One Year with my love!

Can you believe that it has been a year?! It is a neat thing to look back on the past year and even through difficulty all you remember are the joyous times. You see the difficulty as times in which God refined us, so we have grateful hearts!

Today I am going to write some of the things that I have loved about Justin this past year:

I love......

1. How I can call him "baby" (it is the name I call him) in many different tones and he knows what each one means

2. How when I get worked up, he is gracious, kind and calms me down

3. How he snacks all of the time :)

4. How he leaves glasses throughout the house (God showed me I would miss this one day)

5. How he is so creative and talented in everything he does

6. How he helps me with house chores even after a long work day

7. How he thinks I am the most beautiful woman and he tells me (especially when I am not wearing makeup)

8. How he tells me what color my eyes are (which is code for how pretty they are)

9. How he encourages me when I feel defeated

10. How he will be a father and how he talks to baby

11. How he prays for us each nigh and each morning

12. How he has humbled himself before the Lord and has pleaded with Him on how to lead a family well and how to provide well

13. How he writes me little love letters on sticky notes when I least expect it

14. How I just fit when I hug him and my head is able to rest on his shoulder

15. how he truly takes makes me feel loved and taken care of. (my covering I have always prayed for)

16. How he is an answered prayer through all of the years of praying for a godly, kind, compassionate, protective, gracious husband and father of our children

I know there is more to this list and I aslo know that it will continue as long as the Lord gives us breath to love each other, to learn more about Him and grace to see more wonderful things in each other than things that need to be fixed.

I love you Justin James Tennison. I am the most blessed woman because God saw fit for me to be your wife and the mother of your children. Hear is to another year of God not sparing the rod and hope that we have more joyous times ahead.

Yah for Poland :)

Hannah Nadzieja Tennison

Check out our cute puppy, well 60 lb dog :) We adore her so much. She is literally the best dog anyone could ever have! I love her so much!

Wedding Photos Superpost

After a long, long period of no blogging...

¡Olé!

We had a hard day so we drove around wearing the sombreros Kelsey got for school and then did a quick backyard photo shoot in the last little bit of sun.

Here's my submission:

I think Kelsey's is a much better interpretation of the topic:

Found Her

"An excellent wife who can find?

She is far more precious than jewels."

[Proverbs 31:10]

We've been through a lot of adventures (and misadventures) in a short time already, but this woman fears the Lord and loves tremendously. So I'm boasting about her on the internet!

-JT

The Photo!

Here is photographic evidence that the bicycle does indeed exist!

-JT

BIKE......

Here is the lowdown! Justin, bought me a vintage 1974 Raleigh bicycle made in England. He had it rebuilt here in Denton at a local bike shop called BullsEye Bikes. I highly recommend them!

A little bit of back story. Kendra and I went to pick up here bike up at this shop and I just started to look around. I knew that one of the owners was a believer and a guy in our home group worked there. Once I began to look around and asking questions about their business I saw that they were men of integrity and ran a business that helped other people in need. So I began to look more intently and I found it, bright yellow, saddle back seat with springs, no tires, etc. I got so giddy inside because if you know me, I love things with character. The more they explained the bike my heart/flesh really wanted to. For two reason, One, because Justin has a bike and loves to ride and if I got one I could join him, two, because I really really like the style and color!

I called Justin right away and I told them the quote and he thought it was a good price so for me to go for it. Then I called him back because the more we talked about the bike, the more the price started to go up. At that point, he was uneasy about it because he knew I had a lot of things left to buy for the wedding. So I left there a bit sad but knew that if I was suppose to have it one day, it would still be there when I could afford.

Fast forward about 3 weeks. I had just had a really hard day, just sad and overwhelmed with how much I am spending on this wedding. I meet Justin at our favorite coffee shop, Jupiter House Eruopa. He meets me outside to greet me like he always does and I was just sad and wanting to be held. Of course it was freezing so we went inside and we were sitting there talking. I look outside, and I studied the bike for awhile, thinking " hey, that's the bike i wanted (literally looking at every detail), got a little mad and sad inside at the same time because "someone" in this coffee shop had bought MY BIKE!

I mentioned it to Justin. I go "that looks just like the bike I wanted" he grinned at me, handed me a key to the lock and said "lets go see if it unlocks it". I flipped! I think I might have said, I just dont know what to do with you!

We get outside, we just hugged for a long time and he handed me a note that said this
"Dear Kelsey,
This bike was made in England nin 1974. In Texas in 2010 I sold a guitar and gt you this bike to serve as a symbol that I'll always be begging God to give me the strength to daily sacrifice for you, lay down my life for you and do everything in my power to provide for you in ways that nurture your heart, encourage you, give you life and bring you joy. ...."

How blessed I am! I am glad I get to spend the rest of my life, Lord willing, getting to be loved by him!!

Pics will be on their way soon! Stay tuned....
Much love
Kelsey

Lately....

What has been going on lately...it's been awhile huh?! Sorry!

A lot has been going on lately. A few things are:

1- just trying to enjoy being engaged. We have started premarital counseling with an amazing couple from our church! Through the Village we are required/get to read "When sinners say I Do". You would think it was cheezy when you first started to read it, which it was but it has been getting better. I think the biggest thing Justin and I have realized that being engaged isn't what we thought it looked like (it's great!) but no one warned us about the things that we might encounter and warned us that that is normal. Well we believe it's normal because we both are seeking the Lord's face in every circumstance.

2- When Sinners say I do has been slow going and really we have great teaching at the church we attend so a lot of it isn't new. It's just a matter of putting it all into practice now that we are in this season of life. Chapter 3 continues to beat the Truth that we are sinners and that if anything happens that is good or different as to how we would naturally react it is the Grace of God. We naturally as humans have a bent to live in the law of sin, we are sinners. This book gives us a good picture of that but then also the calling to die to flesh and to live in the spirit. And that isn't easy! But totally worth figuring out with each other!

3- School has been a bit more demanding and so has Justin's work, so that means we have become old people....so bed time is 9:00 or 10 most days :) (well we try really hard to do that)

4- The Lord truly just keeps blowing us away with his blessings and favor upon this engagement and soon to be marriage. We are excited to see and be apart of what He is doing! We get the chance to meet some random people who are giving us quilts and possibly everything to furnish our new home. Our new home will be on Panhandle.

5- Our new home was a true gift, the day we went to look at apartments, which is somewhat inconvenient having a large dog. Scott Brown properties who i had leased with last year, called and said they had the perfect house. The guy just got up and left for Cali and they needed someone to lease it asap. Within in 24 hours of looking at the house, we got it! It helps to have connections!

6- Justin and I get to serve our church family by being table leaders at a thing called Equip connect, it's pretty much like sunday school but not. A person teaches on a theological issue (guided by the book by John Piper called God is the Gospel) we get to have the chance to facilitate conversations and get people involved in our body. It's been pretty amazing to get to serve next to Justin!

7- This will be the last for now! The wedding plans are going great, just a few small details left but other than that, I am ready to see all of my friends and family from afar!

We love you all! WE definitely covet all of your prayers in this season in life! We can see how God is working and we want to stay obedient ultimately to Him!

Current requests: That Justin and I will continue to seek out wisdom on what it means to die to oneself and to love the other, For more faith (i don't think I will ever stop praying for this), that we will be a couple that will fight well over sin and live by the spirit!

Much love,

Kelsey and Justin

Invitations....

Hey all!

It has been brought to our attention that our invitations are some what confusing......they are actually two sided! Please check out what we will be doing in Thailand plus registry information on the back side!

We love you!

Kelsey & Justin

Travels

We were indeed in Kansas City and Iowa last month. Quite a trip. Kelsey's fam/friends were really good to us. I think I met 75ish people in about 48 hours.

I noticed that everyone in Iowa asked me at least one (and usually both) of the following questions:

1. Cold enough for ya?

2. Do you have any idea how lucky you are..?

I'm thoroughly impressed at the influence Kelsey's had on people all over the country. I feel like I'm constantly discovering more and more people she's impacted in stranger and stranger places.

(Begin: anecdote that illustrates my point.)

In early '09 I used the Right Now Campaign website to find a mission agency I could do photography for long term. Heather was my contact there and we've talked approximately once a month for the last year. In my last update I told her that I'm marrying Kelsey and she said, "Oh yeah, I met her once in the bathroom at Dallas Theological Seminary a few years ago. She's really great."

So this continues to be a humbling experience for me. Big time. I love it.

JT

Iowa....Freezage....!

Just the beginning....

Numbers6:25 "the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you"

This was a very fun trip. The people of Pleasantville truly blessed us. Thank you to Rhonda Stubbs for taking pictures and capturing this moment in life. Thank you Geenie Gilderbloom for the cake mints that no one in Texas has heard of or have been able to taste the greatness of. Thank you to my parents who had the heart and thoughtfulness to throw this engagement party for us.

The Family!

Cheek to Cheek!

I don't know if I have ever seen my dad so happy! His friend Lyle is next to him. Lyle got teary eyed when telling Justin to take care of me.....

I have been waiting a year to meet this precious little girl, Blayke. She is the daughter of one my good friends from high school (Mitch). Justin and Mitch hit it off, I knew they would. They both have the commonality of photography. Justin seemed to find great comfort with Mitch and his family!

The girls of the family. From left to right: My cousin, Charlynne (charlie), My mom, My aunt Dee. They were all such a big part of making this party happen. Thank you ladies. Love you!

This is Anna-mae and Merle. They are my dad's mom's cousins. They came in and I just started to cry. She just kept telling me how proud grandma was of me and how she would have loved to have been here. They were backyard neighbors to my grandparents who I spent a lot of time at their house. She smelled (good) just the same and it brought so many good memories! It was the best surprise of the engagement party.

The new In-Laws for Justin. I am not sure if you can tell by this picture but my dad is a large man, and half way through the trip Justin told me how terrified he was of him. He really is just a huge teddy bear. For those of you who know Steve Chandler, he is a replica of him, Justin agreed.

It was a great time in Iowa, Thank you for your prayers. The Lord really did miracles on our trip up there and we were able to reflect and praise Him more!

Am I blogger yet.....?

Am I a blogger yet is the question? I think I look at the page and wish how I was better at this. Then when I have a lot on my mind and heart, I am never around a pen or paper or a computer to write down my thoughts. Once I get in front of this computer my mind goes blank (even though, everything I just said, I thought of in the shower...so I am getting there :) ) Please be gracious with our efforts to be a faithful blogger. God remains faithful in sanctifying us and showing so much about His love and grace, even though we do not publish it to the world.

Recently, I have been walking around with this ongoing tape that repeats over and over saying "Kels, you are a redeemed child of the King, the almighty God, who has been faithful to you, you must walk, talk and act like it." The past few weeks have been very trying for me by getting sick and having all of the realities in life hit me at once. They are all good, and I praise God for giving me joy for once through my sickness and knowing He is allowing it all to happen for a reason. I find peace and rest in the fact that everything that happens must past through His hands first to get to me. Thank you Jesus! In these days of reflecting on what God has done in my heart with the topics of repentance and forgiveness, my desire for the Lord has increased. I appreciate His discipline and his kindness that leads me to His throne of grace.

Psalm 67 that is on our picture above has been such a picture of my desire for Justin and I. I pray this for us as He prepares us to go to the nations Lord willing but even for the times He has left to bring us to here in Denton. This weekend we will be going to Missouri and Iowa to meet my family. This Psalm has been heavy on my mind and heart the last few days and my desire for everyone we encounter to see His face, His love, His glory and that we will not hide what He has done for us. Our story is truly from Him, He is the perfect author and is in control of everything. Verses 1 and 2 say "My God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, (so) that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations" When I first read this, it increased my desire to go to the nations and have His name be known. Recently it has mentored my heart for this nation, for my own family, for the people I see every day. He is so good to be gracious to me to allow this realization. I see it as a sign of maturity and forgiveness. I see it as a representation of His heart for all people to come to know Him, to love and adore Him the way that my heart has been moved to do so.

When you think of being cold, please remember Justin and I as we trek up to Missouri to see friends and then onto Iowa to meet family. We will be attending an engagement party that my parents are throwing for us with 70 people. My momma has been generous to do this for us, I am thankful. We will also need prayer on the anxiety level, of Justin meeting 70 new people. He is going to do great and God will be faithful, we definitely covet your prayers!

Much love!

Kels

God's goodness on our lives....

Sundays are always special to me. I get to sit next to the man that the Lord has graciously gifted me with. I consider to be blessed to have a man that while he prays he is humbled by the God of our salvation that tears fall from his face.

His mercy on our lives becomes more apparent the more we get to recall all that He has done already. The thoughts that keep me humbled to think this is the fact that we are not entitled to tomorrow, to good health, to a long life with the one I am committing to serve and love until the Lord departs us from this world. At church today praying for our lead pastor and feeling the hurt that his wife and kids must be feeling. The confusing tension that God is good and joy but yet there is still pain in this life. It is such a great tension and to me it magnifies His goodness and grace.

Psalm 86:5,6

"For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace."

My hope and desire for this blog is that we will always meditate on His goodness and share with others of His faithfulness and mercy.

"Called Beauty" are lyrics by this couple from Memphis called Jenny & Tyler. These lyrics have recently overwhelmed my spirit for more of the Lord.

"do not spare the rod how i long for faithfulness

tell me once again of Your grace and woo me in

let not these lovers be more attractive than You God"

As I listen to this song I picture myself walking down the isle to my groom and to remember God's faithfulness in allowing me to do so. I love you Lord and we desire more of you!

The blog, the ring and the proposal.

[The blog.]

Here's the idea: Kelsey and I post bits and pieces of what God's doing, bits and pieces of our story so far and occasionally photographs, since I'm a photographer (supposedly.)

Begin entry number one.

[The ring.]

Kelsey wanted to look at rings, which is great. Phenomenal. Men should be held to high (biblical?) standards when it comes to many decisions, big and small, all of their lives. I am pretty sure very few of them are actually qualified to decide on an engagement ring, however.

We went to a pretty fancy store, looked at pretty fancy rings and got talked down to by a pretty fancy saleswoman. I think we were both fairly discouraged. We were talking later and Kelsey said, somewhat out of the blue,

"All those rings were ugly."

We decided that something super simple would be smart for a lot of reasons, including our plans to be overseas.

The next morning I got an email from Mrs. Vicki Haley (Kelsey's mentor and friend) that said she and Wayne had store credit at a jewelry store they'd like us to put towards a ring. Vicki inherited Wayne's mother's ring, traded it in, had rings made for the ladies in their family and still had some left over.

The very first ring Kelsey tried on at this jeweler was the style she was interested in, fit her without being sized, and was $45 LESS than our store credit. I think we smiled for about the next hour straight on our way home.

[The proposal.]

I packed pretty light: the ring, a bible, a camera and a quilt my great grandmother made.

We ate at our favorite Thai place for lunch and began the journey down I-35W. We stopped for coffee, sat for a bit, talked for a bit and drove for a bit. Our destination was the Botanic Gardens in Fort Worth, but I seriously had no idea if there would be a chance for solitude. I hadn't been since I was a kid.

We explored for a while. We saw a lot of people (like, 30 or so) dressed in blue jeans and white dress shirts attempting to be a happy family while being photographed. Oh man, whose idea was that?

So we wandered. And occasionally stopped and looked around.

Me: "Have we found it yet?"

Kelsey: "I don't know. What are we looking for?"

Me: "I don't know. I think we'll know when we find it."

So we kept wandering.

We found a somewhat secluded spot and I'm pretty sure we were both thinking,

"OMG let's do this, already."

We spread the quilt and we sat. I read Kelsey Proverbs 31 and she wept. (I'm surprised I made it all the way through it.) I closed the bible, I got on my knee and I said,

"I've intentionally waited until now to say this: I love you. Will you please marry me?"

I'm pretty sure she said yes. Neither of us can really remember...

And we took a self portrait with my camera on a rock on a timer. It was a really, really long timer for some reason, so the laughter in that one was not faked. We held our pose for about 30 seconds, started laughing and then the shutter clicked.

You can click to scroll through all the photos.

JT