We're closing soon!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope this post finds you doing well this holiday season. Kelcey and I thought this would be a great time to update you on the developments with our new home. It's been a roller coaster over the last couple of days, but it seems to be working out well.

Last week was so hectic. We were boxing up our old home like crazy and trying to go about normal life at the same time (Kelcey had finals and I had Christmas activities at church). In the midst of all of this, my Mom got very sick with an infection and ended up in the hospital for a while. We knew we had to be out of our rental home by Dec. 18th, but at that time, we didn't know when we were going to close on our new home. Right in the middle of all this activity, I found out that somehow an electrical line had been damaged somewhere underground at our new home. The city told me they couldn't set us up with electricity until this issue was resolved. After a lot of investigation, the city was gracious enough to go out to our new home and fix the underground line themselves and finish the process of hooking up the electricity. Needless to say, my wife and I were relieved this problem got fixed since electricity was the one thing the builders needed to finish the home.

Now that our electric problem had been resolved, we finished moving completely out of our home, did the final clean up work in the rental house, and said good-bye! The only thing left to do was wait to hear about the final developments on the new house. It took a lot of faith to step out like we did. The moment we moved out of our old home we didn't technically have a place to live. We had planned on going home for Christmas and spending time with family, so we do have a place to stay, but we were certainly trusting the Lord to come through for us. Our contract stated we were to close on or before Dec. 31st, but we were certainly not guaranteed anything.

To make a long story short, we had a few more crazy things happen but it resolved itself quickly. I just talked to our Realtor today and she seemed fairly confident that the builder would be able to finish all the details on our house and get the paperwork to the banker BEFORE Christmas. This means that there is a possibility that we could close on our new house Tuesday, Dec. 29th.

Be praying for us! We're excited about all these new developments, but it has still been fairly stressful. Right now, we're just going to kick back, pray for the Lord's leadership, and enjoy Christmas with our family. It's in His hands, we know that and we'll be in that house when He wants us to be in the house. Thanks for all your prayers and once again, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
Brett and Kelcey

House Update

Our house is really starting to take shape now. They have the driveway mostly poured and have flattened out the giant piles of dirt that were in the front yard. We are still not sure of when we will be closing. Brett and I are hoping that we can close the week before Christmas. We still have to be out of our current home by the 18th of December. Please keep us in your prayers that we can get into our new home quickly!! God has provided so far and we are certain that he will continue to provide!





These are a few pictures of the progress so far. All of the tile has been laid, walls have been painted, the kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities have been put in, and the trim has been started. This first picture is the master bedroom. It has a raised ceiling, walk in closet and master bath (don't have any pictures of the bath because it was too dark in there).






This picture is the view from the living area looking towards the entry way. Down the hallway is the two extra bedrooms and a bathroom. The room straight ahead is the laundry room. The first room on the left is the master and you can see a small portion of the kitchen.



This is the kitchen minus the appliances and sink. Notice the crown molding on the cabinets...I am super excited about this it looks so nice.


Keep checking up and we will keep you all updated on the progress we make!!

We're getting a home!!

The tale of how we came across this home has definitely been written by none other than our Loving Father. Kelcey and I have had so many painful moments over the last few months that we have been renting our current home, but that's all about to change.

As of today, Nov. 16th, we have officially signed the contract for the home you see posted. It's brand new (yes, that's a God thing in and of itself), in an excellent new neighborhood, and better yet it fit our price range. We feel incredibly humbled just to have made it this far. Never in our wildest dreams do I think either of us thought we would be in this situation, about to close on a brand new home so early in our married life together. But, as I've stated before, we serve a might God and we've definitely experienced that over the last few days.

I'm sure Kelcey will soon post more about this process as time goes on, but for now, keep praying for us. We have one more step to go through and that is financing. We have an incredible opportunity as first time home-owners so we're going to take advantage of that. However, we're just praying that all the paperwork goes through and we're completely approved.

As you might have noticed, the home isn't quite completed. The closing date as of right now is December 31st with an understanding that we could be in as soon as before Christmas (weather permitting). So pray for that too! Otherwise, we're probably going to be looking for a temporary place to stay for the first few weeks in December and that's something we're trusting the Lord to provide as well.

We're so excited and can't wait to get moved in! We'll keep you posted on new developments, but until then, keep praying and we love you all!

In His grace,
Brett and Kelcey

Our Halloween Weekend

Kelcey and I had a very enjoyable Halloween weekend. Neither of us really felt like getting all dressed up, but Kelcey had this crazy notion to want to dress up our puppies. After a lot of time spent convincing me this was a good idea, I finally caved and let her get the dogs a costume for Halloween. You can see pictures of that lovely endeavor down below. Laylah was a "ladybug" and Maybelle was "Frankenstein." They looked hilarious and we couldn't help but take them for a walk that afternoon to show of their incredibly funny costumes.

Kelcey was really in the Fall craze. She made an Apple pie on Tuesday for some guests we had over, and then Saturday she made one of my favorite dishes, Buffalo Chicken pizza, and to top it off a PUMPKIN PIE!!! I was in culinary heaven.

To top it off, I got my honey a beautiful arrangement of "Halloween Flowers." She really seemed to enjoy them. Now, all that's left to say is "Welcome November!!" Enjoy the photos!

St. Louis Trip

This past weekend Brett and I decided to take a short mini-cation. So we came up with an idea to each pick somewhere to go for a few days. Then we put our choices in a hat to draw one out. However there was a problem....who was going to draw the vacation idea out of the hat? Since we couldn't decide on who was going to get the opportunity to decide our fate, Laylah (yes our dog) chose. You may be wondering how she did this? Well we dumped the pieces of paper on the floor and decided that whichever piece she went to first that would be our choice. And what was her choice?....St. Louis. While in St. Louis we made many memories. Brett went to the top of the arch for the first time and we saw our first 3D movie which was Toy Story! We were both excited to see this childhood favorite again in the theaters. We also ate at Pujols 5 which was a really neat restaurant, even if it was devoted to a Cardinals player. I have attached some pictures of our trip also!! Enjoy!!

"For this reason..."

I (Brett) am glad that my wife set this blog up. She has mentioned the idea of setting up a blog before, but for whatever reason it's been slow going. Maybe our schedule has something to do with that? I don't know. I hope that you, the readers, enjoy keeping up with some of the recent events in our new life as a married couple. I know we're certainly excited to see how the Lord writes out our story.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible comes from Genesis 2:24. It reads: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." I remember hearing so many sermons on this passage at weddings and church services, but more importantly I remember reading this passage to myself a few years ago. As I read over these words, I couldn't help but wonder what this act of leaving family to be joined to a woman really looked like or better yet, felt like. I read this passage over and over always praying that God would place that beautiful bride-to-be in my life. And when He did, I also prayed that I would be strong enough of a man to treat her with not my own love, but His love.

So much has taken place between when Kelcey and I first met and where we are now. We went through what seemed like perfect times, difficult times, and even what we thought would be impossible times, but I know our dependence upon the Lord made all the difference in the world. Without Him we wouldn't have made it through 250 miles of separation or spiritually exhausting days. No matter what Satan seemed to throw our way we were able to stay strong and persevere. After two-plus years of an amazing courtship, I asked her to marry me and by-golly she said yes!

It was at that point in my life that I returned to this passage in Genesis yet again. This time, instead of reading Genesis 2:24 with complete uncertainty of who this bride was going to be I now had a very special person to bring light to this passage. Everything was starting to make sense. Everything started to take shape. Everything became very scary as well! I started to think about what this passage was saying and the importance of its command. This verse comes from one of the most important stories known to man. God just made Eve from Adam's rib! Adam went through a vigorous process of naming all the creatures of the earth and after that had been completed he realized there was no suitable helper for him so God said "I'll change that." Then God made Eve from Adam and brought Eve to Adam. They were one flesh! I couldn't think of a better way to explain what I had found in this love of my life. Throughout four years of getting to know each other and developing romantic connections, I felt just like Adam. The feelings I had for her started to take incredibly deep roots. When she hurt, I hurt. When she was glad, I was glad. When someone did something to her, I felt as if the same thing was being done unto me. I couldn't believe how deeply in love with this woman I had become. I started to realize and believe with all my heart that God hand-crafted Kelcey to suit every viable need of mine just as Eve was suitable for Adam. My thinking started to shift. I started seeing her as apart of me and believed it to be my job to leave my family in order to provide for her needs. Through this beautiful act of love, I finally understood Genesis 2:24.

Four months ago, I made a commitment to my bride, to my Lord and Savior, and to my family and her's that I would literally become one with her and give her only what the Lord had intended for her. Is that an incredibly demanding job sometimes? You bet, but one that I'm fully aware of and willing to commit to. This feeling of supporting her, loving her, taking care of her every need, it's not a burden, it's what I live for. So might I conclude with this: "What God has brought together, let no man separate."--Mark 10:9

Our New Life

Well we have now been married for almost 4 months. These 4 months have flown by!! As soon as we returned from our honeymoon in Jamaica, which was amazing we hit the ground running. We had Hosanna week at church, took the youth to Chicago for camp, and I started school. We are living in Springfield and I am driving to Bolivar for school. Brett has been busier than ever planning events for the youth and filling many roles at church. Currently we do not have a pastor. So please keep our church in your prayers as they are seeking the man God has for Hamlin. And, needless to say I keep myself busy with school work. I have 21 hours this semester. But, I am enjoying school more than ever! Finally, I am learning things that I WILL use!!
I have posted a few pictures of our new home, that went through a living room update not too long ago.