Dondi and Vickey Costin Recount Their Journey To Liberty

Liberty University President Dondi Costin’s career took flight after he graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1986. However, his life’s trajectory drastically changed after he walked into the home church of his future wife, Vickey Costin, which marked the beginning of their story together in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

Fresh out of college, Vickey was a music teacher at a local elementary school in her hometown when the couple started dating. 

“He came to my church, we met in Sunday school and we got married about three years later. As it often works in the Air Force, we moved out of state a month after our wedding,” Vickey said.

Throughout the early stages of their relationship, Dondi said they had group outings with their singles group before they went on their official first date at a seafood restaurant located near Fort Walton Beach. The couple dated for two years and were engaged for six months before getting married.

“Well, it took us two years to get engaged because we didn’t want to be in a rush. Those two years allowed us to get to know each other as friends, often just walking and talking. To this day some of our most precious time together is when we walk and talk about the future. What we have learned is that God’s got his perfect timing for everyone’s life,” Vickey said.

Dondi believes that being aware of a person’s true character is integral when searching for a future spouse, especially if a person’s character traits do not reflect Christ. He said it is better to disconnect before marriage from someone who draws you away from Christ.

“If you don’t think you can live with a particular trait when you’re dating, it’s not going to get better. It’s going to get worse, so walk away, or run away,” Dondi said.

During their engagement, Dondi had been told he and his soon-to-be wife would be able to remain stationed in Florida after they were married.  Three months before the wedding date, he had an organized plan and secured a townhouse for the couple to move into after their special day. One month before their wedding, however, the Air Force notified the couple that they would need to swiftly leave Fort Walton Beach and move to Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia.

Dondi credits the move to Virginia as a newly married couple as being a pivotal moment in their relationship because it caused them to truly rely on each other throughout the unexpected hardships that were to come in their first year of marriage. Shortly after settling into their new home, Vickey’s father was diagnosed with cancer and passed within that same year.

Despite feeling shocked and over-whelmed by the sudden loss, both of the Costins can look back and see how God’s presence was with them throughout that devastating season. Dondi admitted that he wondered why God moved them to Virginia just before Vickey’s father was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Now, he can see that God had a plan for them to live at that base in Virginia because it enabled him to pursue his second graduate degree at Liberty. 

According to Dondi, if he had not had that opportunity to attend Liberty again, his career would have been very different.

“So, as we look back upon that unexpected hardship, we see the hand of God in ways that we wouldn’t have wished upon ourselves or our family members, but God is sovereign,” Dondi said.

No matter the situation they were in, whether it was good or bad, Dondi found Deuteronomy 31:6 to be helpful in remembering that “the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Meanwhile, Vickey found Proverbs 3:5-6 helped her to remember that “he (God) will either direct your path or make known your path.”

“Life doesn’t always go the way that you expect it to go — the way you plan it in your twenties. It goes differently, and that’s okay. You just take it one step at a time and remember that the Lord never changes, which is the best news ever,” Dondi said.

Throughout their time at Air Force bases around the world, Vickey viewed their marriage as a team-based ministry. While her husband was working as a chaplain and often deployed, Vickey worked as an elementary music teacher in a career that lasted 23 years. 

“God blessed me with a job everywhere we went,” Vickey said. “As it goes, there’s only one music teacher per elementary school. There’s just one, and to have that one job open at the very moment I needed it and for me to get it, it’s only God.”

Due to the confidential nature of her husband’s counseling duties and his varying deployment locations, she felt the need to consistently remain in prayer.  She found that finding community with the other spouses living on the base helped her to settle into each new home despite the constant changes.

“It’s a career of starting over, and that’s a sacrifice military spouses make that most people probably aren’t aware of, but military members are very aware of it,” Dondi said.

Dondi believes that living “in a constant relationship” with God helped to combat any doubtful thoughts, especially when his career and living situation changed so often. He insists that Christians must not treat God as if he is merely an emergency contact in times of trouble but rather an omnipresent lifeline.

According to Dondi, not only is it important for Christians to fully rely on God, but also to live out their faith because their conduct is a public witness. While serving as a chaplain, Dondi said that living what he believed helped him to share Christ with others.

“If you walk your talk through thick and thin, they know God is real,” Dondi said.

While both of the Costins had never planned to be where they are today, they both feel that God has blessed them immensely with their position at Liberty. Dondi candidly expressed that transitioning from the Air Force into Christian higher education was a slightly unexpected career path, but he can certainly see how God has led them on this path for a purpose.

“We have our plans, and the Lord orchestrates our steps,” Dondi said. “And the beauty is if you trust him on the front end, you won’t be able to see the full picture, but when you get to the other end, you will be able to look back and see everything God did.”

Davis is the editor-in-chief of the Liberty Champion.