The Adventure of Mr. Courington Quitting His Job

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

1 Peter 1:3-9

Life. How would you describe yours? I think if we are honest with ourselves, we can all come to the table and say that life.is.crazy.

The week of Thanksgiving, our life got a little crazier than normal. A series of unfortunate events happened and Blake suddenly quit his job. From my lips, I only spoke words of life to him as he dealt with the situation but in my heart there was turmoil, worry, and grief.

How would we afford Christmas? How can we pay our bills? Will we be able to afford food?

All of these questions (and then some) flooded my mind as I prayed for Blake to feel comfort and peace making this life changing decision. Some would say that Blake was too hasty in doing this, others would say he was absolutely crazy... but hindsight, I feel like my husband was being led by something other than himself. He was being led by the very God that loves and cares for His people more than we could ever imagine. Even in our hastiness, craziness, and uncertainty we see time and time again that God gives us unexpected grace. So this is our story of some unexpected and most certainly undeserved grace.

Now I'm going to hit the pause button for just a minute to let my readers in on a little about my husband.

Blake is from Walker County, Alabama and graduated with a degree in Theology from the University of Mobile in 2009. God so graciously led us to a loving group of people in Eldridge, Al but after 3 years led us back to Mobile to be involved with South City (a growing church plant). Blake took the step of faith to move to Mobile knowing that it could be years before the church could pay Blake for any ministerial type role. We didn't expect it and we don't expect it! We are humbled by the fact that God allows us to serve with like minded people in the city of Mobile! WE LOVE OUR FAITH FAMILY.

Okay.. so back to the unexpected grace story.

So it is Tuesday, November 24th and Blake came home utterly distraught because he quit his job. He immediately began searching around and calling a few people that we know. One of our friends has an oil company and talked to some of his warehouse people to see if they had an opening. They did!! We were thrilled.

Thanksgiving happened and it was a weird week for us. We had our hopeful moments and we definitely had our doubtful moments. I asked God a lot of questions... mainly the question of "why on earth are we even in Mobile and having to struggle like this when we BOTH have college degrees??"

OHHHH THE PRIDE YALL. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL.

So Monday when I got to work I shared the story with my coworkers. One of them immediately says "Kayse, get Blake to send his resume to my husband at Southern Light!" In my head, I'm thinking this is a long shot but it couldn't hurt anything. I mean... times are tough these days and good opportunities are few and far between.

Blake sent his resume to my coworker's husband and her husband sent it to one of the bosses. The boss was supposed to call Blake the next morning (Tuesday). So all day Blake waited for a phone call from BOTH places... Oil company and Southern Light. Tuesday he got nothing! We were hanging in there, still having our moments of hope and our moments of doubt.

Wednesday morning rolled around and I was feeling very discouraged. We have been going through the book of Ruth for our Advent this year at South City Church. In the beginning of the book, we see a lot of despair followed by a lot of hope. So as I was remembering the family worship we had the night before on hope, I'm asking God to give me hope. He leads me to the passage in 1 Peter where we read that Jesus is the living hope. I began praying through each portion of that scripture...

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! .....God I want to bless your name no matter what my circumstances are.

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.......Because of who YOU are, I am not who I was. I have a living hope in who you have made me to be.. ONLY because of the powerful work of Jesus. I. HAVE. HOPE. And it isn't a dead hope.

to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.... Look what I have, maybe not on this earth, but in heaven with you. It is impossible to destroy, it is the purest, and it is never changing. You are guarding me and giving me faith for my salvation. I don't have to know all the details right now.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.... I can be happy because even when uncertain things are thrown my way, YOU have given me a true faith that will never die. Even when it is tested by fire. ALL of this should result in praise and glory because I KNOW YOU AND I'M KNOWN BY YOU.

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls..... (this was the most difficult to pray) God I do not see how this could be of you but I am rejoicing in it because of the faith I've been given in Jesus. This doesn't look like you because I feel hopeless but the truth is that you are my hope, not Blake's job. I need You.

So this was pretty much what I prayed through Wendesday morning before heading to work. I may not have been "feeling it" but I was sure to flood my thoughts with truth that day.

Wednesday morning comes and goes (We heard that the guy was supposed to call Blake Tuesday morning but got busy so he was supposed to call him Wednesday morning). Neither place called Blake to follow up on the jobs. By 2 pm I was sitting in my classroom, crying, because there was so much uncertainty. I wasn't "feeling" any of the truth that I know. I was sad. Sad because we wouldn't be able to get a Christmas tree, sad because we wouldn't be able to buy Abigail's Christmas, sad because this was NOT how this Christmas was supposed to go.

As I was crying in my classroom, I asked God to help me trust him. Those were literally the words that come out of my mouth.

In the next minute, I check my Facebook. I had been having an ongoing conversation with a lady (Annie) about donations for our upcoming yardsale we were having to support a college trip to Atlanta for the Passion conference. I told her that Blake could come pick it up any time because he was currently unemployed. She asked me what kind of work he did.

I finally decided to respond after my cry time and told her the story I've already shared with you. This is how the conversation goes:


Annie- Kayse! I could cry. I was asking you because my husband works at Southern Light and the second you sent the message I felt like he should be there. please tell him to send his resume and I'll give it to my husband.


Me- No way! The guy was supposed to call him yesterday and then this morning but he hasn't heard anything. I'm literally sitting in my classroom crying and asking God to help me trust him. LOL hate to be so dramatic but it's been a tough week. What is your email and I can forward it to you now.


Annie-Who was supposed to call him? Do you know what department?And I get it more than I can tell you. I remember where I was when my husband got the call about SL. He had been working construction for a long time and was tired and we were broke. And having another baby. God provides, and I know you know that... But I am joining you in prayer for this to happen. Besides, I've prayed for God to send men who would honor Him at SL to work with my husband. I asked my husband if he had heard if your husband had applied. He just messaged me back and said that when I was sending him that message, he was on the phone with Blake. Tell me God didn't do that!!!


Me- No way!! What did he say about it?


Annie- Long story short, while you were telling me that blake was supposed to hear from someone at SL, my husband (his name is Christopher but everyone calls him Chops... so if I say Chops, that's who I mean. haha) was already on the phone with him. I am just totally overwhelmed right now because God did this 100%. Down to the minute! Chops said they set up an interview, and that he really was looking forward to meeting Blake. He said they had a great phone convo.


It was so crazy! We waited for this phone conversation to happen for 36 hours or something like that! And to think that we knew of the guy that would potentially hire him! It was so crazy that Chops called at the exact time me and Annie were talking about it and the exact moment after I prayed that God would help me trust Him.


So that happened Wednesday and they set up an interview for the next Tuesday. Thursday, the oil company called Blake and Blake decided to take a leap of faith and turn down the job. 45 minutes after he turned down the job, Chops text Blake and said that he had something open up tomorrow (Friday) and wanted to see if he could move the interview up. We were thrilled! SO thrilled!


So the interview goes well on Friday and Blake found out he got the JOB! Chops tells Blake that it could be as late as the next Friday before the paper work gets done. Low and behold, the paper work was done by Monday and Blake started that Wednesday the 9th.


We are STILL amazed at the unexpected grace that God has given us through what seemed to be a hasty decision on our part. I can't praise Him enough for how He orchestrated these events.


You see, God doesn't always work in this way. He doesn't always allow things to happen immediately. More times than not, He chips away sin in our hearts before we see His hand moving in a situation... And I praise Him for those moments too.


For some reason, this time, God decided to immediately show us His grace and providence. This wasn't just chance, because jobs don't come this easily. This wasn't just good luck, because let's be honest, we aren't the "luckiest" people in terms of luck. This was the sovereign hand of God providing Blake with a way to provide for our family... And so much more.


There is still so much to look forward to and I am so proud to say that my faith has strengthened even in my most desperate of times. He is faithful even when I am faithless. He is good even when I am sinful. He is hope even when I portray hopelessness. 

You see, I doubted and feared yet God still worked. This story is about Him and His goodness, not about me and mine.

My prayer is that you will read this story and know that there is still an active, loving, and providential God that we serve. I hope you will find hope in our struggles and desperation. I hope you will find comfort in the fact that it isn't all about how perfect you are but more about how perfect He is. I hope you see the covenantal kindness of our Father. His promise to His people is to be kind, loving, and providential. He is all we need. This job is not what really makes us excited but the reassurance that God is working is what makes us excited.

My advice to all who struggle like I did to feel the certainty and assurance you're supposed to feel... Keep telling yourself truth... because eventually your heart will catch up.




Blake's first day on the job!












A couple more pictures of unexpected grace!

The Most Adventurous thing YET!

I have no idea how to begin this blog post other than quoting the very end of Ephesians 3. "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

This is exactly how I feel every time God knocks me off my feet with His plan instead of mine. It's amazing how I can get so caught up in the mind set that God needs me. He needs my attitude to be perfect for people to get saved, he needs my prayers to be constant for something to actually happen, or in this case, he needs my health to be perfect to conceive a child.


Though ALL of those things (attitude, prayer, health) are EXTREMELY important, we ALL know that God can work in spite of them. PRAISE THE LORD. So with this in mind, I wanted to share with you my health journey.

I want to start with when I first got married. Blake was such an awesome provider and cared about my comfort at our new home in Cordova, AL. He worked as an insurance agent and was gone a LOT... we're talking from 8-9 in the morning to 8-9 at night. I really tried to adjust well and do things around the house but I was a little lonely. THEN if you read in my "Adventures #2" blog you already know that fear took over my life in the beginning of our marriage. Bless Blake's heart... he's already had to deal with so much.

PROPS TO THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD

Okay, continuing...


My point for explaining all of this is that I began to notice some weight gain. It wasn't dramatic, just a few lbs really, but enough to make me a little self conscious. Because of my fear and because I was in an unfamiliar area I didn't feel comfortable getting out and walking by myself. -Pause- if you have not read my 2nd blog post I urge you to do so -Unpause-. Blake ends up quitting the insurance company and we move to Eldridge.. closer to my fears. I definitely did not feel comfortable getting out and walking!

So the weight gain kept on and kept on that Fall (2010). Finally, the next March (2011), I was getting my bridesmaids dress fitted over the phone for a dear friends wedding and when I gave her my measurements she insisted they were wrong. I don't blame her! I had doubled in size since she last saw me! So that exact day I went and got a gym membership. I worked my TAIL off March, April, and May. I saw only a few pound difference so I was already discouraged. Then the worst school semester of my life was that summer. I took 5 classes and 2 of them were 3 hours away. The workload was way too much to handle. Believe me when I say I would begin working on my school work at 8 a.m. and work until 10 or 11 p.m. I was the most stressed I had ever been in my entire life. So stressed that I started seeing heat waves.. My mom told me that that was me having an ophthalmic migraine. She was really concerned and told me that I HAD to relax.

Truthfully, it wasn't just school that was taking a toll on me but my weight kept going up and up. My relationship with the Lord became almost nonexistent because I didn't feel worthy... physically, mentally, emotionally, NOTHING. It was a very sad place to be.

***WARNING*** If you are a guy and are uncomfortable with the words "menstrual cycle" PLEASE do not read on! ALSO NOTE: Our entire marriage we have used zero contraceptives. I need to make that point to show you how God provides when HE sees fit!

I began having many, many health issues. I had to have a colonoscopy in October 2011 because of abnormal bleeding, I had not had a menstrual cycle since May 2011, and my weight was continually rising and rising.

After my colonoscopy came back showing that stress triggered lots of things I knew it was time I got on my knees and remember where my strength comes from. I was completely empty and had nothing to give to god but He restored my soul. I'll never forget that Fall. He held me closely and lead me down a path of renewal in His word and ways. That was my first step in my "healthy lifestyle".

That December I started going back to the gym.

In January 2012, I went to the doctor about my absence of a mentrual cycle. I learned that I have something called PCOS (Polycystic ovarian syndrome). I had ALL of the symptoms. No periods, weight gain, not able to lose weight, hair loss, low estrogen levels, etc. The doctor explained that my body was producing more of the male hormone than the female hormone. I was not getting enough of the female hormone to ovulate, resulting in an absent menstrual cycle. With producing more of the male hormone my body's insulin was at max and was turning it into fat (explaining the dramatic weight gain). He gave us a couple of options to go with and we felt like God was leading to take the female hormone pill called Provera.

Oh my gosh... if you ever thought I was mean, I was really mean when I was on this medication!

So we went through a round of that in February 2012, had a menstrual cycle, went back to the doctor 21 days later to check my hormone levels and they were rock bottom. I didn't lose hope because I knew it may take more than once. So we tried again in April and had even worse results. My progesterone was at a 0.08 or something like that. It was crazy low!

I was also working out 3-4 times a week. I "up'd" my pace and started running.

The doctor told us there was nothing else they could do unless we were ready to try fertility drugs or go to an endocrinologist. He said because of my mom having to use fertility drugs and me having the same issues that I would most likely not be able to conceive without fertility drugs. We prayed and prayed about it and just felt as though we needed to wait. I told Blake that I had been praying a lot about it and I was going to see if God would give me a period (on my own without drugs) for 2 months in a row (Being May and June) before I called the other doctor to check out my pituitary glands.

Meanwhile, I was involved in a bible study at our church. We were going through the book "Made To Crave".. I highly suggest it to anyone who has dealt with the same issues as I have! I finally began losing some weight and before I knew it I had dropped nearly 20 lbs! This was a miracle considering I heard it was impossible to lose weight having PCOS, without diet pills. I was feeling SO good, too!

Left: August 2011 Right: June 2012

Come May 10, 2012 the flood gates had opened! It was truly a miracle! I couldnt believe my eyes! But it doesn't stop there!!! COME JUNE 15, 2012 THEY OPENED UP AGAIN! Me and Blake were just completely floored with what the Lord was doing in my health... Spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally! It was amazing!

I remember, the entire time I was infertile, my prayer was "God, I want to be healthy for the glory of you through my future children." There was no doubt in my mind that God would give us children.... We just thought it would be several years from now...

LOW AND BEHOLD::::::

July came around and no period... I thought my health was failing again. Then, July 27, 2012 Blake said "just go in there and take a test"... Me, having taken DOZENS of tests thought "whatever, I just took one a couple of weeks ago and it was negative.. but I have an extra one so why not."

Then there were two lines...

I immediately began to do the ugly cry... then I started hyperventilating... then I threw up. I could NOT believe it. Blake was laughing at me!! I was really beside myself! TOTALLY unexpected.

Then we had to wait and tell everyone after Blake's lovely sisters wedding! This is me with my parents, keeping a HUGE secret!

So finally at midnight I told my parents!! Mom didn't get the onsie at first.. Then she looked at me and began to BAWL! It was definitely a special moment!

So to all of my friends dealing with tough situations in your life DONT GIVE UP! Hebrews 10:35-36 says "Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised." I don't feel like I took these steps to "receive" things from God but rather to be obedient knowing that it was up to Him whether He would bless us with a child. I am so confident is my Almighty God and His promises.

He is so so so so good. He works all around you! Even though you can't see it, can't feel it, and even feel defeated, He is working all things to the good of those who love Him according to his purpose.

Now I ask, as my first trimester is wrapping up, that you would pray with me. Pray that people would read the stories of mine and Blake's life and see that we are weak but Christ is strong. God is so faithful in the small and in the great. Also pray for the life of our child. We realize that ANYTHING could happen... Our anthem for all of this is that God CAN sustain this life, He WILL sustain the life, but even if he doesn't He is still God and we will still worship and praise Him! We aren't worried in the least bit about my pregnancy because we are so confident in the Maker and Sustainer of life.

Here is a song that has been very near and dear to my heart through all of this. Please take a moment to listen:

Thank you SO much for taking time to read my blog post. I love you all and pray that my story will encourage you!

The Adventures of the Courington's PART 2

Okay...


So most of you know how much we love adventure. My favorite TV shows are the shows that keep you on your seat. We are all about doing fun and crazy things... These things range from wearing red lipstick to driving across the country at midnight.


Unfortunately, in little bitty Eldridge, Alabama there's not much adventure and we're not able to just "go" like we used to be able to. We're grown ups now and have to make sure we are responsible. This is what we told ourselves anyways as we accepted the pastor position at Eldridge Baptist Church.


So on the day we decided to calm down and become responsible I (Kayse) remember thinking "Oh great. There goes my fun in life." I thought that because through most of the crazy and spastic things I have done I have learned huge, I mean HUGE lesssons in life. Particularly those from God Himself. I guess that's why I get a thrill out of doing things out of the ordinary. Because God is definately NOT the ordinary.


I guess since we couldn't partake in any adventure, the adventure just HAD to come to us. I could have never dreamed we would have this much adventure by being at a 140 year old church that is made up of many older, sweet, gentle, people.


And was I wrong... Let me share with you my first adventure of Walker County.


It was about three or four weeks into our wonderful marriage on a Sunday afternoon at one of our SWEETEST members of our church's home. I will keep her unnamed just for the sake of mystery! I will tell you a little about her though. She has 10 CHILDREN. I REPEAT 10 CHILDREN.


Whoo.


So we were over there one afternoon visiting with the entire family and eating lunch. It was about that time when everyone was finished eating but some were sitting in the dining room drinking coffee, some were sitting on the front porch discussing sundays sermon and the kids were outside playing.


Me and Blake were at the dining room table drinking coffee with several of the family members when we see a girl limping up to this ladies house. I have to look twice to see what's going on. One of her eyes were as big as a baseball and she was crying and scared. My first reaction is to look away. I thought maybe she had been in a car accident or something. I quickly found out that someone had done this to her. Luckily one of the granddaughters is a nurse and she goes back to keep this girl alive and awake. There was a little bit of comotion because one of the family members were having flashbacks of when it happened to them. So quickly, I put my big girl pants on and said "Okay, Lord. I have to be here for YOU and for My husband. Needless to say my husband who fears nothing was already in the bathroom praying with this girl. MMM Gotta love him!


So I march in there and begin to examine for myself what was going on. She had two horizontal slits on her neck from a knife. That was enough to tell me that whatever was going on was serious. She had been stabbed in her cheek, back of the head, and right by her collar bone. My heart sank as I watched this girl being to pass out. The nurse of them family was keeping pressure on her major wounds but she was still losing a LOT of blood. Blake begins to ask her questions about her family to keep her from passing out. Unfortunately they were questions that made her very upset and caused her to cry harder which used more energy. We needed the energy she was using to cry to keep her from passing out. I watch as her head goes back and her eyes rolling in the back of her head and think "Oh my goodness. We're losing her." At that moment I throw on my Barbara Walters 20/20 face and start asking her a TON of irrelevant questions. First question was "What is your favorite food?" BAM I got a smile and she replied "Lasagna." We began to talk about lasagna and kept on asking her to stay with us. We asked her a few more silly questions and the ambulance FINALLY showed up.


Let me remind you... We live in the middle of nowhere. We have no police jurisdiction and definitely no ambulance service.... That's why it took the EMT's so long to get to where we were. 


They came in and began to ask her different questions. I really don't think they understood how bad she was bleeding... but... Who knows.. maybe they see this stuff all the time.


Sure enough they get her into the ambulance and she begins to hemorage. If you don't know what they means then look it up! It was NOT good. 


Everyone in that house sat back and took a deep breathe. I'm sure most everyone was thinking "What on earth just happened and did we really witness this?" 


Blake and I call it an afternoon and decide to leave our sweet member's home. I told Blake that I needed something to calm my nerves so we headed to Jack's to get a milkshake. I will never forget the taste of that milkshake. That was probably the last milkshake I will ever have, too.


Oh.. and the story does not end there.. No, no, no. 


Blake and I get back to the church around 4:30 to get ready for Discipleship Training at 5. We hear a helicopter... Let me say this again.. We are in the middle of nowhere. The only other type of transportation that is used out in these parts is a train. We were very surprised to hear and see the helicopter go over the church.


Come 5'oclock we hear from some of our members that the man who stabbed this woman so many times had hung himself.... AND LIVED.... THAT WAS WHERE THE HELICOPTER WAS GOING TO! WHAT??????? HE LIVED????? 


He was on his way to the SAME hospital as the young lady he did all of that stuff to.


Talk about a wild and crazy Sunday. After that Sunday I fell into this deep valley and was scared of every little thing. Blake was still selling insurance and was out until sometimes 9 or 10 pm. I am in this new location, no friends or anything. I am scared to death sitting inside our itty bitty house jumping at every "off" sound. I stayed inside for the majority of the day and even when I went outside to check the mail you would think I was James Bond 007 or something rolling on the concrete making sure no one knew I existed so no one would come and cut me up like the girl in Eldridge.


This fear drove my life for several weeks. My sweet husband was so understanding and so sensitive to the emotions that I was dealing with.


I know I sound completely crazy for being this fearful but you just had to have been there. I have never seen anything like that in my entire life... I had never even heard of anything like that happening unless it was on the Memphis news.. and even that was rare. AND I was a Criminal Minds fanatic. So of course I tried to analyze the guy who did this and came to the conclusion he was after me next because I was a part of saving the girls life.


Thankfully, God did not keep me in that place of fear. 


Several weeks after we had experienced this crime Blake preached a message out of Ephesians. It was Ephesians 4 to be exact... If you've never read the book of Ephesians then stop reading this and go do so. It is so rich in truth... Well.. the whole bible is, really.


Okay. Ephesians. While he was preaching Ephesians 4 he made reference to 1 Corinthians

“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
(1 Corinthians 15:55 ESV)


He was referring to that later part of Ephesians 4 on how we as Christians walk now that we are a new creation... 


All of the sudden it hit me... Christ did not die so I could walk around scared of every person in Walker County. He died so that I may be saved and share the glorious gospel to the people around me. How am I doing that if I am scared of death? And more importantly WHY am I scared of death? 


As a Christian, death is a bittersweet thing. Truth is "to be absent with the body is to present with Christ" so death does not hurt.... yea sure... I may have physical pain at the end of my life but as far as death itself it has no victory over me and it has no sting. I can't even feel it because as soon as I die I will be present with my Creator... My Savior... My Everything. 


So a million things were going through my feeble little mind. I know who Jesus is and I know the power He has over death... I had to come to grips with the fact that a SOUL is more important than my life. I was extremely challenged that day. It's like God was telling me I had nothing to be scared of because I am HIS. So no matter what ended up happening to me I will always be in His arms


We ended up moving to Eldridge that October. It was a very bold step seeing as how we are 100 yards from the person who did all of this to that girl.. Oh.. and we found out no charges were made and they were back together.

Here is us in front of our house OUTSIDE! 


You can tell that Blake just LOVES pictures. Man he's foiiiiiine! 


So... to wrap it up...


A few months after we moved in I got a knock at the door. It was a sweet couple that asked if they could borrow my phone. Of course I said yes.. and as most of you know.. I never have it with me so I had to hunt for it! Blake was in the back and I told him to come to the door and he said "Hey guys" (and said their names). I froze. I could not even breathe. I couldn't believe it was really them. I did not recognize her and I had never even met him. Here comes that fear again.


I hurried to the back and prayed that God would remind me that death has no sting... and that these people need Jesus more than they need anything in this entire world. 


Needless to say, after that day of meeting them I have gotten a little better. They have come to the house several times since, we've given them a ride to Jasper, and they've even came to our church twice. 


These two individuals have stolen mine and Blake's heart. We know without a doubt they are struggling with drugs... big time... but want them to see the grace of God through us because their souls are worth it to us. We've had many conversations about the "what if"  scenarios and we both agree that even through something tragic we will love them. 


It is so important to love people despite their faults. Even when it's against you. Think about Jesus... He loved us... even though we continuously drive His name into the dirt. I know, I know... God is also about justice...  I know this.. BUT justice was done at the Cross. Am I right? 


I believe God is sovereign and knows exactly why he had Blake and I go through that... He has a plan for us living 100 yards from both of them.. He knows why they choose to come to us. Will we get taken advantage of? Yes.. more than likely. Will we get frustrated with them because they just aren't getting it? Yes. Often. But is God's grace greater than their sin and worth all of it? You bet. 


So think about the people in your life that are hard to love and encourage and LOVE THEM ANYWAY. Not for YOUR sake and for YOU to feel good... but for the love and grace of Christ to shine through you. It's all for HIS glory and His name's sake.


Now go read Ephesians 4!

Adventure #1: How We Met

I thought it would be appropriate to start our blog with how me (Kayse) and Blake met. The story is beautiful and it will continue "till death do us part".

This is a journal entry I wrote on October 5, 2009. As many of you know, this was only a month after we met. At this point, I had only met Blake once.

October 5, 2009

"If we are faithless, He remains faithful- for He cannot deny Himself" 2 Timothy 2:13

"I want to start this story that isn't finished by saying He (Christ) has proven Himself to me over and over again. On numerous occasions, this verse has come alive. Every day I see Him at work. Jesus Christ, the Lamb that was slain, has come so that His children may have life more abundantly. But why? Kayse Mace deserves NONE of this. Christ is merciful. His grace is abounding. He is King. So while I write this, know that with every stroke of this pen, I am praising Him and Him alone. To Him be the glory of every occurrence in my life. Oh my life... not really mine. For I have surrendered to the calling of the Most High. And He is everything to me. I am in love with Him. He is my first love. Not because of anything I have done but because He is God.

With all of that said, I must begin a story. A story that has just begun, but has impacted my life in so many ways. A story that I pray will continue forever. A story that has been planned and thought out by none other than God.

The summer of 2009 was a very good one. I believe God placed certain people in my life to better my understanding of the cross and suffering. How it is central and crucial in a Christ-followers life. Although I classify this summer as amazing, I can kind of say that suffering was a small dose of it. I went through a terrible valley towards the end of the summer.


The stories I would hear of two people, completely surrendered to the Lord, falling in love were so strange to me. Thoughts that were not of the Lord would go through my mind constantly. Thought like, "I am too fat" or "I am not good enough for someone else" or "I am weird". I know that those thoughts may not seem "bad" but the more a person dwells on these things, the more they believe them.

With these thoughts I always felt like I needed encouragement, Like someone always neede to tell me that I was a godly woman or somthing to that extent. It was pitiful, because I could hear the voice of the Lord saying I AM YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT. Yet I would still soak in my what I thought to be "lonliness". Then, I would get angry with myself because I spend more time thinking about ME and MY desires than I did others. While people were dying and going to hell, I am throwing myself a pity-party. That is NOT of Christ.

So anyways. There was this specific weekend that the Lord sent me some encouragement through another believer. My old roommate, Hannah, had to leave town and one of her friends from Beach Project was staying that the apartment. It was just me and Brittany that night. We didn't even know each other but by the end of the night we knew everything about each other. Just listening to her being so content with Christ calling her to singleness at this time in her life made me content with it. It helped to me have strength and faith in His promises. So I can truly say that that night was somewhat of a turning point in my "valley".

I do not think that the three years I have been single was not because I could not get anyone. Just about everyone can get someone. I was hard core clinging to the desires in me that I believed were from God in my future husband. The only two that did not fit hand in hand were 1. International missions 2. Hunting and fishing. These two very rarely come together.

So anyways, Brittany and I's conversation was at the very end of July. It seems like now that I'm reflecting on it, I see how the Lord was beginning to pull me out of this valley with His strength. However, I still had some issues.

The couple I was living with (Lance and April) would go on triple dates and would want to invite me, but it would be weird (duh). So I would stay at home and watch the kids. Actually, that only happened once but I rememered that one time like it had happened a thousand times. When the kids went to sleep I wept. I was in tears. Tears of lonliness. I didn't understand why I was feeling like this. I follow Christ and I know that I am complete in Him and only Him. I knew that. Why was I weeping? Why had I lost hope?

Another instance that made me upset was with a friend back home. She had just come back to the Lord this summer. She was living in sin and for herself until that point. She would be the first one to tell you that too. She called me one afternoon and told me she had met an amazing guy and that God was making it clear to her that he was to be something in her life. And from what she said he was amazing. Automatically, I jump into the flesh and start thinking, "Lord... she is JUST now coming back to you and you give her someone. She needs to fall in love with you before anyone else. What about me?" and QUICKLY I am hit in the face with the fact that HE IS GOD. Why would I questions the things He is doing. There was still a litter bitterness towards the situation. That was when I really had to step back and evaluate my motives in wanting a relationship. Was it for my satisfaction or for His glory? Because what does marriage represent anyways? Ourselves or the love of Christ? I soon realized that my motives were selfish and I went back to Psalm 119

"Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies and not towards selfish gain." Pslam 119: 35-36

Conviction covered me and it was refreshing. I bowed before the Lord confessing my selfishness. Broken because I had not been living up the righteousness for which I have been called. So I repented and turned away from this sinful way of thinking. I really wish I knew all of the dates of these events. But I don't. All I know is that His mercy was flowing and covering.

Remember at the beginning when I referenced to 2 Tim 2:13? Well, the verse explains itself. When we lack faith, He remains faithful ot us and His promises still stand. He cannot deny the fact that He is God and He is infinately faithful. So I began to cling to this at about mid August. Trusting that He would be glorified through my singleness. Whether that lasted 3 days, 3 years, 40 years, or forever. I was going to embrace what the Lord had called me to at this point in my life.

Okay! Here is where it gets juicy!!!!!

I have a best friend named Jordan Curtis. Her and her husband moved up to Louisville, KY to go to Boyce college. They moved at the beginning of June and I was missing her terribly. So Rebecca and I decided to drive 630 miles North on I-65 to go see her.

Prior to me coming up there she had mentioned a boy named Blake who would be perfect for me. My attitude towards that was that God was going to have to do something big because I'm not even going to look at Him unless it was of God. I dismissed the thought remembering that it is in HIM who I am made complete.

Se we head up there on September 4, 2009 <-- great trip btw. Rebecca is so amazing! Really! We had such a good time! We got there, cooked dinner and just didn't do a whole lot. We just enjoyed spending time with each other catching up on everything.

I love these girls! They are TRUE women of the Lord. 

Anyways, Saturday, we went downtown, watched football, etc. Jordan would mention this "Blake" guy every now and then just talking about how she wanted us to meet and that we would be perfect for each other.. blah blah blah. I really tried not to entertain the thought because I was slowly but surely getting out of this valley, aware of how I needed to depend on Christ more. The last thing I expected was for a boy to show up.

Sunday was the day I knew I was going to meet Blake. The morning was extremely hectic. I went to iron my dress 10 minutes before we had to leave and spilled water all over the bottom of it. I still wore it. I think I definately hit the "I don't care" point way too early that morning. Anyway. We arrive at the church 15 minutes late! So we didn't get to sit by them, as a matter of fact, I didn't see Blake the entire service. Service ends, we all meet in the lobby to discuss lunch plans, and there he is. Blake Courington. Jordan introduces us and we shake hands. Not much was said between us right there. Just a quick "hey how are ya" kind of things.

We get to the apartment and since Jordan in cooking lunch, me and Beck decide to go get something from Kroger to make a dessert. Thank you Laura Blackman for the DELICIOUS cookie dessert recipe. I had no idea it would win someones heart.

I thought Blake was a STUD. So I knew I had to impress him. :) And sure enough.. He had two servings and just went on and on about how good it was. He said it so much that I thought he may have been kidding or something. It was sweet. Automatically, I saw traits in him that I liked. Just the way he shook my hand and looked me in my eyes. He was wearing a pink shirt tucked into some khaki's. It was handsome. I was wearing a pink dress that day too! CRAZY! :)

After lunch, we all played some ultimate frisbee and it was super fun. We got beat but we had a good time. I can remember high-fiving Blake a couple of times during the game. He was wearing a NOLA shirt that said "WHO DAT?" on the front. Me, not knowing what it even meant, found it funny. Then we went back up to Ben and Jordans and drank a glass of sweet tea to cool off.  We start making dinner plans and we ask Freddy, Nick and Blake if they wanted to come. I specifically remembered Blake sayingt hat he really shouldn't. He needed to do some homework, reading, etc. And finally, he said "well, we don't want to intrude." But Ben begged him to come. So we all cleaned up and went downtown for dinner.

We end up at this place called the Old Speghetti Warehouse.

Here are the guys at dinner that night!

It's pretty low key but kind of fancy too. We had about an hour wait, so we all went outside to chat. Reminder: I am trying to to entertain these thoughts of Blake and I being anything. So we wait and us girls are talking and the boys are talking. We finally get a table and it just so happens that Blake and I are sitting across from each other (which later, he said that he was responsible for that).  We all sit down and BOOM. Blake and I get lost in conversation. Just about what led us to Christ, why we were where we were and things that He had done for us. He starts talking about his family and small town. Then he starts telling me about hunting (check). We finally get to missions. He proceeds to tell me that he was supposed to be in Peru right now with the IMB but the funds were short so they cancelled the summer meetings. OH MY WORD. Did I hear that right? A hunting preacher? Shut up! 

Not only was our conversation divine but he was proving to be everything I had ever desired and MORE.  I remember thinking "Wow, if this is how great our convos are when we're with a group, I would what they will be like on a date". Before I knew it, my heart was leaping. This was a sincere man of God who looked me in my eyes when he talked to me. He asked me questions and cared about what Christ had done in my life.

Dinner was over after an hour and a half. We went to get ice cream! Me, Jordan, Rebecca, Ben and Freddy rode together and I remember them all saying "So, Kayse.. ya'll were talking a lot. How was it?" ha... and I tried my hardest to act cool about all of it... trying not to get my hopes up, but I had a smile glued to my face.

And... we got ice cream. Blake and I said one sentence to each other while we were there. I think we were both a little blown away at what happened at dinner. I had these strange/wonderful feelings going on.

We went back to the apartment. Blake and Nick never came back.

So THEN Rebecca and I left the next morning. We didn't get a chance to say bye to Blake and Nick. Honestly, I wondered if I would ever talk to him again. However, my prayer was that if this was of the Lord... if these feelings were planted and planned by Christ Himself, then He would mae a way for Blake and I.

On our drive home, Rebecca proceeds to tell me that EVERYONE at the dinner table were making fun of me and Blake. Freddy and Ben were telling Nick that he was going to have to find a new roommate, singing "So this is love..", and just making a ton of jokes. I HAD NO IDEA. So when Rebecca told me about this I was FREAKING OUT. I got so embarrassed and was thinking that Blake would never talk to me again because everyone was pushing it so much and yada yada. I thought "What if he heard them and thought our conversation was just normal". Oh man.. I was beside myself. The rest of the ride home I kept asking Rebecca what she thought. And if any of you know Rebecca you know she has short and to the point answers!! haha!! I praise God for friends like these that were there that weekend. Every single one of them have been extremely influential in my walk with Christ.

So now... I was "sittin' waitin' wishin'" (Jack Johnson) that he would add me on facebook or something. He told me during dinner that he never got online. So I was banking on it being a while. Jordan would ask me every day if he had added me! I was at peace about everything though. As much as I wanted him to add me or something, I knew this HAD to be a work of Christ and not of Kayse. So I waited. AND FINALLY.. ON THURSDAY September 10, Blake Russell Courington sent me a stinking beautiful friend request on facebook. I was so excited!!!!!!! But at the same time I was thinking.. HE IS NEVER GOING TO GET ONLINE!!!

Finally, on September 13, at like midnight, he gets online. It takes him like 20 minutes to say something to me on the little chat thing. And if that isn't bad enough, I am doing all of this on my CELL PHONE. And if anyone has an iPhone... you know that facebook chat is NEARLY impossible.

However, supernaturally, my facebook chat works.. we CHAT for 3 hours.. on my cell phone. Crazy, right? He asked me for my phone number and asks if he could call me sometime. At this point I have my hands over my mouth screaming (trying not to wake the Nicholsons). I couldn't believe this amazing, good-looking, man of God, was pursuing me. I was just floored. I don't really have words to express what was going on spiritually that night. A lot of confirmation though. That's for sure.

He doesn't call me the next night... but calls me the night after that. He text me to see if it was okay to call first (that makes him even more a hotty). WE HAD THE BEST CONVERSATION AGAIN!. I mean I couldn't get over  how much of Christ I saw in this guy. His humility, his grace, his selflessness. I thought to myself "His life is a picture of the gospel" and I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to serve him. Since then, we have talked almost every night, acknowledging that we are both pursuing a relationship with each other. This weekend, he is coming to Arkansas.

Looking back at that night at dinner, Jesus Christ did a work in both of us. He planted these emotions that we haven't been able to shake. I have a feeling that it will not take long until I am in love with him. Like I said, the story has just begun.

As a witness, Jesus Christ is faithful even when we are faithless. When we feel like giving up, He reminds us that He has come and kept us here so that we can have life more abundantly FOR HIS GLORY.

There is so much more I could say, but I've been sitting in StarBucks writing for three hours. I will close with this: He is King. Our God reigns. He is in control.  May my faith be immovable and the work He has done in me impact others. Hallelujah. It is all for Him. Hallelujah."

And then we started dating..

... We NOW ARE MARRIED. God is so good. I hope this will encourage all of you and I hope you can fin rest in God's provision.

Love you all with the love Christ has given me!!!


Kayse Courington (The adventurous one)