It is amazing how God works things out in His providence. We never planned on living as long as we have in Beaver Falls, and we never planned on starting our photography business.

When Bryan attended Geneva College from 2010–13, he studied history and loved it; but his desire was to serve the church as a pastor. That’s the reason he had left the navy in 2008. But he questioned his internal calling, so we moved to Deerfield, Ill. Why Deerfield? Because Bryan decided to get a degree in church history while he continued to wrestle with his sense of calling.

We became members at Westminster (Prairie View, Ill.) RPC. If you’ve never been to that little congregation north of Chicago, it is worth the drive. They are a bunch of lively saints who serve and worship the Lord joyfully and faithfully.

In graduate school, our paths changed in an interesting way. Through a series of providences, our photography business was born. One providence that contributed to this was, while at Westminster, another young family, Michael and Heather Sauret, moved to the Chicago area. We quickly became friends with them. Michael and Bryan could talk about military life and theology. Olivia and Heather were comrades in the difficult duty of raising toddlers and newborns.

The Saurets were also wedding photographers. They offered to spend time with us, mentor us, watch videos with us, and show us what photography was all about. They let us take home a bag full of equipment one week to see what we thought about different lenses and cameras. We had no clue what the difference was in half the equipment at that point.

Heather and Michael cared for us as a brother and a sister in Christ. We’re not sure if the Saurets will ever know how thankful we are that the Lord brought them into our lives at that time and has continued our friendship to this day.

When Bryan was graduating from his master’s program, he sought the counsel of our pastor, Steve Rhoda, on whether he should go to the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary to pursue pastoral ministry or should apply for Ph.D. programs. Pastor Rhoda would meet with Bryan almost every week to talk and pray. This was important to Bryan as he was able to stay grounded in the Reformed tradition while attending a broadly evangelical seminary. Pastor Rhoda suggested Bryan go to seminary and figure out if he was indeed called to pastoral ministry. But he said that, if Bryan still needed more wisdom, he should ask the candidates and credentials committee of the Great Lakes/Gulf Presbytery.

Bryan did so, and they told him to go to RPTS. Again, the Lord was moving in our lives in ways we did not quite understand. Bryan was still close with our pastor from Eastvale RPC, Micah Ramsey. Pastor Ramsey brought the idea to the session and then to the congregation to bring Bryan on as an intern. We were shocked at the support of the session and the congregation to move forward with this.

We decided to live in Beaver Falls instead of Pittsburgh to be close to Eastvale. Having lived on College Hill while at Geneva College, we knew the community fairly well. We wanted to be near our church family, to be near other families who shared the same religious convictions and values as we did, and to live in a community where our children could have deep friendship with other Christian families. We loved the congregation and the community.

There’s a simple truth we are always surprised by: God answers prayers. We came out to Beaver Falls to look for a house in January. The snow was deep, the air was cold, and very few houses were up for rent. But we prayed. The Lord gave us what we prayed for. He provided a house on College Hill, next to a park, near the church, across from our good RP friends the Mortons, at a great monthly price, and with a wonderful Christian landlord.

We transferred our membership back to Eastvale RPC. Again and again we are blessed by the people there. They helped us move into our house and helped us as we settled in. They supported us in every material way possible. People from the congregation brought groceries to the house, and they invited us over for meals. If they saw that we were in need they didn’t ask; they just loved and gave.

There is something profound, beautiful, and moving about the body of Christ. People who did not know us five years prior were now our family. We loved them and they loved us. Even at congregational meetings the people spoke of investing in the future of the broader church by supporting us through seminary.

We brought our fledgling photography business with us from Chicago to Beaver Falls. Bryan knew his class schedule was going to change every three months as the seminary’s quarter changed. This made self-employment helpful since we could change and move our schedule to meet the demands of classes.

We also knew that the business needed to go from a hobby to income producing in a short time. We prayed, advertised heavily, and did everything we could to drum up work. Things started to work. We were still a baby business, but we started to have clients fill the schedule.

Then a major change happened. Will and Sarah McChesney, faithful members of College Hill RPC, brought their family to Eastvale to visit one day. Somehow the topic of a building they owned across from Geneva College came up. Within a few weeks the McChesneys brought an amazing and generous opportunity to us: They offered to have us open a studio in their building.

When we asked one of our established photography friends in Chicago his opinion, he almost choked. He told us that this was a gift from God and we had to take it.

The McChesneys have continued to show us so much grace and kindness over the past three years. While our business provides a portion of the income we need to live on, so much of it is only because of their kindness. Most new photographers dream for years of having the studio space Will and Sarah custom built for us.

That’s not to say it wasn’t hard. Bryan remembers listening to John Calvin’s Institutes while laying laminate hardwood and installing outlets for the studio. We’re still not sure how we functioned and got school and the business work done. But one thing is clear: it could not have happened without amazing families like the McChesneys.

There’s another way the church has supported us that should be mentioned. We’ve been gone up to 35 Saturdays a year to photograph weddings. We also have four children. A major concern was who would care for our children. We made promises to our children at their baptisms and did not want to just hand them off to anyone. Eastvale has taken their promises at our children’s baptisms seriously as well. Family after family, week after week, the church has proven faithful in taking our children into their homes, and have watched them in our home, so we could work. Our children have been so blessed by being cared for, trained, and discipled by other families in the church.

We have been blessed with getting to live out our faith in an open way. Running your own business means you get to choose how things are done. We pray together before every wedding for the couples we’re photographing. We’ve prayed with some of our couples. We have talked with couples, their family, and their friends about our faith, the church, RPTS, and Geneva College when they ask about our lives. We’ve gotten to be clear on our website that we believe God ordained and loves marriage.

Our story is filled with the Reformed Presbyterian Church. There are churches and denominations one can be a part of where you meet for worship and that’s the extent of church. We are so thankful the Lord has brought us into a church that lives the gospel. The congregations we have been a part of have shown us what love and sacrifice look like. We have seen the living stones of the temple of God being built up and supporting each other (1 Pet. 2:5). The church has been not just a place to fall in love with Christ and worship Him as He has prescribed but has been our family.

Bryan and Olivia Schneider and their four children, Nathan, Deborah, Daniel, and Ellie, are members of Eastvale (Beaver Falls, Pa.) RPC. Since writing this article, their family has moved to Morning Sun, Iowa.