Zach and I both knew God was calling Zach to lead worship for a church
almost a year before he got his first full-time job as a worship pastor. Zach
posted his resume online on a few websites and had opportunities come up. He
had been going through the process of exchanging emails and phone calls with
several churches. The process would get more serious when he would go to visit
the church and lead worship.
The idea of packing up our family and moving kind of freaked me out, so a
whole lot of prayer went into every contact he made. Because I was anxious
about all of it, I had prayed so much for direction and wisdom from God for us.
One day during my quiet time I read Isaiah 7:10-11 and felt like God was
speaking to me directly. It says: "Not too long after this, the Lord sent this
message to King Ahaz: "Ask me for a sign, Ahaz, to prove that I will crush
your enemies as I have promised. Ask for anything you like, and make it as
difficult as you want."
I heard God tell me that Zach and I could ask for confirmations from Him
for our decisions. This idea also lined up with a concept that Becky and Andy (Zach's parents) have used. When they make big decisions, they ask God for 3 different
confirmations to know they're doing the right thing.
I got really excited about it and talked to Zach about what I had heard.
Because he'd already talked to a handful of churches and had even gone to lead
worship at several, we had an idea of what we did or didn't like in those
experiences. We both prayed about what to ask God for and we had 5 specific
things we asked God to show us when we found the church He was calling us to.
Well, after about 9 months into the job hunt we had 2 very promising
opportunities. Zach had already led worship for one of the churches when we
went to interview in Dalhart. We had supper with the pastor and his wife and
did an official interview at the church office after that. When we drove to our
hotel that night, Zach looked at me and said, "I think this is it."
It threw me for a loop but when he pointed out that God had confirmed all 5 of
our things it all made sense. We prayed a lot on that Saturday night and Zach
led worship the next morning. He had to be at the church early for practice so
I hung out at the hotel a little longer that morning. I had a pretty emotional
quiet time. I cried out to God about how I would miss my friends so much but
that I trusted Him. I asked boldly for
one more confirmation. I asked if this was the place for us for Him to show me
a girl who could be my friend. I know that sounds so silly, but it's what I
needed.
The worship service went great that day and afterward, while Zach was
packing up his guitar, the sanctuary cleared out and I began to think I
wouldn't have a friend shown to me. Before we turned to go, a cute, young mom
came and said, "Hi! I'm Mandi and just wanted to come meet you!" I
almost cried. We talked for a few minutes and then said goodbye. Zach and I
walked to the car alone and I told him we needed to look for a place to live.
God had almost written it in the sky for us. He told me I could ask Him for a
sign--as hard of a sign as I wanted. I did and He was faithful to speak to us.
We moved to Dalhart about a month later and were completely confident it
was where God was calling us. It was still sad to leave everything we had known
but easier having heard from God so specifically. In fact, when I would tell
people our story I talked about how much favor I felt that God would speak to
us in such a way. He is so kind to meet us where we are with what we need. We served at that church for a little over
and year and a half and loved our time at Newlife. Mandi and I became very
close and she is still one of my dearest friends. I believe God handpicked her
to be my friend and several other girls in Dalhart and I'm so thankful for the
time we spent there.
Shanna, Gus, Zach, & Dax
Shanna has the joy of staying home full time with her two young boys. Her husband is the worship pastor at Evergreen Church in Tulsa, OK. She loves chocolate, coffee and connecting with other women. Her days are usually spent playing cars, singing silly songs, and baking sweets.
