LET'S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING...

 

 … A very good place to start! I bet you can hear it now -- the voice of Maria from Sound of Music singing this phrase at the beginning of Do-Re-Mi! We love that movie so we thought it was appropriate to claim that lyric for the title of our post this week. We want to take you back to the very beginning and tell you where this whole “TEAM D” thing came from and how our love story began. Before we dig into that, we want to warn you. Each post will involve a challenge. Last week, we asked you to dream big and pray bold. We told you our love of the verse Eph. 3:20. We want this blog to be more than just a place for us to tell our life stories. We want you to experience God’s love in these stories. We desire for you to be challenged! So go on, get your “swords” out, look up life-giving scriptures, accept a challenge and hopefully we can experience God together. With transparency, we want to tell stories of God’s goodness and also share the names of those who have helped mold us into who and where we are today. With that being said….let’s start at the very beginning.

In November of 1999, Becca wrecked her car on the way to the oral surgeon. She recently had her wisdom teeth removed (which later in life she found a 5^th wisdom tooth…one in a million!) and had a wonderful case of dry socket. On her rush to the doctor, she wasn’t paying attention and rear ended the man in front of her. It tore up her Blazer (interesting fact: Nathan and Becca both had chevy blazers as first cars) and her parents were going to make her pay the deductible. As a result, Becca would have to get a job over Christmas break. The only job that was available for quick work was working at Proffitt’s department store. There she met a girl named Christa Clancy (thank you Christa for changing both of our lives so much! We are so thankful for you!) . Christa and Becca immediately became friends. Christa immediately wanted Becca to meet her friend Nathan. Nathan came in to “visit” the store and it was love at first sight…well kind of.

We kept thinking of each other often. God provided us with divine appointments. Recently we read in the book Praying Circles Around Your Children, this quote which so directly speaks to us: “Only God can make the divine appointments, but only YOU can keep the divine appointments.”   At that time, we thought it was weird coincidences but looking back we know those “meet-cutes” were divine appointments. Don’t you just love those! I mean who runs 15 minutes late to church? We both did and ran into each other on a random Sunday morning in Jan. of 2000. We still occasionally run late to church. J Seeing each other that Sunday was just another moment where we thought, this could be something. Later in the spring we were both at a party where we seemed to be the only sober ones. As many of you know, when you are the only sober ones you tend to bond immediately if nothing else over making fun of the others. That night we sat in a corner and talked…talked about our faith, our dreams (BIG ONES) and our families. We connected that night on a level spiritually. And when that happens, God starts moving.

 In May of 2000, Nathan went with Christa to Becca’s graduation party. At that time, we were both dating others so it was just a “friend” thing.  We are sure God was laughing at how we were living out our own plans but He knew so much more was up ahead. That summer we stayed in touch and even hung out a few times. Nathan took Becca to see the play Annie  (a favorite for Becca as well as Nathan). To this day, we still discuss whether this was a date or not (It was). By the way, a new Annie comes out this December! Team D will be there opening night!  Well, it wasn’t long before Becca was headed to Harding University and Nathan was staying in Nashville at Lipscomb. The next 6 months were spent getting to know each other long distance. Nathan pursued Becca via emails (old school version of texting) and care packages. In December of 2000 we made it “official”. In June of 2001, after receiving a blessing from Becca’s parents in April, Nathan surprised Becca with a proposal on the beach while her family was on vacation in Ft. Walton Beach (crazy, that is where we live now!). In December of 2001, we were married! The month of December has great significance as that is the month we first met, became serious and married… all in just two years.  But with God there is not time. A day in His courts is like a thousand elsewhere. He can accelerate time in any way He wants. Let that soak in for a minute. That is why relationships built on Him grow quickly. When He is at the center, time is not a factor.

 We were young. We were in love. We are still in love! When God has a plan to bring people together, whether for marriage or friendship, it is amazing how He uses their talents and gifts to complement each other. We are two very different people. One of us is quiet, strong, disciplined and kind. The other is outgoing, bold, compassionate, and full of life. We will let you guess which is which.  Oh, we can’t leave out our other teammate. Fenley is shy (at first), Spirit-filled, sweet and sometimes sassy. We each have very different gifts and personalities. We love differently and feel love differently. But we both seek the Lord. We are not perfect, but we complement each other. We have become a TEAM.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

The word TEAM has had great meaning in both our lives but continues to even have a stronger value. We call ourselves TEAM D because that is what we are. We are a team. We are 3 people made up of different talents but with the same ultimate goal. We also have others that join us. We have great families that have a strong love for the Lord. We have our friends that mean the world to us. We have been blessed with so many that are a part of our story…a part of our TEAM. When we sit back and think about all of our teammates over the last few years, we are blown away at the goodness of God and who He places on our team. All of our teammates are so different yet all have the same goal of joining the Almighty in Heaven one day!

 

We love “stacking it up” with our team. Whether it is with the track team at Ezell, the Viking football team, in the pool after swim lessons, or tucking Fenley in at bedtime, we have grown to love the act of stacking it up. Putting your hands in a pile and saying the same thing at once and then throwing your hands up has great meaning. It is not just stacking it up, you are claiming victory together! Earth is better with those we enjoy it with and Heaven will be too! And it is together that we live and love this life and it is together that we claim victory! We are so grateful for all those we stack it up in life with. Who do you stack it up with? We want to challenge you this week to think about this. Maybe write those people a letter, send them a text, or call them. Let them know you are grateful that they are there for you in life to claim victory. Let them know that you are thankful that if you fall down, they are there to pick you up like Ecclesiastes says. In every relationship, remember to keep HIM at the center for that strand is not easily broken.

 

A few extras this week…

Since we began talking about the Sound of Music, here are “a few of our favorite things” right now. When you have time, check these things out and maybe they will speak to you:

Song: “Do Something” by Matthew West Song here!

Movie: A Perfect Game (found on Netflix)

Books: Circle Maker by Mark Batterson and Season of Life by Jeffrey Mar x  (Thanks to Janna Beth Hunt for this book that she gave Nathan to read about coaching)