I love students. Good thing since I spend so much time with them. Yesterday some colleagues and I (I call them the mighty men of the faculty) helped a lot of new students move in. Okay I mostly hugged necks and welcomed people and let the young guys haul the stuff, but I was there!
After that I went to lunch with two of our finest at SEBTS. They will be married in just over a month. They met here, and now they will build a life together for the glory of God.
I met Brittany Donald at Student Leadership University in Orlando, a great ministry at which I speak every year. Hannah went that time, so it was great to meet a sharp college student like Brittany as we went through the entire conference. I saw in Brittany a fire, a passion for God, and a focus that I rarely see. So, we stayed in touch. In the providence of God we ran into one another a couple of times, and of course we kept up on Facebook.
As Brittany finished Cedarville University, she wrote me about moving to Raleigh to find work and perhaps attend grad school at NCSU. She had friends who lived in Raleigh and thought it would be a great place to relocate (it is). I knew of a job in our Center for Great Commission Studies, so I recommended her.
Next thing you know she is at the CGCS and to her surprise, enrolled in the Masters program at SEBTS. Because her place of work is in my building we had lots of times of fellowship and encouragement. Brittany is a focused young lady and saw herself soon on the international mission field. I became an adopted dad to an extent as her dad, a great pastor in Kentucky, lived a long away off. She told me one day she was not really interested in marriage because of her passion for the nations. I told her not so fast, that God might in fact use marriage in her life, and not to be so focused on one area she might miss God’s work in another. Being a good daughter, she listened (smile).
Then she met Ben. They jogged together (clever move bro). I did not know Ben, but I soon would. One day Brittany asked me to stand in for her dad and meet with this young man to offer my approval (or disproval). We met at my home office, the Wake Forest Coffee Company.
My bias is to be overprotective of the young ladies here and suspicious of men (hey, I am one), especially when the young lady is as adorable as Brittany. But I was immediately impressed with Ben. I did not know him, but I knew the men who had invested in him at Providence Baptist Church, a great church in our area. I saw in Ben a young man truly interested in living hard for Jesus, and who saw what a blessing it was to have Brittany in his life. I walked away and immediately texted Brittany to say how impressed I was with Ben.
And now they will be married, and soon. So we had lunch yesterday. Sometimes I need to meet with a student to challenge or rebuke. But sometimes I just get to meet with students to rejoice. Yesterday was one of those days.
I married Michelle and quickly we moved to seminary. I relive our early days, now 28 years ago, through students like Brit and Ben. Our great God knew what He was doing when He made us to need Him, and to need others. Marriage can be compared to nothing else in this life, because nothing is as wonderful in terms of human relationships. But marriage is so amazing that God Himself used it as a way to describe His relationship to the church.
Far too many young adults today, even those in the church, have let their own past or circumstances create their vision of marriage more than the Scriptures they claim to believe. Others see marriage through the lens of the latest movie or pop cultural idea. I pray that if you are a single young adult you will study God’s Word to get a vision of marriage. And if God gives you that blessing, you will see it as what it is, the most wonderful of human relationships.
Hey Dr. Reid! Good post! Thanks for all you do!
Humbled and Encouraged by this Doc. Thanks for pointing us to Christ. Love you, b