Dear Brian and Beth,
Glenn and I finally got to sit down together and talk for a little bit and discovered we had both written letters to you. I was waiting to send mine until we could write on it together, but then I realized he’d already responded. At any rate, here’s your second letter! (I am the wordy one!) We are excited to see you in a couple of weeks.
You already know this, but Benjamin is very easy to love. From all we can tell, he IS what he IS all the way through and that’s a good thing. We know that Hannah has been very patient and has had her little heart broken on several occasions…not because guys broke up with her, but because they were not what she thought them to be. We believe this has prepared her to appreciate all the more the godly man that Benjamin is. We cannot express adequately the gratitude we have for your raising him to be the husband Hannah needs. Hannah has prayed for him, along with us, all of her life. We prayed before she was born for Benjamin and for you. We prayed that there were parents somewhere out there who were telling their little boy the story of Jesus and that they were putting deep in his heart the convictions that would make him faithful to the Lord all of His days; convictions that would make him the kind of husband that would lead Hannah and their children to heaven. She heard us pray about Ben many, many times. We are counting on Ben and we believe he is the man to do these things. We are really excited about the talent God has given him to preach, because we think Hannah is made to be a supportive preacher’s wife. We now are praying that, together, they can lead lots of souls to live with the Lord forever. We do pray for Ben daily.
But you are so right: the time has come all too quickly. It is really hard for us to let her go, but we are secure in Ben’s love for the Lord, first, and then his love for her, and then in his ability and eagerness to work and provide for her. We have asked him about all kinds of things…from how he plans to provide, to whether he would ever allow her to leave their children to work, to how he views the discipline and education of their children. He is serious and Biblical in all of his answers. We have told him that he better not dare lead her anywhere but heaven and He assures us we will all be together there.
There is no greater joy than to know that your children walk in truth. He is ours now (sorry, but you have to share) and he has brought us this great, great joy.
Hannah will love him. We know what “she has a mind of her own” really means. It means that she is stubborn. But she will be stubborn and tenacious in her love for Benjamin and we believe she will make him a good wife. We know that God is drowning us in His mercies to have providentially put them together. We have thanked Him over and over and we are grateful to you, the parents who did the right things, to make him who he is.
We’re so rich in Him. The only thing we are still a little worried about is whether or not Ben can graduate before he gets kicked out of FHU for one of many insane pranks. Where does he get that amazing prankster prowess?
We hope to see you soon! Thanks for the many dinners, the counsel, the encouragement and help you’ve given Hannah. She loves you!
Cindy
Okay, I know the whole world doesn’t really care about the details of my daughter’s engagement. And I promise (sort of) that this will be the last of the very sappy posts about how grateful we are for God’s mercies in answering our parental pleas. But personally, after many years of praying for her husband—prayers that began way before she “discovered America”—it is just so hard not to be extremely reflective about those years of praying and the way God provides. So here is the letter I wrote back to the parents of the groom, Beth and Brian Giselbach. It’s obvious joy is based in III John 4.
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”