Regarding this Page – I will, when inspired come back and add to and edit this page. I will fill in gaps and speak of my family and use this post as the primary testimony of my life. I am not sure how well this works in the blog world, it may not work well, but this is how I intend to build my personal testimony.
My name is David Engman and I am married to my first wife of 19 years – Christine. The oldest of our four children is my step-daughter Amanda (25) who is now married to Josh and together they have a beautiful little girl named Alexandra. The three children we had together are Mackenzie (18), Mitchell (14), and Hailey (12).
I want to tell you about my amazing wife Christine first. Without her this story of my life would like entirely different. Though we grew up in Richfield and attended the same high school, we actually met in 1994 at a wedding reception. Turns out we lived in the same apartment complex at that time in Burnsville which obviously made things very convenient. Amanda, Christine’s daughter was just four years old when we met. i can remember meeting her for the first time. When i arrived at her apartment, I said hi, and Amanda grabbed my hand and said “Let’s go to the park!” I was so happy that she welcomed me so fast. Christine and I dated for almost a full year before i proposed to her on March 8th 1995 (my birthday) in front of both sets of our parents. It made the perfect cover – she was completely surprised. We got married on July 20th, 1996 at The Colonial Church of Edina. She is absolutely the most beautiful creature in the world. The header of my Facebook page shows a picture of us dancing our first dance. On August 23rd, 1997 we had Mackenzie and moved into our first home on Minjon Drive in Apple Valley. We had two miscarriages before we were blessed with Mitchell on June 11, 2001. Then God blessed us with our Hailey on April 6th, 2003. Christine was and still is a rock when it comes to family. She never puts anything other than the Lord before her family. She is fierce and for all that she is, she is just amazing.
I am above all else a son of the Most High God. Totally sold out for Jesus! Nothing is more important to me than this relationship. I wasn’t always. Part of my testimony is that when I was 14 years old (1984), I prayed to receive Jesus. However, nobody would have really known me as a Christian – not until around 2000. Some would argue that during those years I was covered by the blood and thus had I died I would have been allowed access to Heaven and others would argue the opposite. I will honestly say that I was lost during those years – and it was only by the Grace of God that I didn’t die and have to find out who was right. It’s not that I was ignorant about God, my mother insisted I go through confirmation which gave me a biblical understanding. It’s just that it wasn’t what was most important to me at the time. I can say that since 2000 there is absolutely no doubt about my salvation. What is interesting is that it wasn’t some preacher who did something that caused this change in me. Actually, God used my wife more than any other person to lead me to him in the most curious albeit sad way. Had Christine not been so sensitive to the plight of a dying little girl named Annabel, I am not so sure I would have entered this journey. Now my Dad, and my Grandfather were instrumental – don’t get me wrong. But it was the way my wife responded to a CaringBridge post that got my attention. God used my wife to gently bring me along. Hosanna! Lutheran Church in Lakeville was to become our Church home and eventually Christine took a job there where she is on staff to this day.
The early years of my spiritual journey.
Looking back, I can see the steps He took to get me plugged in. Each one was critical to my development and the people were too.
Early on in our spiritual journey there were people that God brought into our life. It was Pastor Susan and Larry Fannon who had the greatest impact on us personally. They encouraged us and believed in us! We consider them Spiritual Parents and love them like our own parents. Then there was Pastor Derek Rust who led Alpha – he is from England and his accent was thick. He had such compassion in his preaching style but it was his ability to bring me deep that I so miss even to this day. Pastor Bill Bohline, the founding Pastor of Hosanna! was the perfect father figure as a Pastor. His sermons were always home runs. This Church was huge – 7,000 members but God made sure that Pastor Bill knew my name. That was so important to me. I secretly desired to be his friend and learn from him, but who didn’t? Pastor Jim Busscher became my mentor and poured into me for years. I still don’t know anyone who knows the Scriptures more than him. Pastor Mark Strandjord was a spiritual giant to me. He was friends with my Grandfather Harvey and as a result, there was an instant connection and to me that represented favor. Mark is fearless and God used him through his testimony and teaching to give me someone to follow. Sheri Richards was a friend who believed in me and encouraged me to risk and even though the road got tough (very tough) she never gave up on me. She has brought to me more opportunity than almost anyone ever has. Pastor Tim Hatt was instrumental as well as he was the man God used to release me into ministry. Tim brings the aroma of the Kingdom of God and over the years I have come to be drawn to him. I am cut from the same clothe as both Pastor Mark and Pastor Tim. I feel a kinship to them and am grateful for their investment into me.
I am a forty five year old Husband, Father, Grandfather, Founder, CEO, Pastor, Chaplain, Leader, Mentor, Mentee, and Friend. So many titles, and I am sure there are more – but, above all, I am a Son of God!
I start out telling you about these titles because titles are important as they define who we are. They tend to bring order to things and help us understand how to prioritize our life. This has been an interesting journey in and of itself because often, when I have failed in certain areas of life it is primarily because I was out of order regarding my identity at the time. I have tried to lay out the order of priority primarily to help me make sense out of it. Here is how it looked:
- God
- Wife
- Children
- Extended Family
- Friends
- Work
The problem with this list is that I have not been able to keep the order. I will confess that work often times has creeped up far too often and has captured the number 2 spot. I hope you can see how this creates a problem. The enemy (Satan) uses this to remind me that I am nothing more than a hypocrite – and I feel like one. But more importantly, my wife knows it’s not true! So, how can I teach or preach something if I can’t live it out behind closed doors? This probably more than anything in my life has created a bitter root of resentment.
Recently Pastor Bill Johnson was quoted as “Here is my order”
- God
- There is no number 2
If God is number 1, then everything else will fall into perfect order at the perfect time. Of course I love my wife and have committed myself to her affectionately, but the truth is sometimes my children are in a position where they have to come before her in that moment. She could and would say the same thing. I am fortunate because my wife and I love the Lord and get this. It is our shared desire to hear from the Lord and have him pour us into the area of greatest need according to His will not ours. Understanding our title in that moment is critical – at that moment when it is our children, I am to represent our loving Father in Heaven as His ambassador as the father to my children. I have so much to learn regarding this topic, but I feel as though God will navigate the course of understanding in His time. After all, He is sovereign over everything – even my understanding regarding this. In the mean time, I would ask that you pray for me and my family. If you ask, I will pray for you and yours.
Pursuing Breakthrough 