Bethany

Growing up in a covenant family is easy to take for granted. You might not feel like you have much of a testimony because you don’t even remember not loving Jesus. That is the way it was for me. But now I can see that this is one of the greatest blessings God has given me.

I am told I “prayed a prayer” when I was three, but I don’t really remember. What I do remember is my parents’ faithfulness to continually point me and my siblings to Jesus. They faithfully took us to church, had daily family worship, and taught us the importance of daily personal time in the Word. I watched them struggle through their own understanding of Scripture as they made the switch from Arminian to Reformed theology. While that is mostly their story to tell, it is also my story because they have passed these rich doctrines of grace on to me. By their example, I learned that the Bible is the infallible Word of God, and that when He shows you something that you are believing or doing is wrong, you have to follow the Word of God, no matter how hard it is.

Nathanael

Growing up in a covenant home is a rich blessing that I was also given. I was raised Southern Baptist, but my parents, unbeknownst to themselves, raised my 9 siblings and me in a very covenantal way. We were at church every time the doors were open. We were taught to read our Bibles and have our own private devotions. My father was very diligent to lead our family in morning worship at 5:30 a.m. on weekdays and 6:30 a.m. on weekends, and my mother was very supportive of this practice.

My family focused more on godly living than on doctrine and theology. I knew about the debate of God’s sovereignty in all things, including our salvation, versus our ability to “choose” Jesus. At the time, I just figured that somehow both were true. I had been taught that the Bible is the infallible Word of God, and if something in the Scriptures seemed at odds with something else in the Scriptures, then I was not fully understanding the Word of God.

Bethany

My family joined an Orthodox Presbyterian congregation when I was 11. Memorizing the Westminster Shorter Catechism at that age helped me to understand the bigger picture of the Bible. At that point in my life, I knew all the Bible stories, but learning the doctrines of the Bible helped me see how the Bible is more than just a bunch of stories; it’s one great story!

When I was 15, my family moved to Indiana where we joined the Lafayette RPC, pastored by the late Rev. Dave Long. At first, I was not very happy. It’s hard as a teenager to leave your friends and make new ones. But I see now that God was doing great things in my heart and life during the three years we spent there. God gave me some incredible friends who pointed me to Jesus and encouraged me to grow in my walk with Him. A young mom that I helped out almost weekly became one of my biggest mentors (and friends), and I still think of her often as I raise my own children. Another sweet friend took me and a few other girls under her wing for Bible study and prayer and discipled us. I’ll always treasure those times.

At the end of those three years, having just graduated from high school, we moved again. I made the choice to take a year off school and go with my family to Texas. Many things played into that decision, but now I know the biggest blessing to come out of that decision was that I would meet my husband.

Rather than wait for people to reach out to me first, I determined to look for ways to reach out and be a blessing to others. What I learned the most in this time is that, in the end, while friends are great, my family were my best friends. They would always be there, no matter what. God drew me closer to Himself over the next couple of years. He showed me ways that I could bless my family and others. He gave me some incredible opportunities to disciple younger girls. I took some Bible classes online. I became more content than I had ever been in my teen years. I was happy where I was, and, while I did desire to get married and have a family, I figured marriage wasn’t on the horizon for a long time.

Nathanael

I met Bethany soon after her family moved to Texas. Our families really hit it off and spent a lot of time together. After a year or so, I felt God leading me to pursue Bethany’s hand in marriage. After months of praying and basically avoiding her so as not to arouse suspicion in her mind, I spoke with her father. He was very kind, but he was straightforward about the doctrinal differences I would find between the RPCNA and the Southern Baptist Convention. He and I spent about a month discussing these issues before he made Bethany aware of my interest, and she prayerfully agreed to pursue the possibility together.

Bethany

Our relationship was unique in that, while we were fast becoming best friends, we also had to hold our relationship with open hands as we sought the Lord for His will. We knew we had to be on the same page doctrinally for marriage to be a possibility. Nathanael didn’t want to “believe” something just to marry me, and I had to be patient and let God teach Nathanael in His own way and His own time, not mine. We both spent hours studying the Scripture, talking, and praying together. Lots of emailing each other eventually turned into hours on the phone (even if we did see each other almost every day).

Happily Ever After

We are beyond grateful for God’s faithfulness in this time. Over time, God graciously convicted Nathanael that He is sovereign in our salvation and that the sign of His covenant is to be placed on children of believing parents, as well as many other things. A year and a half later found us deeply in love and beginning a covenant family of our own.

We were married in January 2010. Three days before Christmas that same year, God blessed us with our first son. The children have followed in quick succession, and here we are expecting our eighth child almost 13 years later! We are blessed beyond measure. “The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad” (Ps. 126:3).

One of the things we shared a conviction on before we even met was a desire to leave the number of children we would have in the Lord’s hands. While we would be the first to say that pregnancy and parenting are not easy, it is kingdom work. We are excited to be raising the next generation of covenant children, and they are privileged to have a testimony of a multi-generational legacy of faith.

Another huge part of our story as a family is church planting. God called us to be part of beginning the RP mission church in Bryan, Tex., in 2012. It started with just Bethany’s parents, sisters, and our little family. But God, yet again, has proven Himself faithful. People have come and gone, and there have been many ups and downs. There have been years of growth and excitement, as well as dwindling numbers and discouragement. But we are now celebrating 10 years as a congregation. We have been blessed with a wonderful pastor and a church family that really is just that, family.

Both in the home and in the church, God works in and through the families that He puts together. No matter what your family looks like, be it large or small, or whether you are first generation Christians or not, God calls us all to be faithful to tell the generations to come of the faithfulness of the Lord. To any covenant youth who may be reading this: don’t be afraid to stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before you. Contrary to what the world may tell you, you don’t have to find your own way. Your parents and many wise people in your church family have much to offer you. Be excited about the place God has given you in His greater story, and live for Jesus. You are the next generation of kingdom builders!

“Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done” (Ps. 78:1–4).