By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer
Inscribed on the Armstrong Browning Library door is a motto that inspired couple Chris and Julie Bennett, who met freshman year of college, to persevere: “the best is yet to be.”
Between a cancer diagnosis, infidelity and moving over 20 times, the couple said that they have been through “hell and back” but still harbor the same love for each other they found freshman year of college.
While Julie spent her freshman year at the University of Oklahoma, her best friend Katy Goodnight was a Baylor student and befriended Chris after having a class with him. Goodnight called Julie one day and confidently mentioned how she “had to meet her friend Chris because it was going to be her future husband.”
Julie’s best friend called her and she questioned why her best friend didn’t want to date Chris if she explained him as “such a great guy.”
While sparks flew between Chris and Julie on the first night they hung out, Julie ultimately decided to transfer to a community college in Waco, and eventually Baylor to be closer to her friends and Chris.
“He loves Jesus, and it’s actually authentic,” Julie said. “I don’t think I’d really encountered a guy that was like, you say you love Jesus, but you actually love it. And so that was the biggest thing for me.”
From Chris’s point of view, he said that he was instantly overtaken by Julie’s beauty and their energy together.
“She pulled out the best parts of me,” Chris said. “I mean, I genuinely married the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. And so that first moment I met her, I was blown away by her beauty and just the fun we had. It was easy, nothing was forced and it just all came very easily.”
While Chris and Julie continued dating off and on throughout college, they were engaged by junior year and married by the beginning of their senior year.
“We knew that we didn’t want to wait forever,” Chris said. “Our paths were very aligned. We knew we wanted to do ministry stuff together, and we had no money, so we decided we might as well do it now.”
Julie said Chris was the first person she had ever truly been in love with and ultimately made the comparison that her previous relationships felt “counterfeit.”
“They were good people and they were fun, but it was like they were almost counterfeit to what I had found in Chris,” Julie said. “And so it didn’t matter the fighting, what we had to work through, what we had to grow in together. It was like, this is a real thing for me. I can’t let go of that. Everything else won’t taste as good, if you will.”
After college, Chris and Julie set out to pursue a career in ministry however in year two their marriage was to the put to the test.
“I had an affair year two of our marriage, like we barely made it,” Julie said. “We were trying to do youth ministry in the area … and I’m like, ‘I’m a fake, I’m a joke.’ But I really love God. And long story short, we went through the fire and it was like … the devil did not want us to make it, but we did, and we fought really hard for what we have now. And our kids know all of our story, and they’ve seen what true redemption it is.”
Living in Texas and mostly Oklahoma, they also started their family, which now includes their four kids, one of whom is a quarterback at Baylor.
While they began to find an established footing in their relationship and career, the Bennetts decided to move to Los Angeles six years ago to utilize their vocational ministry background and start a production company.
“We came to LA to really use our passion and experiences through media to just be a champion for family,” Chris said. “And so we started a production company called ‘Welcome Home Lifestyle.'”
Six months after their move, Julie was diagnosed with cancer, ultimately changing the trajectory of their life. The couple fell into trouble selling their house in Oklahoma, forcing them to move 20 times before they could find a place to settle down.
While the Bennetts eventually found their footing, they ended up writing a book based on their journey called “Fighting for Family: The Relentless Pursuit of Building Belonging” and starting a podcast called the “Finding Family” podcast. Additionally, Chris is now the senior pastor of a church called Vintage Church Malibu.
While they had earlier decided on naming their production company “Welcome Home” they later felt that the irony in the statement represented a turning point in their journey.
“We just had this moment where we felt like, God said, ‘Home is not where you live, it’s who you do life with,’” Chris said. “It kind of reframed how we saw the journey we were on.”
The Bennetts ended up doing a book tour, going to Nashville and New York and making an appearance on “Good Morning America” they now are in the process of building out curriculum and digital content to go along with the book.
While the Bennetts continue to grow in their business and their relationship they hope to bring inspiration to other couples both young and old.
“Become the healthiest version of yourself, and don’t look for that,” Chris said. “Don’t look for another person to do that in you… I think in college it’s very easy because you’re so consumed with trying to find your person. And I’m not saying that’s wrong or bad, but I think a lot of times what I tell people is — if you don’t work through your own stuff before marriage, marriage doesn’t fix it.”
Julie mentioned that a successful marriage takes more than just compatibility.
“In your pursuit of the one that you want to spend the rest of your life with, find somebody who sees you for who you are without stumbling over what you’re not and calls you up to that place no matter what,” she said.
