Beauty and the BeaZ
I remember the day my heart opened. I remember talking to Matt over a chai soy latte beneath a big green umbrella. I remember feeling like I could see something in his eyes that I could call “home”…
I lived most of my life as a dreamer. When I was a little girl, I loved to daydream and imagine the adventures that were out there waiting for me. There was something wild and exciting, i just knew it! I would feel a stirring in me to go and find it. It usually came in a whisper at the end of the day when everything got quiet and I was left to sit with God. But the story I find myself in, didn’t unfold like the one I saw in my head. It was better!
The first time I saw Matt Beasley was at a friend’s house. I was getting ready to leave the life I knew to do a school at Youth With A Mission in Kona. Filled with fear about what this step would mean, I hoped that time with close friends would calm me down. Laughter and prayer helped to settle my anxious thoughts that night. What did not make me feel better was the visitor from YWAM; a big southern boy who continued to stare at me from across the table. I left unnerved by his intense gaze that seemed to be searching me. As I walked out to my car, I prayed, “Oh Lord, I didn’t think about how there will be men at YWAM. I am not interested in missionary men! Keep them away please!”
When I got to Kona to do my school Matt was away on a mission trip in Mozambique, Africa. He was basking in the joy of being with the little ones that burn most on his heart… the orphans. While he was loving the land of beans and rice, I was flying to the land of ice. My outreach took me to Reykjavik, Iceland, where I encountered the Lord in a way that would change things forever. I realized that I was not going back to life as I’d known it. My heart burned for the nations of the earth and I began to feel that a big adventure was just around the corner.
The first time I talked to Matt one on one, I was sure he was not my husband. He had ditched some friends to walk me through the Kona campus to my room. I didn’t expect such an intense conversation. He began to tell me about his excitement towards getting married one day and how he couldn’t wait to experience more of God’s love through that bond. I awkwardly encouraged him that he was sure to have an amazing marriage with a wonderful girl. I was relieved to reach my steps where I quickly ran up to my bed and prayed, “Lord, I think this man may be attracted to me! I am not interested! Bring his wife to him and bring her fast!”
Matt smiles when I tell this part of our story and says in his southern twang, “Yup, she shot herself in the foot!”
A woman’s heart opens as the man takes bold moves to pursue her; as he fights for her, risking it all, in selfless hope that he may see her heart come alive.
One night, after weeks of placing himself by me as much as he could, Matt said, “Kelby, I really like you. You’re a woman of God, you’re beautiful and you’re fun as crap. I’d like to know if I could take you out sometime?” At these words my heart began to beat fast. All of a sudden he wasn’t just the funny southern boy that appeared everywhere my friends and I were. He was a man sitting beside me telling me I was beautiful. I froze, became tongue-tied and could barely say two words as he drove me home.
Following this question, there were dates filled with my favorite things; pasta, gelato and a man who sings. There were dozens of hand-crafted cards delivered to my room filled with quotes and art that moved deep parts of me. There was a man who would relentlessly pray that my heart would thrive, who would weep at the thought of God being so kind to lead him to my side. And in my attempts to run away, I fell for Matt Beasley, harder than I knew was possible to fall.
The story both ends and begins on a mountain side where Matt gave me a ring. He washed my feet and told me that he wanted to serve me for the rest of my life. His tears fell on my lap as he said that this is what Jesus did for us. I starred back into the eyes of the most beautiful man and realized I was looking at the biggest adventure I’d ever know.
our first date.
"Southern boy comes home to the island to meet the family"