My Family's Foundation Story
by Tonya Magnus
Council Road Baptist Church has played a very important role in my family’s life for the past few decades. It has been the place that countless life mile-markers have been made.
The most special moment to date happened last June, when I watched my youngest daughter get married in the Worship Center at 2 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. Thirty-six years earlier, my husband, Doyle, and I stood in the very same spot at 2 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon in March. Although it looked a little different (as we stood on the infamous green carpet), it was still surreal to watch my daughter do the same thing. It was a special day that I will never forget!
I visited CRBC after attending a Singles Conference at Falls Creek where I met the Singles minister, Cliff Smith. Cliff invited my friend and me to come and try Council Road the next Sunday. We attended the singles Sunday School class where Craig and Cathy Housworth were teaching and leading the class. I didn’t know at the time that Craig would later stand as the best man next to Doyle on our wedding day. I also didn’t know that we would move to Minnesota and that Craig and Cathy would move to the very same town and attend the same church once again. We still see each other at least twice a year, and our friendship has been a treasured gift from CRBC.
Last year we attended the 40th Singles Reunion at CRBC, and they had a chart of how many couples met and married at Council Road, and it was about 75 percent. I remember being in a large group setting in singles one Sunday, and Doyle stood up to make an announcement. A small voice inside my head said, “He will be your husband.” I had been single for 27 years and had NEVER experienced anything like that! I found myself avoiding him because I had already decided was not my type! I am so glad God knows us better than we know ourselves! As time went on, I realized that “little voice” in my head was actually the still, small whisper from God. We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary on March 19.
CRBC will be the church to help you raise your family. My girls still love this church. My oldest daughter, Makenzie, has served on staff for 11 years. Both girls were dedicated here as infants, attended Sunday School as children, and went through the youth groups and all the camps, retreats and conferences. Their youth pastors and their wives became special mentors for them and helped instill the same biblical values we were teaching at home. Those couples impacted my girls so much that they are still good friends. Council Road is truly known for its legacy church members. One generation helps raise the next generation and so on.
CRBC is my family’s foundation story: the place where it all started. The decision years ago to attend Council Road changed the whole trajectory of my life, and is the rock that came to shape and hold it all together. It became way more important than I thought as a 27-year-old single walking in the doors. As I have spiritually matured over the years, I have learned how to recognize the Holy Spirit’s leading in my life, and how important it is to listen to His voice. After all, foundations are the root of all life. We need to keep steady, continually putting on the armor of God and growing in the strength of Christ each and every day. Where is your foundation planted?
“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 3:11).
Author Bio
Tonya met and married her husband, Doyle, at CRBC 35 years ago. They have two grown daughters and one son-in-law and one future son-in-law! Makenzie is the missions director at CRBC, Malorie is a social worker for Noble Public Schools, and her son-in-law, Jess, works for the OU foundation. Makenzie recently got engaged to Collin, who is a realtor in the Norman area. Tonya retired last year from Yukon Public Schools where she taught for almost 20 years. She loves reading, women’s Bible studies, casual biking, traveling, hanging with friends at local coffee shops and entertaining. She is eagerly awaiting the birth of her first grandson, Archie, who is due on May 16. In the meantime, she loves on her fur granddog who was found on May avenue by her daughters and is lovingly referred to as “May.”