Throughout high school and college, Jordan and Katie Lightfoot each sought approval and worth from the world. The Lord brought each of them to Christ in their young adult years, and then blessed them with a community of believing friends who supported and encouraged them as they grew in Christ. After meeting one another and starting the journey of marriage and parenthood, the Lightfoot family is grateful for the way the Lord and His people continued to sharpen and encourage them in their walk with Christ.
How did you come to know the Lord?
K: “I had a knowledge of God growing up in a big Catholic family, but I didn’t have a relationship with Him. I realized that even after I went to confession, I would continue to sin; I thought I would never be good enough to earn my way into Heaven. So I started finding my worth in the world through friendships, guys, alcohol, and drugs. There was a persistent void I was desperately searching to fill, and I feel like I hit rock bottom halfway through college.
“In search of something different, I ended up getting a job at a Christian camp that a friend mentioned to me. I was learning the gospel right alongside elementary school kids I cared for that summer. We learned about Ephesians 2:8-9, ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.’ For the first time, I realized that salvation is not something I could earn through my good works or a sinless life; It is a free, undeserved gift that God has offered through Christ’s death and resurrection, and I only have to receive it. The same summer, I purchased and started reading the Bible – allowing God’s Word to inform my faith instead of traditions or what I knew from Catholicism.
“After graduation, I went to The Porch, Watermark’s ministry for young adults, with a friend. It was there I learned I could find my identity and security in God’s Word, His nature, and His character. I was learning more about Christ and allowing the Bible to inform and ultimately transform the way I lived.”
J: “In college, I was going to church every week and was the ‘good guy’ on the football team, but I was also drinking and going to parties. I had one foot in the world, and one foot in the church. The lowest point in my life was when I graduated. I was alone in a new city, addicted to pornography, and would numb my loneliness with a bottle of wine or a six pack of beer every night after work. I started praying for God to bring people in my life and take away the emptiness I felt.
“When I moved to Dallas for a new job, I was invited to join a friend’s community group at Watermark, and it was the first time I’d been around men who were so transparent about their sin struggles. I thought I had been honest in my life, but there was a small percentage of my heart and struggles that I hadn’t shared with anyone.
“The godly men in that group discipled me and showed me the joys of living a Christ-centered life. The Lord helped me find victory over my pornography addiction and create a plan to overcome my issues with alcohol. When Katie and I met through mutual friends, community helped me navigate a relationship honoring the Lord and how to be a godly man and leader through dating.
“God has used our marriage to sharpen me to be a better husband and a better brother to the world around me. The Lord was – and still is – faithfully growing me in my dependence on Him.”
What has the Lord taught you through your first year of parenthood?
J: “Parenting is a tangible way we can relate to how God loves and cares for us. I’ve learned that the way I see our daughter, Landry, is the way God views us. I remember specifically one night I was holding her, and she would not stop crying over something like food or a diaper change. I recognized in that moment that, even as adults, we do the same. We get so caught up on things we have no control over, and the Lord so patiently holds us, just like I was holding her.”
K: “The Lord has taught me to depend on Him now more than ever, but He has also taught me what it means to be a true servant. I’ve never had to serve someone else minute-by-minute until Landry. The Lord is reminding me that life is found when you serve, not in being served.
“She was also born a sinner and is starting her own story. She’s going to make mistakes and have the same tug at her soul that the world had on my heart. I want her to know Truth and walk in it. I want her to be a light. It can feel weighty, but the Lord has entrusted us as her parents. She is His daughter, and we are just stewards.”
J: “We want to be a family that brings people in, loves them, and points them to truth – just like how people treated us. We think of John 10:10 and that is the way we want our marriage to be portrayed. Through Christ, Christ, we have been given life and life to the full.”