Seek First

Today is a big day for our family, with Mark starting his new job with Sitecore as a Sales Engineer.  It was really cool to witness how God provided this job, so I want to share it!

Last Fall, we knew that the time had come for Mark to move beyond our family business that we’ve had for 13 years.  After some intense work in shutting down the storefront and moving all inventory to a different warehouse (where it’s now running online-only with the help of our wonderful employee, Elizabeth), Mark planned to take a brief rest, and then hit the ground running in January 2016 to find a new job.

Right before that, in December 2015, Mark drove our van, filled with young adults and a youth pastor, to the One Thing conference in Kansas City. It was a fabulous time of worship, teachings and fellowship – Mark’s first time to attend One Thing, and definitely something he hopes to do again!  While he was there, he felt that the Lord impressed upon him a redirection concerning looking for a job (we didn’t grow up knowing that Jesus is not only alive and well, but He speaks to people!... now we know better - Jesus wasn’t messing around when He said that His sheep hear His voice).  

Instead of Mark’s previous plan, he felt that he was to simply focus on Jesus – keeping Him first – and not strive to find a job.  Practically speaking, this may seem nuts, but nevertheless, Mark spent his time at the Lord’s feet instead of getting aggressive with a job hunt.  We’ve seen the Lord at work in wild and crazy ways in the past, and recognize that His ways are unusual to say the least!

 Within days of returning from One Thing, Mark got a call from a great guy that we know in the neighborhood, out of the blue. The man had an opening to fill in several months that he thought would be a fit for Mark’s background.  Not only would the position be exciting to Mark - using his high tech background as well as his experience from our family business - but he would office from home.  The several month delay was also a good thing, allowing Mark time to work on our family business in specific ways so that it could be maintained in a healthy way.  

We’re really thankful that God is intimately involved in our lives, and excited about this new season He’s given us!

Naming Noah John

On Wednesday, October 3rd at 3:14 PM, our Noah John was born.  The plan was for Mark to share what his name would be after he was born, but we had a funny thing happen earlier in the week that changed that!  People kept asking me what the name would be, and I kept telling them I didn’t know – Mark would decide.  Mark and I have been joking for a while that the birth would be like when Elizabeth had Jesus’ cousin and Zechariah, the father, asked for a writing tablet and wrote his name after his birth. 

Noah, moments after birth

In the past, I'd come up with names, and Mark would let me know if he didn't like something.  But he didn't typically come up with ideas for names, so one of the names I'd brainstormed would be what we went with.  Based on that pattern, I’d been pondering names for many months.  For most of the pregnancy, the name Levi was at the top of my list.  But as time went on, I felt in my spirit that he was really Noah, which means “rest.”  About the time that transition happened, Mark communicated a new kind of leading in choosing our son's name, which was certainly welcome to me.  Mark wanted to take some time to figure out what the name should be.  In an email, I forwarded my 'list,' comprised of about a dozen names and meanings for him to take into consideration.  Some of my favorite middle names were Shiloh, meaning “tranquil, peaceful” and Jeremiah, meaning “God will set free.”

Sweet joy and relief!

In general, the birth of our children have been good experiences, though never easy for me.  Throughout Noah’s pregnancy, if I started thinking about the birth and the pain involved, I would simply push the thought away.  But, about a month before his birth, the Lord poured out a special peace and expectancy over me that was clearly supernatural.  When thoughts of birth came up, there was nothing to push away – there was just peace.

Unbeknownst to me, Mark didn’t want to be influenced by my list, but rather he just wanted to hear from the Lord what the name should be.  When looking over names that had to do with peace or rest, Mark felt his name was to be Noah..  Looking up names that had to do with ‘grace’ – with the idea of resting in the Lord’s grace – Mark felt that the middle name should be John.  We’ve always tried to avoid common names, however, since our last name is very common.  Mark felt sure that I wouldn’t be happy about going with ‘John.’ 

Sunday, Mark mentioned that he knew what the name would be, but he wasn’t sure I’d be pleased with the middle name because it is common.  I immediately heard from the Lord, ‘John.’  This name had never been one we considered in the past, but I did remember reading the meaning of it before and thinking how great the meaning was.

Monday night after Mark returned home from the church men’s meeting, he mentioned a friend joking that the baby should be named “Steven Mark” (because the friend’s name is Steve  : )  I joked with Mark and said, “or Mark John.”  Now I knew the name "Mark" was not a consideration in Mark’s mind, but I was feeling playful and wanted to see his reaction regarding the middle name.  He was really taken aback and asked how I knew.  He kept laughing and couldn’t get over how cool it was that the Lord spoke the same name to me.  So he shared then that the first name would be Noah, which I was thrilled with – and I was of course thrilled with “John” as well.  Though it's common, how could I not be pleased with a name the Lord led Mark to, which is the name of a disciple Jesus dearly loved, as well as his cousin John the Baptist who lived and died so passionately for him.

It occurred to us at the end of our conversation that the name that Zechariah wrote on his writing tablet was “John!”  How neat that our little joking comments regarding Zechariah actually tied in to this middle name that the Lord gave us for our sweet new baby.  So, we pray that our Noah John will rest in the Lord – rest in His grace.

A Knock On the Door

It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed writing a post.  On those rare occasions that I cannot sleep, I often feel the Lord impressing on me a story to share.  Tonight, for some reason, it is an old story that I have wanted to write, but never did find the time.

In the Fall of 2002, Mark and I lived in San Diego, California with our two young boys (Pierce – 2 ½; Jaden – 6 months).  Mark worked as an electrical engineer at Intel, and found himself at an interesting crossroads with his career.  When Mark was a bachelor, he put in long hours at work with little consequence.  Once we married, however, and especially after we started having children, the expectations grew to be unreasonable.  Mark’s work/life balance was painfully off-balance, to the tune of being expected to work 80 hours per week.  He began to seek the Lord constantly in prayer regarding the situation, and interestingly, things at work grew to be ridiculously painful.  It became clear to Mark that he was to quit.  Interesting, considering that his goal prior to this season in life was to work his way up the ladder to become a VP at Intel.

In December 2002, we visited friends of ours in Houston.  Knowing that Mark planned to quit in the Spring, they joked that we should move to Houston and purchase a lot in their neighborhood.  They recently built a new home on a golf course, and empty lots lined their street.  This joke held no temptation for Mark, but I actually found the idea rather appealing.  I spoke with him within the next couple of days regarding the many benefits to moving to Houston (cheaper cost of living, living near good friends, support with home schooling, etc.).  He was not impressed… at all.  But he said that he would pray about it, and he was open to my staying a bit longer in Houston to research building a home on a lot.  You could say he was humoring me  : )

Things seemed to fall easily into place regarding the home we would want built in Houston.  When Spring arrived, we had one foot invested in building a home on a lot across the street from our good friends.  It was a low risk to Mark, because pulling out meant little money lost.  He was happy living in our home in a beautiful valley in San Diego.  Moving to Houston still held little appeal, but he was faithful in prayer, asking for confirmation.  He planned to quit in April, as he felt the Lord was leading him clearly in that area, but he had no idea what was around the corner regarding career.  There was no reason – yet – to move.

One Saturday that Spring, Mark lined up a few different realtors to interview them regarding selling our home in San Diego.  Once again, he was just speculating – simply doing his research.  A heavy, closed door regarding moving to Houston would be a great relief to Mark.  But if the Lord knew better, Mark would certainly follow.

Mind you, our home was not on the market.  There was no ‘For Sale’ sign in the yard.  Mark was simply talking with three realtors, one interview lined up after another, at our kitchen table.  During one of the interviews, the realtor shared with Mark a story about a home in our neighborhood.  The home was not for sale, but someone knocked on the door asking to buy it, and the house ended up being sold to them.  In the midst of this story, exactly when the lady said the word “knocked,” there was a knock on our door.  Not the ringing of a door bell.  A knock.  Mark got up, answered the door, and was in shock to hear a man expressing interest in seeing our home -  to possibly purchase it.  Mark motioned to the lady at our kitchen table, to express that he was currently talking with a realtor and would have to get back with him.  The man expressed that he, himself, was a realtor.  He explained that he had a client that may be interested in our home.  And beyond that, he and his wife were interested personally. 

After viewing our home, his client was indeed interested, which irritated his wife because she was interested in our home!  Short story - a contract was signed within three days for them to purchase our home (wife won, client lost!).  No fees, mind you, because he was a realtor and took care of the paperwork himself.  Also, Mark asked that the sale of their home not be contingent, which the realtor had no qualms with.  Mark was blown away.

With little doubt that he was not only to quit his job, but also to move to Houston, Mark willingly went through the motions to move our family to a hot, humid, flat city with plenty of traffic.  Obedient to the promptings God gave us, his nervous stomach didn’t follow suit as easily, and he threw up that first night in our new home in Houston.  He laughs about that now, as we’ve been so incredibly blessed by God’s redirection in our lives.

In the Fall of 2003, fires tore through San Diego, burning down homes in our old area and altering the beautiful views of that valley that we lived in.  Mark pondered the sad timing of that tragedy with awe.  Looking back, we also wonder that if we had stayed in San Diego, Mark most likely would have taken another high-tech job (leading to more work/life imbalance) through connections with friends, rather than start the family business that the Lord led him to in Houston.  Not to mention, we couldn’t have afforded to survive financially in San Diego, with its cost of living, running our family business. 

The Lord works in mysterious ways.  We find that the directions He has us take often look ‘crazy’ to the world.  But if we follow, we find ourselves on a beautiful path.  We’re thankful that He intervened in the details of Mark’s career, which has altered the dynamics of our family dramatically for the better.  We marvel at the confirmations He gave us along the way, including that perfectly timed knock on the door.

His Voice

I’ve had a little lesson lately on hearing from Him. For the past several years, I’ve longed to hear His voice more. Part of my ‘baggage’ from the past was boxing the Holy Spirit in… for example, He is the seal of salvation, but He doesn’t ‘speak’ to people or work supernaturally as you’d read about in Acts. My experience has knocked that belief right off the shelf, which is refreshing. Of course, there’s still a growth process – a journey that I’m walking through, learning to experience Him more deeply.

So, a frequent prayer of mine over the years has been to hear from the Lord. There were two events recently that showed me that I am hearing from Him – how encouraging! In late August, a group of ladies came to my house one Thursday night. We spent some time in worship, shared needs and ministered to one another through prayer. For myself, I prayed about my recent struggle with frustration and anger toward the children. The last several months have been so stressful – I’m already in over my head the first year with a new baby. Add to that having our home on the market, business struggles, and other stresses, and WOW! Overload! So, I requested prayers for that, because I don’t like it one bit when I’m raising my voice at my children. I also asked for prayers regarding hearing from the Lord, as that would of course be a comfort during times of stress.

One lady prayed for me, and while she was praying, I thought – “My grace is sufficient for you… my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Then another lady prayed for me, and toward the end, she said that she was getting something for me from the Lord – “My grace is sufficient for you… my power is made perfect in weakness.” Then she said that she was also getting that I’m hearing from the Lord often, but not realizing that it’s Him.

I just had to laugh! What a fun confirmation. First, it was just what I needed to hear regarding my struggle with my children. I’m hard enough on myself – I don’t need ‘training advice’ or more pressure. I need to know that He’s got me covered with His grace, and His power is made perfect in my weakness – my brokenness. At the same time, He showed me that I am hearing from Him, but I assumed that I was hearing my own thoughts. Knowing that He lives inside of me, that only makes sense. The Holy Spirit is in constant communication with me – His truth is constantly poured over me. I realize that as I grow up in Him, I’ll learn to discern more and more what is coming from Him and what is truly from me. For now, I’m just thankful to know that His words are freely poured out on me, encouraging, guiding and teaching me as I go.

Just 6 days after this confirmation came another, if you’d like to read about it!