Whew(sigh)... it's hard to know where to start! I am a 29 year old mom and wife. My husband, Matt, and I met in March 1998 at the church that I grew up in, Sunny Side Assembly of God. I had attended church there for years before this point. Matt came to church on a Sunday morning with his grandma Phelps to a morning service. Matt had not grown up in church and had been leading a pretty rough life up to that point. I was on stage getting music together with my best friend Christie Stettenbenz, (Beckley now), for service when he walked in. Somehow, even though there was alot of people coming in, he caught mine and Christie's eye. Christie, who was always looking to fix me up, looked at me and said there you go Kindra. She said, "I predict you marry him" (as she giggled). I just rolled my eye's and laughed and went on. At the end of the service when Pastor Steve gave an alter call for the lost Matt went forward to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
Later that day after church Christie and I were at the mall and ran into Matt at the bookstore. He walked right up to us and said, "hello, I remember you from church this morning," and so we were introduced. Matt began to come to church every time he got a chance. From that point on Matt and I began to build a strong friendship. He was always so much fun to be around.
In April 2000 Matt and I decided to date each other. We were both 20 years old. We dated for about 1 year and then he proposed to me and I accepted. We dated for about 6 more months during which time we began to have relationship issues. Matt became very possesive and jealous. We linked his jealousy to his up bringing. He grew up seeing alot of divorce and separation. He didn't know how to trust anougher person. In November 2001 Matt and I broke up. We were both heart broken but he could no longer control his jealous comments and it had become emotionally unhealthy. After we broke up We did not see each other very much. Matt quit coming to church and began to fall back into some of his old habits. I lost touch with him and really didn't know how he was doing but I continued to pray for him. We had been split up and disconnected for about 1 year and God began to wake me up in the middle of the night to pray for Matt. This happened several times and so I would pray. I finally confided in my sister one night that I believe that Matt and I were still suppose to be together but it just wasn't God time yet. I continued to pray firvently for Matt for the next few months.
I received a call one day in the very beginning of February of 2003 from a friend of mine from Sunnyside who told me that on Super Bowl night while they were having a youth function at church, Matt walked in, broke into tears and said that he was tired of running from God and re-dedicated his life to Christ. I was so excited for him and then realized why God had been calling me to pray. I still did not make contact with Matt right away but ended up running into him a couple of weeks later. He told me that he had been going to Christian counseling for quite sometime trying to figure out why he was so jealous and just trying to fix some brokeness in his life. He truely had received some healing in these area's. From there we began to reconnect. On Easter Sunday, March 2003, we officially started dating again. After dating for about 4 months, on Saturday June 14th, 2003 Matt proposed to me for the second time and I of course accepted. We set a wedding date for Saturday April 3rd, 2004.
We were married for about 6 months when we were faced with anougher devastating fact of life. Matt was diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma Skin Cancer. After Matt and I were married I noticed a very large, and very dark mole on his lower right abdomen. I immediately told him to get it check out. They diagnosed him quickly and immediately started a serious of surgery's to try and removed the cancer. Each surgery becoming more evasive. After the 2nd surgery was of no success they decided to do a 3rd surgery at the Brown Cancer Center. This surgery would remove a 3 inch by 2 inch in diameter and 2 inches deep section of his abdomen. Dr. Brown prepared us before the surgery by saying that we shouldn't get our hopes up and it was probably in Matt's lymphnodes at this point and if this were true they would start him on chemotherapy pending the results. We, of course, were heart broken. We had family and friends praying for Matt all over the US. He was on over 10 different prayer chains and we were seeking God for a miracle. After his surgery came the agonizing wait. It took several days to get his results. Finally a nurse called my work and gave me the best news ever, "We got all the cancer." He is cancer free!!! I just broke down in tears from relief. God is SO good!!
Shortly after Matt's battle with cancer we decided it was time to make a family. We found out I was pregnant in the beginning of April 2005 and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on December 11, 2005. We named her Lana. This was the happiest day of Matt and I's life. We spent the next 2 years raising her in Georgetown, IN. During this time Matt and I began to discuss what God's will was for our life and where He might want us. Through a LONG process we decided to move to North West Montana. The nearest large city being Kalispell. We researched and planned for this move for about 2 years and moved on January 28th, 2008. With the help of my parents, we began the 3 day journey to Montana. One very large u-haul with the truck hooked to the back and our jeep following close behind. Once in Montana we lived in Columbia Falls, MT. for about 6 months and then began renting a house in Bigfork, MT. We lived here for 1 1/2 years. We made many wonderful friends and watched God do some wonderful things in and through our lives.
After a trip back to Indiana for Christmas in 2009, Matt and I both felt that God was calling us back to Indiana to be near our family and friends again. So we made very quick plans to move back and within 1 month we were on the road back to Indiana again with the accompanyment of my parents.
We are now living in Floyds Knobs Indiana in a townhouse. We are hoping to buy or build a house by the end of 2011, Lord willing. God has brought us through alot and continues to be very faithful!
