies, treats each Starbucks customer like someone special. Stop by more than once and he’ll likely remember your name. “God’s in the people business–so am I,” he says with a smile. “It doesn’t matter if they’re happy or sad. I try to reach out to them. Sometimes I think I’m the only one who does.”
When he’s not serving coffee or going to class, Jones is a volunteer with Young Life ministries. His current assignment is team leader at Westheimer Academy of International Studies.
I’m not much on social media, he tells me. “People need a personal connection. Especially kids. Parents preach that success and money will bring happiness, but they’re never home to demonstrate it. I try to be there for them.”
The Bible teaches “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Trevor Jones remembers the brilliant colors of Dripping Springs and the change of seasons that thought him his purpose in life.
When a cup of coffee is not enough, stop by Trevor’s store for a kind word. He practices what he preaches.
Malcolm D. Gibson
Copyright 2016
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