God Always Provides!

Hey everybody! We are down to the final days of packing. It feels so weird to be packing up the first house we have ever owned. We have three more days until we head out for a fun-filled weekend with the youth and then we come back and pack up the last minute things. Then we are MN bound! Saying goodbye to people this past Sunday was so hard but it is also comforting to know that it is not goodbye for forever. Someday we will all reunite to worship God for the rest of our lives. Man, that sounds amazing! 

Speaking of an amazing God, we received good news on Saturday about our house...it is sold (pending the appraisal)! It has been so cool to see how God has worked out all of the details after He made it so clear to us that we were supposed to go back to MN. We serve one amazing God don't we?! Sometimes I just have to stand in awe of just how powerful yet gracious God is to us. Through the tears of saying goodbye to people and a house I have fallen in love with, I know that God is bringing us to exactly where He wants us. 

Now Griz on the othet hand, he is not to sure what to think. He has been really confused with all of the boxes all over the house. It is so funny how dogs can pick up on certain things. One of the first days that I started to pack, he jumped in one of the boxes with one of the saddest faces I have ever seen. It was almost as if he was trying to tell me, "Don't forget me!". I think this is going to be a huge change for him but I am so excited for my dad and brother, Bryce, to meet him. 

Well I better get back to packing! The next time you hear from me we will probably be in MN.

God's Timing is Perfect

Hello everyone! We are still alive. I have not posted anything on here for about seven months and for that I am sorry. Life happened and this sort of got pushed on the back burner which I am sad about. I really do enjoy keeping a blog, so hopefully I am back on track now.

Wow! Where do I begin with catching you up on what God is doing in our lives. Well, I guess I will start with saying that we serve an amazing God who likes to get our attention right when we are starting to feel comfortable, Amen?! I am sure many of you that are reading this have experienced this as well. Back in November, we ran across a ministry opening that was in MN and thought nothing of it. We knew it was going to be opening up and thought to ourselves, "I wonder who God will bring in to fill that opening." Little did we know that God had already started to work on our hearts and prepare us for what lied ahead. 

Through a series of events and His leading God showed us that we needed to apply for this position. Selfishly, I didn't want to because I wasn't ready to leave Evanston, WY so soon. We have grew to love so many people here and I knew that it would be a hard journey to go down if God was truly taking us away already. We obediently sent in Will's resume and said, "God do with it what you want." Everything went so fast after that. God made it abundantly clear that Waconia, MN is where He was taking us. Will got offered the job about a week ago now and we accepted the very next day. Everything has been such a whirlwind but we have felt God with us every step of the way. 

We told our congregation this past Sunday and that was probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Will read the letter we typed up and I just sat there crying. How do you tell so many people that you love that you are leaving after just a year? This is the one thing about being a Pastor's wife that I am not going to enjoy...saying Goodbye. We did not expect to be leaving after only a year but when God calls you to do something you have to forget about YOUR timing and say Yes Lord, I will Go. God is still working on my heart when it comes to saying Goodbye but I am also very excited to start this next adventure that He has in store for us. I am also very excited to be back by family. We have about a month left here and then we will load up the moving truck and head back to MN. You can be praying for our hearts, for the church here in Evanston, our move, and for our house to sell quickly. I am a little worried about our house selling but I also know that God has orchestrated everything up to this point so He has this figured out already too. 

Thanks for listening and thanks for your prayers! Remember that God's timing is PERFECT. God, thanks for knowing us better than we know ourselves!

Four Wheeling in the Mountains

So...Will and I had the opportunity to go four wheeling in the mountains on Father's Day. I can not even begin to describe how beautiful it was. Father's Day was sort of a hard day because both of us were away from our dads but being invited to hang out with some of our church family was def. a blessing! Enjoy the pictures that we took on our journey :)

This is where we started off from.

Getting the ATVs ready.

A quarter of the way up the mountain we ran into this beautiful lake.

A little closer view.

We also got to drive through the part of the mountain where the boy scout fire happened.

It was so sad to see how much of the beautiful forest was destroyed.

We were practically at the top of the mountain at this point.

Lookout of the land below.

View of where we were.

We didn't see a moose on our ride but we were told that it was very likely that we could see one.

Will replicating a face that he made as we were coming down the mountain. A couple of those turns were really sharp and made it pretty scary.

The result of our ride was a face full of dirt. Actually lets be real...every part of our skin that was showing was full of dirt. My hair was also one big knot :)

Hard Week

Howdy!! How are you guys? I have been doing good but have had a couple of days where I just really miss my family. Will and I have been keeping pretty busy which helps me on the hard days. We have been taking walks down by the river after supper every night and that reminds me a little bit of home. I sure do miss ALL of those lakes! A couple of Mondays ago I had the opportunity to go down to Salt Lake City with one of my friends here and that was a lot of fun. She is from a fairly large city as well and just moved to Evanston so I have been able to connect with her. We went down there and spent the day at a beautiful outdoor mall. It was a refreshing time and fun to hang out and have some girl time. 


This past weekend I had to say good-bye to one of my other friends that I met here in Evanston and that was really tough. Just as I was really developing a firm friendship I had to say good-bye. I am so excited to see where God is going to take them and I know that our friendship will continue through the distance. I feel like God is teaching me a lot when it comes to friendships. Being a very shy and reserved person, it tends to take a long time for me to be able to fully open up. A lot of the time I miss the familiarity of the friends I had back home. I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer...it's just how I have been feeling lately. I feel so blessed to have made as many friends as I have already and I am excited to see how God will develop each and everyone of them.  


This week Will and I have the opportunity to watch the cutest little puppy ever. Her name is Katy and she is so much fun! I am so thankful that we were able to watch her because I really want a dog. It gives me a friend to hang out with during the day! For those of you who didn't hear how the jobs turned out, I got the one day a week nanny job! Thank you God for the income you have provided for me. I am now waiting to here back from a daycare here in town so if you want to pray about that for us we would really appreciate it! Thank you! 


I miss you all and hope to here from all of you soon! 

Discerning the Voice of God

God is so good! I am doing this study called Discerning The Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer with some fellow women from Evanston Alliance Church and God has been showing me some pretty powerful stuff. His voice is a voice of LOVE, not one of condemnation. As humans if we have questions or are contemplating something we usually want the answer to that particular thing twi seconds ago...right?! We live in such a fast paced society that sometimes we lose focus of what patience is and even more importantly what patience is in God's eyes. I like the way Priscilla put it, "Often we seek to know God's direction more than we seek to know God...God wants to speak to you because He wants you to know Him; knowing His direction is just a by-product." Amen! The answers aren't what we need (yes it's what we want most of the time), it's a relationship with Christ is what we truly need (the answers and direction will come when we chose to get closer and closer with God). 


I don't know about you guys but I am definitely guilty of this sometimes. If fact, just this past month I was really starting to wonder if I was ever going to hear back about a potential job offer. Now, I wasn't getting frustrated or losing sight of God's will but I was just starting to wonder. I knew that I didn't have to worry about where God was going to put me but I could tell I was letting my mind wander and little too much so I took it to the Lord. Within the last week I have heard back from two different places. God not only answered my prayer but He answered it abundantly. Will and I are excited to see where God is going to place me and for those of you who keep track of our prayer requests this is another one. I have complete faith that God is going to show me which one of the two is right for me and I also believe that if neither one is where He wants me He will make that clear as well. 

One of the beautiful pictures that my cousin Katie took for our one year anniversary!

As for tonight, Will and I are going to watch one of the future youths play some baseball. It is a beautiful day today so it should be fun to spend some time outside. Thank you for all of your prayers and loving advice as we are transitioning here in Evanston. We miss everyone so much and hope so here from some of you soon. We would love to here how life is going for all of you so if you have any funny stories or even just want to say hi feel free to shoot me an e-mail at kayla.j.kelly@hotmail.com Ta Ta for now!    

Traveling...Traveling...& more Traveling

WOW!!!! The last couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy. We spent a week in Billings the last week of April for District Conference and that was a lot of fun. I look forward to going to it again next year. I had the privilege of meeting some pretty cool Pastors and Pastors' wives within the Rocky Mountain District. Will and I left the conference in awe of how much God has truly blessed us. 


On April 30th, 2012 Will and I celebrated our one year anniversary. We knew we were going to be busy on our actual anniversary  so we spent the weekend before it at the Thermopolis Hot Springs. I am so glad that we not only had the opportunity to do that but also that we decided to take some time to spend as just the two of us together. Looking back over the past year of marriage almost makes me want to cry. Will has been way more than the husband I ever imagined I would have the chance to love. He makes me strive to want to grow in my faith, learn how to humbly love him more and more, and to serve others with an unconditional love that only comes from Christ. Within the ONE year that we have been married God has blessed us with two dependable cars, an apartment up in Faith Village, Will's graduation in December, a Youth Pastor position for Will, and a beautiful house! I am speechless! We pray that we can help bless others through what God has blessed us with.


After our trip to the Hot Springs, we had about three days to breathe and then it was off to Minnesota. Even though Will graduated in December, he had the opportunity to walk with his class this past weekend. The ceremony was beautiful! Brady Griffith was the student speaker and he did an amazing job. We had so much fun seeing all of our friends from Crown. We pray that God would use the class of 2012 in ways that are un-comprehendible to us. Will's family also made it over for the ceremony so that was really fun. I think it meant a lot to them to be able to see him walk. While we were there we also got the chance to visit our former co-workers. We stopped at the hospital where I used to work about an hour after we got to my parents house. Being able to see my co-workers meant so much to me. So many people asked me if I was there to work and I wanted so badly to say yes!! I miss everybody so much! I also miss all of the kids. Will also got the opportunity to see everyone at the daycare where he used to work. Over the years I have gotten to know many of the people there as well so it was fun being able to reconnect. The kids there are all so funny and cute! My mom was at a scrapbooking retreat that was fairly close to Crown, so I stopped over there to say hi to her and to everyone else that was there. I normally go with my mom on those retreats so I wish I could have stayed and done crafts with them. I miss my mom so much! 


We have now been back in Evanston for about two days and still catching up on sleep. Traveling is exhausting and we also had to get up super early several of the days on our trip. I went to bed last night not feeling the best so if you are in the mood for praying for us you can just pray that I would feel better and also for both of us to catch up on sleep. After I have caught up on some house work I will write again. Love you all and talk to you again soon!

Two Week Update

Hey everybody!!! It's been a long time since I posted last. Will and I have had a very busy but exciting last two weeks. About two weeks ago my Parents, Brother, and Grandma got the opportunity to spend a full week with us. Their "vacation" wasn't all that relaxing tho. They worked, worked, and kept working on our house. We got so much accomplished because of them. We painted the kitchen, dining room, living room, three bathrooms, and our bedroom. My dad laid carpet in our hallway downstairs and in our living room. He also fixed the sealing on our back door and put up new bronze appliances in our master bathroom. My Grandma didn't want to quite so she also painted our garage door and our front door. We are so thankful for that because we wanted to get that done at some point but we never thought it would get done while they were here. I'm sure other things got done as well but I am blanking on them right now. 


The day before they left we got a surprise visit from my other Grandma and Grandpa and my uncle Jeff. They were on their way back to Minnesota from California. It was so much fun to have so many family members in our new house. We had a big roast, potatoes, corn, green beans, and some rolls. After dinner they had to continue on their journey back home. That time is a very treasured time for me because I know that I won't get that very often. Great, and now I'm crying! :) I am so thankful that my family would take the time to come and see us. We know that Evanston isn't that exciting but we can find fun things to do. Being away from family is hard but it has also shown me how amazing God is. He is truly my provider and my comfort!


Ok, so now that the crying has somewhat subsided, I can move on :) My family left on Friday, March 30th and Will and I left that same day for a Youth Leaders Conference in Billings, MT. The conference that we got the opportunity to attend was amazing. God revealed so many things to me that weekend. I may write a separate post on that later on but for now I will just share with you that God has really challenged me with several different things. 


With the conference being in Billings, we got the opportunity to see some of Will's family. We also got to meet the beautiful little miss Felicia. She is about three months old (Brandi if I got that wrong I am very sorry) and she is absolutely gorgeous!!! I think all babies are cute but this little one was beautiful. After the conference was over, Linda (Will's Mom) got to come back to Evanston with us. She was able to spend a full week with us as well. She is a teacher and she had spring break so she decided to spend it with us. We didn't do to much with her because we wanted her to have the opportunity to rest. Her and I did do some crafts while she was here though. She made and tie-blanket and I did some crocheting and I also made a welcome sign. I will post a blog about that hopefully tomorrow (with pictures). While she was here, she also taught me some of her recipes. One of them in particular was her homemade enchiladas. YUM!!!! Will made sure that I take not of how to make them because he misses him Momma's cooking. I took note of every little detail...hoping that the first time I make it on my own he lowers his expectations a little bit :) I had so much fun spending time with Linda and I hope that we can do it again sometime.


We dropped Linda off at the airport on Monday. Will and her have a special bond and every time she has to say goodbye to him I can see her start to tear up. Being able to see them embrace and her start to cry as she says goodbye is one of the sweetest things. Will has a special place in his heart for his mom and I know that deep down a lot of boys do too but his is a different one. He calls his mom his hero and I can tell by the way he treats her that, that is where he learned how to love me. Sorry, man I am getting emotional today! After we dropped her off we decided to stop at Target because the closest one to us is about an hour and fifteen minutes away from us. I love Target so this was kind of fun for me.


Yesterday I cleaned because after having company for about two full weeks and being busy with other things, cleaning sort of gets put on the back burner. Our house is now clean and feels put back together. Will had the opportunity to go golfing with two the youth yesterday and I walked with them. It was absolutely beautiful out yesterday. It was seventy degrees with a little breeze, partly cloudy but the sun was shining the whole day. I was enjoying every minute of it until we got home and I noticed how sunburned I got. I never would have thought that I would have gotten this sunburnt. I am not kidding you, I look like a lobster! It hurts so bad! And it's not even a pretty sunburn where when the redness fades it will be a pretty tan. No, I was wearing a t-shirt and capris. So I have a very defined line really close to my neck, half way down my arm, and right at my knees. Yeah it is beautiful!!! At least I got some color right ?! HAHAHA 


Anyways, sorry this post was so long but I figured if I was going to update you on some things I might as well update you on everything. Please be looking for my posts on my crafts and also the pictures of the updates to our house!