jon mark

this week my son received a gift, a cape. it’s not just any cape. it was made for him by his babysitter. it has “SUPER COOPER” across the back and even has a hidden pouch for him to put his map in. he was immediately obsessed and put it on. i had to pack it in behind him in the car seat, extending the safety straps a little to make room. as soon as we got home he went running through the house in search for his sword. he was now able to conquer every bad guy. and in his heart and mind he was sure that he could fly! after finding his sword we just had to go outside so he could find the bad guys and show them he was…

SUPER COOPER!

words cannot truly express the scene as he made his exit from the house and off of the back deck, into the backyard…he had the sword held high in the air and off he went running across the deck. all that stood in front of him were two small steps down to the ground. but to show his great power, he decided to just fly and not bother using the steps. this ended in one of the most epic face plants i have ever seen. (only because i’ve never actually seen any of my classic wipe outs!)

i share all of that because it is a perfect picture of what life looks like when i put on my cape  and try to do life on my own strength and power…i end up in an epic face plant! (if you’re wondering, no i don’t really have  a cape!) but i do that. i try to do things on my own wisdom, strength, power, talent, ability… some of the time the tasks are so simple that i succeed and it feeds my ego. so then i try again with a greater task or a greater decision, only do find myself face down like…

SUPER COOPER!

this morning i could not sleep. so i got ready for the day and decided to do some extra studying. i found myself in jeremiah, chapter 17. this is what it says in verses 5-8 in the new living translation…

5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD. 6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,
with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness,
in an uninhabited salty land. 7 “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD
and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.

at first glance i didn’t see it, i didn’t make the connection. but then i read over it a couple more times. at first i thought that i just shouldn’t trust other people…that’s the probation officer in me. but as i read it again God made it clear that i was a “mere human” too! He was reminding me that i can’t rely on my own human strength…and He reminded me of my son and his cape!

the best part of this passage is contained in the last five words. if i trust in God, rely on Him, place my hope in Him, only have confidence in Him…i will be like the trees along the riverbank…”they never stop producing fruit“!

i want that! i want that just as bad as my son wants to be…

SUPER COOPER!

FYI – we went on to the swing set and that helped him fly much better. he liked flying so much i’m pretty sure i threw my arm out pushing him for so long.

so back in december i received a random phone call from the great state of MI. i was at lunch with a friend and didn’t know the number, so i let it go to voice mail. after lunch i listened to the voice mail and at first thought it was a prank. it was a guy (lerrin wentworth) claiming to be a pastor from some church in the woods of MI and he wanted to talk with me about a worship leader position. i reluctantly called the number back and got his voice mail…so i left a message.

side note #1…i had been looking for a worship pastor position at a church for 6 years or so. some of the time i was looking harder than others. but i hadn’t sent out a resume for months. i was focusing on finishing up my masters. a lot of people know this and friends can play pranks from time to time…

ends up that really is the guy’s name and he really is a pastor. he works for The Woods church based out of Warren, MI. they had an open position in the worship department and they wanted to talk with me about that. so i sent them a resume and some links from Youtube of me leading worship and really didn’t think much of it.

side note #2…i’ve sent out A LOT of resumes. i’ve met with pastors. i’ve had phone interviews with committees. i worked part-time for 18 months or so at a church. we even flew to FL once to visit a church. but all of them ended up in rejection…except for one instance, the rejection came from the other half of the equation.

through a series of phone calls, e-mails, and a skype interview…kasey and i scheduled a trip up to visit the church. during our time there we went through was i would call the gauntlet of interviews. we ate a lot of good food! we met a lot of cool people, including the band from the north campus and i lead rehearsal with them. then i lead worship for their service on sunday morning. after leading worship we booked it to the south campus and sat through a service there. (come to find out it wasn’t in the woods at all!) that was followed by a little exit interview and prayer. not to mention the caramel macchiato from the church’s coffee shop.

side note #3…that’s my favorite drink from st. arbucks and the church’s barista knocked it out of the park!

we jumped in the truck and headed home. i let kasey talk so i knew what she was thinking about the trip, the church, the staff we met, anything and everything that was coming to mind…we prayed and we waited for three long days to talk with the church staff again and see where things stood. those days were filled with questions, doubt, discouragement, attacks, encouragement, confirmation, more questions, more doubt…you name it, we thought about it!

then on wednesday, 2/15/12, i was offered “a package” from the church. that package included a full-time position in their worship department. i had prayed about it and had a painfully low number to expect and a number that i could live with, in regards to compensation. after speaking with the head pastor of the church, kasey and i needed to pray about whether this was where God wanted us as a family or not…it had to be a family decision.

thursday night we prayed with some very dear friends of ours. the kind of friends that know EVERYTHING about us. they’ve been through highs and the VERY LOWS of our lives for the last 12 years or so. in the midst of our time together kasey made this statement about the church, “i know this is where God wants us to be.” we prayed, cried, reminisced, and laughed at my expense (insert long story about no hot water for my shower in CO). but the decision was clear.

it was confirmed over and over again through out the process. whether it was with my school schedule, the people we met, interactions with other churches, through friends, through prayer, and even that “package”. God had opened doors, cleared paths, and made it as CLEAR as possible…we were supposed to make the move to MI.

a week ago today…

i accepted their package and agreed to join an amazing group of leaders up north. i was more than excited to do so. i was put on speaker phone and was greeted with cheers on the other end when i told them that we were putting a for sale sign in our yard…they were gathered around the phone. thankfully they were excited about the decision as well.

through this journey of several years i’ve been all over the map. i can see times of anger, resentment, discouragement, questioning, and even depression. i can see poor decisions being made on my part. at the same time i can see that God was with me throughout the journey. i can see His love, mercy, and grace at work in my life. i can see times of great excitement in leading people. i can see so many individuals that i have been able to develop relationships with and invest in. i can see people who have invested in and encouraged me as well. i can see a great deal that i have learned!

i now have a much better understanding of these two verses in isaiah. because there were so many times that i really thought i knew where i was supposed to be and what His will looked like…but i didn’t! His ways were much higher…far beyond anything i could have imagined…and i am so thankful for that! we have a long road ahead, but i know that He will take care of us!

now the mckanna family begins a new journey and it officially started…

a week ago today…

PS – anyone want to buy a house? PLEASE!

so this week God worked in a big way through my wife kasey and i want to tell you about it. i want to tell you how BIG God is and how He has gifted my wife and is using her to impact lives. YES, i’m,

bragging…on BOTH of them!

the story starts a few months ago, september 3, 2011 to be exact. i was asked to help pick up some lumber. so i drove over an hour to pick up lumber from an Amish sawmill. i was amazed by everything that i saw that day! never in my life had i seen anything close to what i was encountering. their farm was so beautiful and so well cared for. piles of logs and lumber bigger than i could have ever imagined possible. it was obvious that these people knew how to work.

then it happened, the owner of the sawmill came out to talk with my brother-in-law about the lumber he had ordered and to find out what we were taking with us that day. i would say the man was in his late 50′s or maybe in his 60′s and he was in a manual wheelchair, pushing himself along the stone driveway. i was blown away by his kindness and trust. i was greatly impacted by this man, just in seeing him for a matter of minutes. talk about determination, discipline, hardworking…the list goes on. i was amazed. i wanted to know his story. i wanted to know why he was so different than the people i work with day after day in my office. i left there wondering!

this past saturday, kasey was working in the hospital and met this very same man, mind you we live over an hour from the sawmill! he was in our local hospital and needing medical treatment. God had the right therapist for him!

before her visit with him was done, she knew exactly who he was and that i had been to his sawmill. after telling him that, he even remembered the order i was picking up, 5 months ago! she also found out his story. he was hit by a drunk driver over 20 years ago and was partially paralyzed. OVER 20 YEARS in that wheelchair, running a farm and a sawmill! he had trouble getting a proper seat for his chair and had developed medical problems due to the improper seating. he and his family had grown discouraged to say the least. this sent kasey on a mission, because wheelchair seating just so happens to be a specialty of hers!

monday, just two days later, she finds a medical supplier that had a seat for the man. not just any seat, i’m talking the EXACT size and everything! not only did they have the seat, the company was able to supply the seat for FREE! then another patient on kasey’s schedule just so happened to cancel their appointment. this gave kasey the opportunity to personally deliver the new, FREE, seat to this man over in the hospital.

God is SO much bigger than anything i can wrap my head around! people can doubt His sovereignty and foreknowledge and whatever else they want to doubt. NOT ME! these details don’t just fall into place by some chance. they were orchestrated by an amazing God. i’m so thankful for Him and for how He has gifted my wife. she longs to serve people and help them find healing and comfort. she has been given the ability to understand the human body and know how to bring healing to it. God made her that way and she uses the gifts He gave her day after day!

so i’m here…

bragging…on BOTH of them!

(the pics in this post were from the man’s sawmill and taken with my iPhone 4…)