Bennett and I like to go against the flow, so naturally we started dating...

We met in community group during my freshman year of college. He was there with his parents so to me, he was Kurt's kid. Kurt and my dad were best friends in school so I came to school with a mission of finding Kurt Stephens. I did in fact find my future father-in-law.

Fast forward a few years, I'm out of school and plugged into Palmetto. I would say we were serving alongside each other but that may be a bit misleading. I had actually just joined the youth group as a sponsor and Bennett was finishing up his time there.

One Sunday morning I was stacking chairs with Kurt and he said "Bennett said you're doing a great job in youth group. He told his brother that if you were a few years younger he would date you". I was feeling bold and replied "Well if he was a few years older I would date him too".

Of course I wasn't looking for something with Bennett given our current life stages, but he did stick out to me. His demeanor and leadership and servants heart could not go unnoticed. In fact, I had been going out with other guys but somehow was comparing them to this "kid" I knew. I tried brushing it off.

Eventually, with a little help from his brother Blake and now wife Maria, a few pickle ball dates were set up and Bennett made his way into my dm's. We played it cool for a bit, just getting to know each other and after Bennett cleared school, we went out. Obviously, nerves were high on this date but I summed it up in that the age was too much. I told Bennett that he should go into school unattached and hey, if it came around it came around. He was persistent despite the friend zone and we started dating 3 and half months later.

And now, God has been so kind to give me Bennett Stephens as my teammate for life.

Registry