It's official...I'm going to marry Mark Tjapkes!!!

Go ahead…..rub your eyes….read it again…IT’S TRUE…WE ARE ENGAGED!!!!!

Ok, here’s the story…

Well, let’s start from the beginning…

Mark and I met at his sister Becky and Volker Weise’s wedding Thanksgiving weekend 2005. We hung out then, but due to life circumstances and challenges from friends, our relationship didn’t go anywhere; not even to a pursued friendship.

Then, Christmas 2005, Mark’s brother Michael got married. Becky and Volker came home from Germany to attend the wedding. Since they were in the country, they decided to venture up to Minnesota to visit the old churches (Chatfield and Chisago) and school (CLBS) where Volker, Becky, Julie Morrell and I taught. Mark had the time off to spend with his sister, Volker and their new baby Joanna, so instead of staying in Indiana (where Michael’s wedding was and where Mr. and Mrs. Tjapkes are currently in ministry), he decided to come up to MN as well.

We all spent the evening at Julie and my house entertaining a few guests and oooing and ahhing over baby Joanna. Becky sent Mark and me on an adventure to Wal-Mart for baby stuff….our first bonding experience. The next day he came to school and hung out with us for the day. Then he left…….I didn’t know that a guy could do this to me…..my heart felt like it was ripped out, I couldn’t concentrate……..so I text messaged him…basically, “nice to see you, have a safe trip, have a nice life.”
Over the next successive days we talked on the phone for HOURS. Then I went to Alaska for a week to visit my sister Jodi. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder right? Pretty sure I knew I HAD to continue this friendship. Every time the conversation was finished my view of God was greater, my desire for God was stronger….I was addicted to talking to Mark!
The second week of Christmas break Julie and I went to visit Mark in Michigan. Mark, realizing the cost of overage minutes, bought me a phone on his family plan…..so this gave a license to talk even more…for free!!! January and February were filled with many hours of phone conversations and a visit a month. We both had an opportunity to spend time with each others family and friends and really get to know the real Mark and Tracy. The more we uncovered about each other the more we realized how perfect we were for each other. God made us for each other!!

…….So, Mark came out last week and got all the details for living arrangements when he moves to MN, working arrangements, and had an interview at a church for leading worship and other details…. Then Friday after school, the beginning of my spring break, we drove out to Michigan. The weekend was filled with wrapping up the details of his ministries, many good-byes, many tears and hugs, and packing up the truck. It was amazing to see how I fit into his world in Michigan!!! Wednesday we packed up the truck, cleaned the house and said farewell to Grand Rapids. As we drove away, on the way to visit his parents in Indiana, we prayed and thanked the Lord for all the many things he had done in Mark’s life over the past few years at Cornerstone and ministering at Shiloh Church and Connect.

What I didn’t realize was that we were driving north……when the scenery looked familiar I said, “Is this Grand Haven? Ahh, I am so glad we came up here, this is the first place you told me you loved me! Are we going to see great Aunt Clara?” Mark, “ahh……umm…yeah…we can.” So we got to the place (see picture below) and I said, “Wait, I really have to go to the bathroom.”
Grand Haven is a seasonal town, so almost nothing is open this time of year. We drove and drove and finally found a bathroom. Then back to the pier and lighthouse on Lake Michigan.
As we walked down the pier, the storm began to roll in. We got to “the spot” and Mark began to tell me how when he first came to Michigan he had spent some time up here with the Lord. He vowed his life to the Lord and asked Him to change him and direct him. He also told me he thought he would find his wife in Michigan. This seemed the appropriate bookend to his time in Michigan, so he wanted to come up here and take some time to reflect and thank the Lord for the things He had done. He wrapped his arms around me and began to pray. He thanked the Lord specifically for so many awesome blessings, transformations, ministries, and for leading us together. He asked the Lord to make the way clear as we begin our life together and keep us humble and focused on Him. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.


Of course I said YES!!!!!!!!




I thought I would cry or shriek or something, but as he put the ring on my finger and explained the significance of it, all I could do was enjoy the moment and be so humble and grateful that it wasn’t just the two of us or a crowd of people and pomp and circumstance; it was a moment of worship and consecration before the Lord. No other proposal would have been more fitting. We are both humbled to the fact that God orchestrated every event in our lives to bring us to this moment and we wouldn’t want to begin our lives together without Him. I tell you all….Mark Alan Tjapkes is perfect for me!!!!

The ring: The picture doesn’t do it justice of course, but: it has a 1/3 karat princess cut diamond at the center with 3 smaller diamonds on each side. The ring is a picture of what we want our lives to be: both Mark and I are committed to serving the Lord with our lives. So, the 3 diamonds on each side are a picture of each of us. Each side is 3: Mark, Tracy, God and the union in one that we want to be, But there are 2 sides with these diamonds, because together we want to make God BIG in the eyes of others, which is the picture of us on each side and the larger diamond in the middle. It is the most amazing ring I have ever seen….but I guess I’m bias. I never thought something so beautiful and sparkly would turn this little tom-girl into a giddy one.

I am humbled and amazed to be here at this time in my life with this man. I know that only perfect man was Jesus, and he died on the cross for my sins, but I am so grateful to be redeemed and beginning the journey of life with the man who for the glory of God will complete me and make me a better servant of the Almighty. WOW! When Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10)….He wasn’t kidding!!

Love you all!!
Plan for a summer wedding!!
Much love, Mark and Tracy
(Doesn’t that sound great!!!)