Whenever people ask how I met my husband, I kind of stumble
over my words for an answer because it’s difficult to pinpoint the actual day
we “met.” For the better part of
my life since middle school, he has just been there; in the background for a
while, but always there. You see,
when my family starting going to First Baptist Woodstock, his mom was my mom’s Sunday
school teacher and they became dear friends. Then his older sister, Elizabeth, started to disciple
me. That relationship in and of
itself is a huge part of my testimony. Our families became dear friends but because Ben is a little
over 5 years old than me, our paths never really crossed. He was in high school when I was in
middle school, then in college when I was in high school. The age gap was way too wide and I just
never really noticed him.
All that changed the summer after my junior year in high school over the span of two summer camps I attended. The first one was with First Baptist and he went as a counselor for my brother and his friends. I had my sights set elsewhere at this time, but couldn’t help but notice how different Ben was than other guys I had been around; genuinely sweet, humble, and mature. And His walk with the Lord was just obvious. After camp he started to disciple my younger brother, Brandon. He would come over to pick him up for coffee, play football in the backyard, and visit with my family when he dropped him off. Elizabeth had always told me that Ben was a great guy and an example of the kind of guy I should be waiting for, and I was beginning to see that. Not in a “I have a huge crush on you” kind of way, just a “wow, this guy is really impressive kind of way.” But I was 16 and he was 21 and so I really didn’t even entertain the idea. Yet.
All that changed the summer after my junior year in high school over the span of two summer camps I attended. The first one was with First Baptist and he went as a counselor for my brother and his friends. I had my sights set elsewhere at this time, but couldn’t help but notice how different Ben was than other guys I had been around; genuinely sweet, humble, and mature. And His walk with the Lord was just obvious. After camp he started to disciple my younger brother, Brandon. He would come over to pick him up for coffee, play football in the backyard, and visit with my family when he dropped him off. Elizabeth had always told me that Ben was a great guy and an example of the kind of guy I should be waiting for, and I was beginning to see that. Not in a “I have a huge crush on you” kind of way, just a “wow, this guy is really impressive kind of way.” But I was 16 and he was 21 and so I really didn’t even entertain the idea. Yet.
A key conversation took place at this point in the story with
my dear friend, Brittany. Between
this summer camp and the one a few months later, we were sitting on her bed
talking probably about marriage, boys, etc.
She asked me,
“if you had to pick someone
to marry today who would it be?”
I kind of surprised myself when I answered, “well, I think I
would choose Ben Whittinghill.”
This is me and Brandon at Summer camp...just in case you were wondering how much of a baby I was.
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