Debbie
My mom, Debbie, married my father, Joseph, when they were both young and had me when she was about 21. She strongly believed in staying home with her children and did so, raising three sons and two daughters and keeping us as a priority. She stretched every dollar as my hard-working construction worker dad literally broke his back to keep food on the table. My mom was completely devoted to us in everything from lots of encouragement to being the scorekeeper for what seems like a billion of our baseball games. And she loved – and still loves – to read. She instilled in me a deep love for reading as a little boy. I can still remember our weekly trip to the library to get a new stack of books. This love of reading has literally been life-changing for me. Today, my mom and dad are still married, attend the Ballard campus, are super sweet to my family and me, and are fantastic grandparents. I even had the great joy of baptizing them in the Jordan River, along with my son Calvin, last summer. It is a great gift to love my mom and have her live nearby.
Mrs. Hitchcock
Mrs. Hitchcock had long red hair and drove a red VW Beetle. She was one of my elementary school teachers, and, to be honest, the only one I really remember much about. In a split grade level class, she encouraged me to listen to the lecture for the older students and encouraged me to push myself academically beyond my grade level. She also gave me a love of writing. She regularly had me take a picture of some sort out of a stack of magazines and write a short story on it, and then she discussed with me concepts such as character and plot development. She was a very encouraging woman and a teacher I loved, and to this day I am thankful she encouraged me to start writing.
Grace
Of course, there is also my wife, Grace. She was my first deep friendship with a Christian, bought me my first Bible, and brought me to my first Protestant church service, at the church her dad pastored. Our first date was on March 12, 1988. We celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary on August 15. Grace has been, by far, my most faithful friend. She has seen me through 22 years of life and has stuck with me through it all. I have learned and am learning a lot about and through Grace. Most of all, I am learning how to love better. We are opposites in almost every way, and there is always something for me to learn so that I can love her better.
Ashley & Alexie
There are also my daughters. I deeply enjoy being the "Poppa Daddy" to my girls. From Ashley I have learned how to pay attention. As the more quiet, reflective type, she is not always forthcoming with her feelings and needs, and so I have learned to pay careful attention to her body language and facial expressions to then draw her out and find ways to love her well. She is the first female I have ever seen grow up in a Christian home firsthand. She recently turned 13, and I am learning the great difference personal faith in Jesus and regular Bible study make in the life of a teenager, and what I missed not getting saved until age 19. From my six-year-old, Alexie, I learn to have fun. She has a big, lively personality. She is very loving, very passionate, and very fun. On the days when I am buried in work or discouraged, she is the most likely to snap me out of my funk quickly, by snuggling on my lap, drawing me a picture, asking me to play a game, or just saying something like, "You need to do something else that’s more fun."
Linda
Finally, there is my mother-in-law, Linda. She too attends Mars Hill and sees the weight on the family and me. So, she serves us faithfully, helping us out all the time by running errands, watching the kids, and even travelling internationally with us. It is a great joy to have a loving relationship with my mother-in-law and to be well supported and served by her as if I were her own biological son. In fact, at church many people think she is my mother because of how well we get along. From Linda I am learning how important it will be for Grace and I to love and serve the spouses God has for our children, as that will be a great blessing to them.
Pastor Mark is the founding and preaching pastor of Mars Hill. Volunteer blog team member Kelsey K. contributed the header image. Later this week: Pastor Justin on the awesome women of the Reformation we all can learn from.
