In 2003, with a second child on the way, we moved to North Plano and started looking for a new church home where we could grow our faith as a couple and our kids could be raised in a family of faith. We were looking for a medium-sized church that had a welcoming environment and an active children and youth ministry. 

When we first visited PMLC, while being warmly welcomed as we entered, we noticed the overall friendliness of the members as they mingled before church. It was this friendliness that made it easy for us to jump in and make many new friends through Tables of 8, Sunday school and small group studies.  After our second child was born and baptized, both kids started attending KDO.  We enjoyed having a seamless transition of faith development between church and school during those formative years.  We liked the KDO program so much that Kelly became, and still is, a full-time teacher!   

After that first year of building strong relationships within the church, PMLC just naturally became our home.  After Zachary died in 2021, we would not have made it without the love, prayers, cards, meals, and support of our church family.

We have served at Feed My Starving Children, filled boxes of food at Love Pacs, helped set up apartments for refugees, donated to help mission work in Haiti, and served at My Possibilities.  It is a blessing that PMLC presents so many opportunities where we can use God’s gifts to help others while working alongside other members and people from the community.  

We both grew up in families that practiced generosity based on a belief of “what can we do for our neighbors?”  In the farmlands, that took the form of helping make sure that crops or livestock were taken care of during a vacation or illness.   While in a city neighborhood, generosity involved providing a meal for someone going through a hard time, giving money to support missionary work, or praying for those experiencing hard times.  

Participating in and working with the Boy Scouts has also reinforced our goal of helping others and making people and places “better than we found them”.   We try to make it a habit to give first to the church (something both sets of our parents did) and then deal with the rest of life’s expenses. God has blessed us.

Our hope for the next generation is that our families and youth experience the feeling of helping those in need and seeing first-hand the impact they can have on people around them. Getting to know our neighbors and understanding their needs is essential to showing God’s love to others.   

Kirk and Kelly Schlotman

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