Choosing Obedience

Roots that Shaped Them

Both Marissa and Michael grew up in Lake County—Marissa in Libertyville, Michael in Ingleside—yet their childhood homes told two very different stories.

Marissa describes her upbringing as shaped by a deeply faithful mother who held their home together. “My mom really carried our family,” she says. “She worked, took care of everything, and her faith through it all shaped me.” Her mother’s trust in God laid the groundwork for the kind of obedience Marissa would one day learn to walk in herself.

Michael’s story was more turbulent. “My family was Christian—we went to church—but the practical application of Jesus wasn’t there,” he explains. His dad worked long hours, and his mom struggled to juggle homeschooling, home life, and her own limitations.

Even in the dysfunction, God was at work in ways no one could yet see. Michael’s older sister, Sarah—twelve years his senior—became a strong, stabilizing voice. “She was always pushing me,” he says. “She wanted me to have opportunities she didn’t.” Her encouragement helped form his early trust in God’s goodness, and her influence became one of the earliest and most defining gifts God gave him.

A Relationship Built on Depth

From the start, Michael and Marissa’s relationship was different. They talked about the big things—family, parenting, and faith—long before most couples would.

“We don’t know how to do surface level,” Marissa laughs. “We talked about parenting methods on date two.” Their friends were stunned—but the truth was simple: Their experiences growing up taught them a lot about what they wanted to carry forward and what they hoped to approach differently as they built their own family.

“Communication is huge for us,” Marissa says. “We’re both deep people.” That depth became the heartbeat of their relationship as they learned to wrestle, question, challenge, apologize, and realign with a maturity rare for their age. They didn’t realize it then, but God was preparing them. The foundation they were laying would soon face a storm they never saw coming.

The Unexpected Turning Point

As Michael was getting ready to propose, tragedy struck: his sister and spiritual anchor, Sarah died suddenly at 34 while walking with two of her sons. “It rocked my world,” Michael recalls. “I still don’t know why she was taken so young.”

Michael flew to Alabama immediately. Marissa followed the next day. As they grieved with Sarah’s husband and the boys, something quiet but persistent began rising in both their hearts.

“We both separately sensed it,” Marissa says. “God was asking us to move to Alabama, get married quickly, and help raise the boys.” The idea felt outrageous. “We had only been dating eight months. We had plans – school, careers, timelines.” But the same impression was lodged in Michael’s spirit. “I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘Who else is going to be here for them?’” he remembers.

Here, trust and obedience collided: You can’t obey God if you don’t trust Him. And if you trust Him but refuse to obey, your faith becomes shallow—lacking integrity.

So they chose both. Within three weeks, they planned a 250-person wedding and moved to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains where they began married life as stand-in parents to three grieving boys.

“It all came together so quickly,” Michael says. “Only God could have done it.”

Forged by Fire

“We moved to the middle of nowhere,” Marissa says. “Something about being tossed into isolation with only one person, in your first year of marriage, really forges you.”

They were grieving, parenting, adjusting, and sacrificing—obeying through it all. Isolation strengthened their unity, grief deepened compassion, and obedience stretched their faith.

Three months later, Marissa unexpectedly became pregnant. “Not part of my five-year plan,” Michael laughs—but again, trust made obedience possible.

The Call Back Home

After Everett was born in Alabama, they sensed the season there was ending—but the direction felt unclear. Their pastor advised them not to leave unless God made it unmistakable, so they prayed: “God, please make it obvious. Say yes or no.”

Around 4 a.m. the next morning, Michael woke suddenly. “I heard God say, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you,’ and then I heard ‘Deuteronomy 2:3'. I knew that wasn’t the verse that said that, so I dismissed it and laid back down.”

By morning it was still pressing on him, so he looked up the verse: “You have been wandering in this hill country long enough. Turn and go north… to the land of your relatives.”

“The foothills, the wandering, the call to return north—it all aligned,” he remembers. The reassurance came first; the direction followed. Leaving the boys was heartbreaking, but trusting God made obedience possible. Within weeks, they moved home.

A New Season of Growth

Back in Illinois, life brought new trials. Each of their kids faced medical complications and NICU stays. “It felt like trauma after trauma,” Michael says. Hardship, once again, became a classroom for faith.

They had planned to buy a home but when the housing market exploded, they later saw how God’s timing had protected them as medical bills grew. After nearly three years in a 900-square-foot apartment, God opened an unexpected door: a rental home owned by Michael’s aunt and uncle—land, quiet, and room to breathe.

“We couldn’t have dreamed it,” Marissa says. “But God knew what was coming—and He just gave it to us.”

What they couldn’t orchestrate, God placed in their hands. Trust and obedience positioned them to receive whatever God had next, without any guarantee of blessing.

Obedience in the Everyday

Some acts of obedience feel dramatic, but others unfold quietly in the ordinary rhythms of life. After Quinn’s early birth and a month in the NICU, Marissa expected a season of rest—but during prayer, she sensed God whisper: serve in youth group.

She resisted. “I told Michael, and he said, ‘Actually, I think you need to jump back in somewhere.’ And I was like—noooo,” she laughs. But God confirmed the call through others. “He sustained us,” Marissa says. “Serving those middle school girls became such a blessing.”

Later, God nudged her toward children’s ministry. What began as an interim role became a permanent, God-shaped position. Michael’s obedience looks different but just as steady—working, parenting, dreaming, and trusting God day by day. “Right now,” he says, “obedience looks like trusting God in the normalcy.” And that, on its own, is a profound spiritual discipline.

Learning to Hold Plans Loosely

The Dixons live with simplicity, faith, and intention — homeschooling their children, serving their church joyfully, and listening for God’s nudges. They dream of a legacy—maybe even a family plumbing business—but hold it loosely, trusting God’s direction.

Michael and Marissa admit that trust and obedience never came naturally. Nearly every step was met with questions, hesitation, or resistance. But by choosing obedience, their faith grew stronger. Over time, they’ve learned that the Christian life relies on two spiritual muscles: trust and obedience. Trust opens the heart to God’s leading, and obedience gives it substance. Practiced together, they make faith deep, resilient, and real.

The Dixon’s story invites a quiet pause for reflection:

Where might God be asking you to trust Him right now?

Where are you questioning, resisting, or waiting for clarity before moving forward?