the weight of the wait

I want to write an update of our adoption process. So many of you have cared, prayed, given, and walked with us through this time and I hope to respond to your benevolence with a grateful vulnerability. I am thankful for those that ask us weekly how the process is going, but, so I don't take up thirty minutes of your time, I usually can only respond with a trite and simple answer. This blog post is an honest and complex one. 

This picture was taken four and a half years ago, a week after we signed the first sheet of paperwork to begin our adoption journey. We thought we knew what we were signing up for: about a two years wait (oh, the agony of two years! I remember thinking) and a lot of money we didn't have.

We had no clue.

The time has more than doubled and the money, well, lets just say it's been a lot more than what we were already lacking.

Until recently, I've handled the situation with a positive perspective and in view of God's perfect timing and sovereignty. For although we didn't foresee the drastic time period of waiting for our child, we also didn't foresee the amazing gifts the Lord had in store for us during that wait: our son, Abraham, a move back to family, jobs that we love, a community that cares for us, the ability to have our own coffee bar and business, and a homestead teeming with friendly creatures. God is a good Father and gives his children good gifts in his perfect time. This I know.

Last August we were sent a picture of a 7 month old healthy boy by our agency to see if we would accept his profile to move forward with adoption. We didn't have to see his picture to know he was ours...but we haven't stopped thinking of his little face since that day. We were thrilled and began counting down the weeks until we could have him in our arms.

The month that we expected to travel and meet him has come and gone. We continue to get pictures of him periodically, each one treasured and fawned over and in each one we see how he has changed and grown. Changes that I don't get to witness and growths that I don't get to be a part of.

And we are to expect even more delays.

When we received our referral, I compared the time to a pregnancy. Now we have reached nearly nine months gestation and it is nothing like being pregnant. I have never met him. He is not warm and cozy inside of me...he is 8,000 miles away in a place I don't know. I can't control his environment by nutritional eating and prenatal yoga; I have no control at all.

It is the strangest thing: to love someone you've never met. To have a child that is yours but that is not yours yet. 

There is a peculiar tension here that I must attempt to explain. I am not unhappy or discontented...quite the opposite. I feel more gratitude than I could ever contain for my husband and our sons and our life here. But there is at the same time a great sadness that is always present with me. Through the window I see Kellen and Abe chasing the chickens in the back yard as I chop vegetables and tears brim, one, because I am so thankful, but, two, because he is not with us. Our son is missing these moments, these laughs, and these joys.

This wait is very weighty and I can't not feel the burden. The sorrow of his absence and the agony of hope's deferral is very real and I want to be honest about it. If anything, for other mom's that are waiting to know they are not crazy and also maybe as justification for myself for feeling a little crazy. 

So, to summarize, we have no idea when we will get to go to Africa to meet our boy. We have even less of an idea when we get to bring him home. It is a very difficult reality, one that I struggle with daily, and kind of awkward to tell people. I know God is good...I know he loves our babe even more than we do...and I know his timing is perfect. But I also know that he wants us to ask for the door to be open. Please pray. Pray for our son, for Abraham's brother, and for his emotional and physical well-being. Pray for a court date...for a unexpectedly SOON court date. Pray for a miracle.

I ask you to please join me in this tension of longing for our son, recognizing his absence to the point of pleading with our Father for drastic change, while at the same time waiting in confident trust that He knows what he is doing.

 **I hope my honesty has not discouraged anyone in the adoption process. Adoption is needed and we are commanded by Jesus to care for the orphan. I hope, instead, my words help adoptive families to step into the process soberly, recognizing how much we need God every step of the way.
***Our agency has always been very good at doing the best they can to not promise a waiting time period. They have given us time frames based on previous adoptions, but I don't in any way blame them for any of our discouragement! They have been wonderful and we could not be more grateful for our relationship with them.

roots coffee

"Blessed is the one who's hope is in the Lord...he will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out it's roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for it's leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

When we first moved to Louisville, I knew I wanted to be barista. I realize now that I knew nothing about coffee or what the title "barista" entailed, so I’m not sure why I was so intent on this being my part-time occupation. But within two weeks of moving I was hired by a local coffee shop called Vint, which happened to be within walking distance from our apartment. This seemingly simple occurrence dramatically changed my life in ways I never could have foreseen. It was not the part-time job that I was expecting…working in coffee became my passion and career. My fellow baristas were not just my co-workers…they became my family and greatest support. The regulars that came into my shop everyday were not just customers…they were friends and neighbors that I cared deeply about and who cared deeply for me. Working in the coffee industry completely surpassed my arbitrary aspiration to be a barista and reinforced my understanding that God gives us good things…even when we don’t know to ask for them.

I've always liked coffee as a commodity and drink but truly understanding the story behind the product allows me to enter into a new level of appreciation. The intricate attention given to growing and harvesting, processing and grading, roasting and brewing, come to a perfect climax when the once fruit, then seed, then bean, and finally liquid is consumed and enjoyed. It is a story that bridges cultures and unites individuals, inviting the ordinary barista to participate in the community this narrative provides. 

Coffee creates community in three ways. First, it establishes relationships with people around the world. If developed correctly, coffee roasters connect with coffee farmers as a direct source of trade. They get to know one another, they break bread together, and they share each other’s burdens. This sense of international camaraderie inspires me. Many coffee farmers put their life into their trade. In the specialty world, coffee plants in the Arabica family only produce about 1-3 pounds of beans a year, are harvested by hand, and sorted by real people to filter out any unsatisfactory yield. It is so important that the relationship with these farmers be mutually beneficial and conducted with integrity. When the farmer suffers, we suffer. When the farmer does well, we benefit with them. I’ve seen this harmoniously play out with many coffee roasters, specifically with our friends at Sunergos Coffee and Henie Brothers Coffee (via Coffee Co-op) in Louisville, Kentucky.

The second way coffee creates community is through the subsequent culture it generates. I remember sitting with a fellow manager and fast friend, Jamie, as she taught me how to make a macchiato. Not the macchiato you get at Starbucks that’s laced with sugar and capped with whip cream, but the traditional drink—a rich and flavorful espresso with a small amount of carefully textured milk. Her love for hand-crafted coffee was contagious. It was an art. Jamie and many others nurtured in me a desire to learn more and to grow as an artisan in my skill. The next thing I knew, I was participating in latte art competitions, attending coffee conventions, and reading magazines devoted to coffee culture. It sounds nerdy, and I’m ok with that. I’ve met some of the most amazing people in this world of nerd and I could not be more thankful for being a part the fellowship it creates.

Finally, and the most vital part for the barista, is the relationship with the customer and the pleasure of serving a delicious, hand-crafted, latte-art sealed drink to them. What is the point of intricate dedication to excellence in the planting, harvesting, processing, roasting and brewing processes without someone to appreciate the final product? The best part about being a barista is satisfying the customer with a consistent drink, and using that point of reference to establish a friendship. It’s amazing what happens when, as a barista, you know a regular’s name and their drink. You become a dependable part of their day. People could make their coffee at home or go to McDonalds, but they come to the coffee shop because (well, it’s better, but also…) of the community it brings about.

One of the hardest decisions we ever made was to leave Louisville and the friendships we established there, especially those surrounding Vint. I knew then that I could never say farewell to being a barista. It had become a form of art, an outlet to create, and a platform to serve those around me.  I knew South Atlanta lacked a specialty coffee scene, and the thought of being a forerunner of something non-existent excited me.

And here we are. In the middle of an adoption, house hunting, and starting new jobs, Kellen and I started a business: Roots Coffee Bar. Since we came back home and are intentionally seeking to put roots down here, the name is a perfect reminder of our original purpose.

Roots Coffee exists to cultivate community by creating and serving hand crafted drinks. From seed to cup, coffee tells a story and we desire to deliver this experience to our customers with integrity, precision, and grace. Roots Coffee offers a fully functioning on-site mobile coffee bar for weddings, business meetings, parties, farmers markets and other events in the Atlanta area. With a full specialty and traditional coffee drink menu, guests can have the opportunity to enjoy a delicious beverage made by a trained barista at the event attended. We customize the menu, coffee origin, and even the cup logo to our customer’s preferences. Roots uses coffee beans from our friends at Sunergos Micro-roastery in Louisville, Kentucky.

If you are interested in booking Roots Coffee Bar for an event, please email drinkrootscoffee@gmail.com and we can talk details. All of our proceeds are currently going towards our adoption fundraiser! Read more about our adoption here. 

A big thanks to Kenny Smith and Blake Nail at Sunergos (visit them here) for helping us set up, for Dylan Higgins creating my logo, and for Anna Pryor using her creativity to make it real. I am so indebted to Cody Chaplian, Jamie Bowers, Chloe Regan, Kelsey Hurd, Cameron Mulvey, and Toni and Chris Lavenson who instilled in me a passion for the coffee business, and challenged me to learn and give more. As always, thanks to our families for their support and investment in our dream. And we cannot say enough about Alex and Emilee Abraham who took these amazing photos for our company, and in support of our adoption (visit them here). We cannot believe the amazing people God has put in our path and how much help we have needed from them along the way. I hope we can even in a tiny way do the same.  

Roots is also opened during school hours at The Campus in Peachtree City, where I work my other job, and at Crosspoint Community Church on Sundays. 

our adoption story

“The place God calls us to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” –Fredrick Beuchner

KAYCEE: Kellen and I have been married for nearly eight years. Marriage is certainly no walk in the park; rather it is the greatest, most frightening, most significant, most muddy, and most beautiful adventure two people could ever take. And as we choose to truly commit to one another daily, our love grows deeper, and it is from this pair of virtues (dedication and affection) that our desire for a family comes. So in the summer of 2012, after five years of marriage and no pregnancy, we decided that was God’s way of telling us that we should adopt.

KELLEN: Adoption was never a plan B for us. We see it as a Biblical mandate to care for the orphan, and our role in that calling is to take the orphan into our home as our own.

KAYCEE: The idea of adoption has always intrigued and inspired me. We are constantly taking teenagers into our lives and often we become parent figures for the ones who don’t have a sense of place. It is a longing of ours to put the family-less in families and we feel like God has prepared us for parenthood along the way. Also, in 2007, I spent about three weeks in South Africa where much of that time was working in an orphanage. I still remember the beautiful faces of the children there and pray for them on a regular basis. I knew then that I would adopt one day. Adoption just makes complete sense because we have been adopted into God’s family!

KELLEN: Although we were excited about the thought, the process of adoption was what kept us from jumping right in. We knew people that had adopted, we read stories about other’s journeys and honestly feared the task of raising so much money and waiting such a long time to have our child. We loved that adoption happened, but didn’t really think we could handle it.

KAYCEE: In the late summer of 2011 we moved to Louisville, Kentucky to attend Southern Seminary. Little did we know that the dean of the theological school there was a huge advocate of adoption, having adopted two boys from Eastern Europe. Southern hosted numerous adoption conferences and many of the churches in the city had large communities of adoptive families. Something that seemed so daunting to us suddenly was very normal and approachable. In the fall of 2011 we went to see one of our favorite artists play and the whole concert was a fundraiser for adopting families. I was on the brink of tears the whole time. Near the end of the production they showed this beautiful video of the children that were waiting to join their forever families and I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I was a blubbering mess (to the discomfort of the friends that were with us). I just wanted those children. I wanted our child.

KELLEN: We didn’t know how to move forward, though, and just felt this weight for a little while. We prayed and asked how God wanted us to proceed and just kind of waited. Then in the winter of 2012 we were in a membership meeting at church and discovered the wife of the couple at our table was a social worker for a local adoption agency. We spent the majority of our time pelting her with questions. She was patient with us, and more than willing to help us. Her office specialized in the Ethiopian program and so that was her point of reference. So many families in Lousiville had adopted from Ethiopia successfully, and many while in seminary and working part-time jobs. After much prayer and many, many more questions, we decided to start the process and believed that it was God’s will for us to adopt from Ethiopia.

KAYCEE: It’s been three years since we began the unending pile of paperwork that still has not ended. We started the journey full of excitement and anticipation and then around the summer of 2013, with our name still very high on the list, we began to get super discouraged. We knew that it would happen one day, that day just seemed so far away. Life continued to go on and we had to go on with it and daily trust that God’s timing is perfect. Then, in the fall of 2013 we found out we were pregnant! It was a huge, staggering surprise. I didn’t even know how to process what I thought was impossible. But it was such an exciting time. As our Africa-babe grew in our hearts, his brother grew in my belly!

KELLEN: Many people would ask us when they found out we were having a baby, “Are you still adopting?” which I totally get. But, again, adoption was never a plan B. It was always what we wanted, but because of the financial hurdles, I do wonder if we would have pursued adoption had we gotten pregnant immediately. I hope we would have…but perhaps not. Either way, God blessed us with two children and we cannot wait to have them both.

KAYCEE: So that brings us to today. The time is coming and is coming soon that we will be matched with our Africa-babe. Upon accepting this referral, we have to have around $15,000. This does not include all we’ve already paid! Then six months from that time, we will travel to Ethiopia twice. Once to meet our baby, and settle a lot of legal issues and then go back a few months later (the agony of these months, I can only imagine!) to bring our baby home (the joy of this day, I can only dream). Three years waiting seems like nothing compared to the excitement of getting our baby soon!

KELLEN: We’ve saved and received a generous donation to cover about half of what is needed to bring him home. But our time is running out as well as our finances.

KELLEN & KC: Please, please, we ask you (we beg you!) to consider donating to our fund to bring Abe’s brother home. To bring our son home. Pray that God will provide. We trust he will! By donating to our cause, you can be a participant in the place where the world’s deep hunger and our deep gladness meet. THANK YOU. THANK YOU!

To donate to our fundraiser, please click HERE! 

a life well lived

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."

-Annie Dillard

Most of my life has been spent finding my driving purpose for living. I want to be significant...to make a difference...to do something that lasts. I've thought this "calling" was various things at different seasons in my life. Specifically, upon discovering my passion for translating Greek in college, I believed that my purpose was to go to the most primitive people groups in the most dangerous of countries and create a language for them to be able to receive the New Testament. In the late summer of 2011, Kellen and I moved to Louisville to go to Southern Seminary in order to study languages and pursue this endeavor.

Although our path did not continue down the route of Linguistic studies, this time in Kentucky was some of our most life-changing years. We were able to take classes together and enjoy the processes of studying, learning and growing academically and spiritually. We were beyond blessed to be a part of the family at Sojourn Church and to learn under amazing pastors and teachers there. Kellen was able to teach at a prestigious Latin school, which he enjoyed immensely, and I was able to manage a coffee shop in the same community. We lived within walking distance from school and work, in the sweetest and quaintest little village of the city. The regulars at my coffee shop were also my neighbors, the servers where we ate and the merchants where we shopped. It was a magical time of life where we learned to simply appreciate each other and got to know some amazing people.

More than anything, though, the greatest part of our time in Louisville was grasping more of the gospel, of what Christ has done, and how I can rest in that identity. I always knew that I was saved by grace, but this season away allowed me to really understand the beauty and freedom of it all. I don't have to do something glamorous with my life. I don't have to translate the Bible. I don't have to live in a foreign country in a straw hut for God to love me and accept me. For most people, these are obvious statements. But for me, the mark of people-pleasing ran so deep, it tremendously affected me and even my relationship with God. I constantly felt the weight of needing to earn his approval, just like I did for everyone else. International missions is such a good thing, and I would love for my family to devote our efforts to that in more ways than merely financial, but God does not love me based on what I do, but based on what Christ has done. It is finished. I have complete approval from our Father in Christ. All praise to the riches of his glorious grace!

About a year before we moved to Louisville, I was introduced to a writer named Wendell Berry. He largely influenced our decision to move to the Bluegrass state in the first place, and then helped in the decision to move back home. Mr. Berry is a farmer and poet who lives in Northern Kentucky and documents the simple beauty of commitment to community, God, the local economy and agriculture. His writings inspired my love for creation and neighbor and challenged my desires for wanderlust, independence and liberty. Instead, his prose depicts family farms with deeply integrated communities that are extremely dedicated to one another. They celebrate together, suffer together, and stay together. There is a poignant dependency in his philosophy that my desire for adventure lacked. Not that Berry advocates for a dull life, not at all. It's just not adventurous in the pack-up-get-out-of-town sense that for so long I believed to be the way my life would have meaning. No, Berry fights for the adventure of sinking in, putting roots deep, establishing life for the long haul where you are, and using your imagination, creativity, and hard work to make it beautiful. Wendell Berry's words slowly reined me in to understand the risk and thrill of having a sense of place.

Kellen and I were able to meet Mr. Berry a few times. One of these treasured occasions was in February of 2012 when we heard him speak at the University of Louisville to their medical students. At the end of the lecture there was a time for questions and his answer to one question in particular affected me greatly and still remains with me. The student asked Mr. Berry, "What should we do to help the next generation flourish in their communities?" And, as he does, he looked upon the crowd with a peaceful gaze, his eyes shinning with joy, and slowly responded: "Give them grandparents. Give the aunts and uncles and cousins. And when they run, because they will run, they have safe places to go."

So we moved back to Georgia. We live in the town where we both grew up and met and where most of our families still live. We work at a school and care about our students. We have a small homestead with chickens, goats, and bees. We serve at our local church and raise our kids. We seek to live a simple life, investing in the people and earth around us, and try to live lightly and sustainably. Many people would say, and at one time even I would have said, that our life is boring. There is definitely nothing glamorous about it. I doubt anyone will write a book about us and I certainly don't think I'm changing the world. But have I found my purpose? Yes! Totally. It's nothing specific and there's no complicated equation or self-discovery sojourn to discover it: I am learning to completely rest in the gospel of Christ and am seeking to be faithful to whatever God brings. That is the good life, the full life...a life well lived...exemplifying the double love of God and man and learning to appropriate that to every day living.

Take for example, being near family. Living in Kentucky away from everyone we knew was exciting and invigorating. I mean, I missed my family, but it was nice being around people who didn't know me and the little brat I was as a child. But your family knows all your junk. You can't hide from them. Now I live really close to them and we see them on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. It's easy to neglect the ministry of mercy to our own families. We can be super pumped up about helping people around the globe in their need, but gloss over our own parents or siblings who are suffering. But by being a consistent part of their life, bearing with them and them bearing with me, we can be conduits of God's grace given to us in Christ in a real way. There is a natural vulnerability amongst family and, although this is sometimes utilized in manipulative ways, can be and should be a very redemptive situation.

Therefore, I encourage you as I encourage myself: be present where you are; be faithful to whatever it is that God has placed before you. Choose daily commitment to people, daily commitment to the earth, and daily commitment to the Lord over how you feel or what is convenient. Don't assume you are meant to be somewhere else. Don't succumb to the temptation of escapism in any form. Don't discredit the small, seemingly insignificant and mundane acts. Don't hide from people. Your presence is important, your work is valuable, and your relationships are the greatest investments you will ever make.

Let us daily seek to grasp more about what God has done for us in Christ, and may that truth deeply affect us and connect us. In that mysterious, magnificent, and meaningful process is a life well lived.

2014: the year of the babies

"The place God calls us to is the place where your deep 

gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

(F. Beuchner)

It's been much longer than I ever intended for my in-between-posts time. We've been doing a whole lot of living and not a whole lot of documenting. However, we are in and continue entering into a season of which we want more people to be a part. Living away from home makes it difficult to share with others in the things we love and the things that God does (which are usually one in the same). Thus, I will try to be more self-discipled in keeping the adventures of Timber & Meadow (aka the Kentucky Owens') updated! 

I am still speechless at all that God has done over the past two years: amazing opportunities falling into our lap that we would have never had the wisdom to ask for. I have been managing my coffee shop for almost two years now. We've been in the adoption process through Ethiopia for over a year and a half. Kellen has a great job teaching at a local classical school and now is the Student Director at our church, Sojourn Midtown (all the while still studying full time at Southern Seminary...he's amazing). Do we think these things just happened or that we at all deserve them? No way! The Lord's providence and goodness and grace and wisdom is what had led us to where we are. And in His will we feel more and more a part of the world's deep hunger (in very different, some simple, ways) and therefore are filled more and more with a deep gladness our minds couldn't have ever conceived previously. 

Most recently, we have been very surprised by our Father. That's right people...we are pregnant!...with child!...expecting! No matter how I say it, it still seems so unreal. After six years of marriage and not getting pregnant, we assumed that we couldn't have kids. Adoption was never a plan B for us, so we finally began the long and patience-testing process. Every month we are hoping to see our referral list number drop below 100, and wham! Suddenly we've got a lot to think about in the meantime. 

Our hearts are so full! A baby growing in my belly here in Kentucky (due May 2014) and baby (born? not yet born?) waiting for us in Ethiopia. Again, we feel beyond unworthy for the gift, but are so grateful. 

**One of our sweet students at Sojourn took these pictures.

 Her name is Marissa and she's also a great pumpkin carver =)

the hope of deep heaven

Kellen and my Thanksgiving Day walk around Cherokee Park 

A few weeks ago, during the height of Autumn here in Louisville, a co-worker and I were casually talking about hiking and how much this time of the year causes me to long for the mountains. He told me all about Red River Gorge, a supposedly gorgeous substitute for the North Georgia mountains that I miss so much. Then I told him stories about my mountaineer father and husband, specifically my joy in sharing days at a time with only them and the wilderness. Somehow in this kindred dialogue of nature and creative recreation,  I began to notice a completely differing perspective on our dispositions toward beauty. At one point he said, "A falling leaf is only beautiful because it's a falling leaf." Gratefully customers began to fill the shop, anxious for coffee, so I had no opportunity for a response---I don't think I could have withheld a snippety remark.

Later that day I went to Orchard Slope to read and think and so Bailey could get out some energy. The wind was boisterous, sending all the leaves dancing through the sky in a delightful fashion. The sight stirred my heart with joy. I thought about what my friend had said and felt a tinge of sorrow for what he misses. A single falling leaf is intricately and utterly full of the magic of Love in this world. It "speaks bliss" and sings praises to the One who sent it. The essence of Autumn's beauty lay not in it's existence---but in God's presence.

There are moments when something so beautiful catches me, like a brightly ornamented Autumn tree or the early dawn breaking the night sky (not a Twilight reference!), so much so that I desperately wish to physically be apart and plunge into it as Dick Van Dyke jumps into a chalk drawing. But the leaves fall and fade and the dawn drowns out. Moments of utter beauty slip between my fingers and I am usually left with a feeling of disappointment.

But that is not the end!

This ache...this longing...is what the Inklings would call (the day is never wasted when you use a German word) Sehnsucht---which my sister just got as a tatoo (she is so cool). This word describes an insatiable longing, a yearning that is in fact a homesickness for our true home---where there is not a waning of color or an ending of beauty.

I cannot express how much I love the season of Christmas. Mostly I enjoy the attention of Advent....a time of expectation and preparation for, as Lewis would say, deep heaven to fall upon our heads. A season to focus on the fact that Christ has come, as a mortal baby, and is coming again to console our every souls ache and be the "joy of every longing heart". Each falling leaf is beautiful because it whispers of this reality.

Worlds that I have never seen still call to me and haunt my dreams and quiet things still stir belief that you alone are home for me. So I may never see your shores, but such a place exists. (My Epic)

I am so thankful that each day can be lived with joy because of the Hope within me and the Hope awaiting me.

Even still, Come Lord Jesus. 


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Finals are over (something I wasn't disappointed about ending...) and we had an unconventional Thanksgiving. Because of our jobs, we couldn't make it home. My sister, Corie, and our daughter, Quinn, made our Thanksgiving very thanks-FULL by the gift of their presence! I made my first Thanksgiving dinner with their help and the years of Gamaw's training.

Corie climbed this with purse in hand...hilarious she is!

My first turkey...not burned and fairly juicy! The only casualty were my wrists,
which I burned with boiling water. A sacrifice well worth it.

Kellen's first as well! Taking after his Dad. 

Our menu!

The chefs in all our glory.

family. 

lessons from shots of espresso

Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. (Psalm 77:19)

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. (Isaiah 43:2)

I had the blessing of taking a stroll through Cherokee Park the other day with a friend named Emily. We are still getting to know each other and therefore spent the nearly four mile walk recounting stories, intermittently stopping to catch our breath. What a joy it was to narrate to her Kellen's and my story thus far--an amazing reminder of where the Lord has brought us and what he has already faithfully lead us through. Just like the Hebrews recounting their story of Yahweh's rescue over and over in order to remind the people to glory in his salvation, so retelling my story was like a draught of cold water on a parched tongue. Even when it seems we are floundering through life, in reality he is leading and bringing his redemptive story into completion in mysterious ways.

It's like a shot of espresso. 

The perfect extraction pulls in the window of 20-25 seconds. If the water extracts too quickly the espresso tastes sour and diluted and if it pulls too slow the crema will not produce therefore creating an unwanted bitterness. The perfect shot of espresso provides the palate with a sweet yet intense flavor only a skilled barista can create! 

My attempts at latte art; obviously I am not that skilled
of a barista...yet!

The LORD also has a "fullness of time". I fight Him to give this to me earlier or I beg Him to hold off on that till later. Yet, if I would just be patient and trust that He is the ultimate Barista, extracting the most pristine shots, perfectly caffeinated and cremafied (ok, this analogy has completely broken down...). Or as Jill Phillips says:

You have the wisdom and the patience. We need your grace to see it clear. Too soon and we take it all for granted; too late is more than we can bear. So you're always right on time with and open hand. You have exactly what we need...daily bread. 

What he is guiding us through is where we need to be. And he is faithful to provide what we need when we need it.

So, tell your story! Even to people who already know it. Tell it to your dog if you must (they are great listeners). Let it serve as a reminder to the hearers and the narrator of God's faithfulness and provision! He is so good and daily providing for us physically, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. Thank you all for your prayers!

___________________________________________

In between work, classes and studying, we go on adventures. Making time for adventures is a MUST in the Owens' household. Louisville is absolutely gorgeous! There is not enough time in this fall season to enjoy all it has to offer.

One of the many goals of mine is to own a monkey... 

...when my husband climb this 50 ft hardwood...

...I realized that I kind of already do!

Somehow, not quite tall enough...

Bailey's solo shot. 

"Tree Place" as Lara called it. Renamed "Bare Timber Hall" promptly after.

"fleur de tree" 

Morning picnic before class at Windy Willow!

Afternoon picnics in between classes at Cherokee Park!

KALE....yum!

Our newest adventure: joining a CSA (community supported agriculture) group! Every other week we receive a box of locally grown produce. I love surprises and trying new recipes, so it should be a good fit. Since our current living situation hinders us from having our own farm with chickens and gardens, the CSA will have to suffice for now! It's really a beautiful idea--eating what is in season, supporting small farmers, and sacrificing as a community if certain crops suffer.

I hope you are enjoying this lovely, enchanting weather. Remember God is Creator and Jesus is Lord. Now....go on a walk!