Chris and Julie George just celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary Dec. 29, 2024, and say that their faith is the foundation of their marriage.
Julie, a 1996 graduate of Fairfield High School, and Chris, a 1998 graduate of Christian High School in Jacksonville, met while in nursing school at UT Tyler in 2000.
When asked how they met, Chris said it was a pretty cool story. Chris and Julie were in separate clinical rotations, but saw the same patients.
“One day one of my patients said, ‘Oh, your Chris,’ and I said, ‘Yes, I am,’” Chris said. “He went on to tell me that there was a girl named Julie who had a thing for me.”
Chris and Julie became good friends and started dating in April 2001. They were engaged on July 11, 2001, which was Chris’s 21st birthday, and were united in marriage later that year.
The two graduated in the spring of 2002 and became RNs at Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler. They then moved to Fairfield in 2003, which is when Chris surrendered to the ministry. He served as the youth minister at Round Prairie Baptist Church from 2003 to 2005.
They moved to Jacksonville, and Chris earmed his masters degree from the BMA Theological Seminary in 2007. Julie earned her masters in Nursing from UTTyler in 2008.
The couple moved to Jonesboro, Ark., from 20072009, where Chris served as a pastor. Julie taught nursing classes at Arkansas State University and worked at the hospital as well. They moved back to Texas in 2010.
In 2012, the George fami- ly made their way back to Fairfield. Chris earned his Nurse Practitioner license in 2015 from Frontier Nursing in Kentucky. Julie received her PhD in Nursing in 2019 from UT Tyler. When asked about their marriage, they both said that their faith is at the foundation of the marriage.
“Our faith is what drives us to make the decisions we make as well as the commitment we have with each other,” Chris said. “You have to build a marriage on more than feelings and emotions because life gets hard.” Julie added that it is also important to make time and spend time with your spouse, even when schedules are busy. “He is my best friend,” Julie said. “You have to prioritize your marriage. The kids will be gone one day so you have to know how to live life together without the kids.”
Chris echoed that is absolutely true and also said no one will ever fulfill all of your needs, so do not have that as an expectation for a spouse.
Chris and Julie have three children: Caleb, 20, attends UT Tyler; Joshua, 17, is a senior at Fairfield High School; and Lily, 10, is a fifth-grader at Fairfield Intermediate School. In their free time, the two love traveling together and with their family. Chris also received his pilot’s license in 2019.
Chris will celebrate his ninth year of being pastor at Round Prairie Baptist Church on March 1. A new building is currently being built that will be a hub for the community.
“Our mission is ‘Family Finding Life’,” Chris said. “We want families in our community to know Christ and be able to have a firm foundation for their families in the Lord.”
