Tori Heflin got married two weeks ago in a beautiful rustic setting outside Ft. Worth to Kaleb Allison. I have watched Tori grow up, through elementary school, high school, college and beyond and she always had a gentle spirit and softness for people. Her mom would tell you Tori was born that way. As Tori grew up, her faith came to play a huge role in her life. As she entered middle school and high school, she was never consumed by boys or having a boyfriend, like so many young girls experience in that time.
She was focused on developing what she saw as her core strengths and her love for people and what God had planned for her. And I thought as she went off to college there would come along that special guy, and she would get married like so many of her friends, but it didn’t happen. Tori never seemed in a hurry or consumed about dating or finding the right guy.
She traveled the world, worked in Africa at a children’s home, lived in Europe, made new friends and continued to live her life as she believed she was called to do. I know for today’s world and many young women there is angst and focus on finding the “right guy” to date and to develop a serious relationship. Tori never fell into the trap. She believed God had a plan and purpose and it would work out the way it was supposed to work out. She never seemed anxious about the future, or who she was supposed to date.
She taught disadvantaged kids at a charter school on a rough side of town in Bryan/College Station for several years, taught Bible studies and mentored pre-teen girls. Tori believes that relationships drive development and without relationships and connecting, there is no developent.
Friends would fix her up on dates, and she would grudgingly go, but many times, five minutes into the date, she would politely tell the guy there wasn’t any connection happening, and they would just be wasting their time. Her friends had a hard time understanding the attitude, but Tori was about purpose and if she couldn’t sense a connecting purpose with a guy, the whole effort was a waste of time.
We live in a world where we are constantly told to put ourselves first or to take care of ourselves first. I call it the “big me.” Tori has never seen the world that way. She has always been about putting others first, and she has lived her life in a way that demonstrates that core belief. I know her parents are proud of how Tori conducts her life. She is a reminder that life has purpose and timing is not ours, belongs to a greater power.
Tori Heflin got married, and God smiled.
See you in Mcallen!