Shellye's Blog

My Umbrella Fella

Around fifteen years ago at a church we were attending in Grapevine the pastor spoke about men being an umbrella fella. It was great message and so when the girls were old enough to have a boyfriend or to start dating I would ask if the young man was an umbrella fella. Let me explain what an umbrella fella is. It has been a very long time and so I know I will not explain it or use the exact words that the pastor used. It will still be the same concept ( I hope) but with my personal description. An umbrella fella is simply a man that holds the umbrella of God over his family. God is the umbrella who covers the family with everything that is needed. The man holds on to God as he leads, the wife holds the umbrella with her husband as she helps her husband. Together they learn, they grow, they celebrate and they withstand hard times that come their way. Let me tell you about my umbrella fella.

My umbrella fella is Kevan. We met when I was 17 and he was 16. We dated 5 years before getting married. Next month on July 27 we will be married for 28 years. When we met, Kevan was what I called shy but now I think the correct term would be a social introvert. I hadn’t heard that term back then. Kevan is a thinker and a planner. I hear him say on a regular basis if you will give me time to think about it I can figure it out or I’ve got the plans in my head on how this could look in your classroom or somewhere in our house. Kevan is our IT guy. He can take computers apart, repair them, relocate them, rebuild them and so many other techy things that I am not even going to try and describe. He is my voice of reason, my best friend, my partner in life.

Kevan was raised in a family of believers and had been given a solid christian foundation on which to build his life. I to had been raised in a family of believers and had been given a firm foundation. When we married we traded in our individual umbrellas for a single umbrella. It was a good umbrella but it had some tears. Along the way the tears grew and after several years our umbrella had holes in it. The umbrella no longer provided the complete coverage that we needed. When storms came hail and lightening would come crashing through and the holes would get bigger. At one point our poor umbrella was unrecognizable and we both knew God was telling us it was time to turn in that tattered and torn umbrella for a new and better one that He designed especially for us. At that very moment we dropped the old umbrella.

Kevan took that new umbrella and asked me to join him. I grabbed hold and we never looked back. God is the center of that new umbrella and He stretches over us to protect us. Sure rains and storms come. Sometimes we get wet because one of us (usually me) steps out from under the umbrella for a moment but our umbrella has no rips, tears or holes. Our umbrella might have some dents because sometimes hurricanes come but God is strong enough to keep the umbrella safe in my fella’s hand.

I love the two quotes above. No relationship is perfect and sadly I feel some people never give up on the search or the demands that the relationship they are in be perfect. Lol, I would never point out Kevan’s weirdness but since the quote did I guess it’s okay and Kevan and I hate being apart. There was one time that the girls and I went on vacation without him because he couldn’t get off work and we came home early because we couldn’t stand being away from each other. Our hearts definitely sing a song. It’s a love song so sweet that I wish everyone could find the love of their life to sing it with.

Twenty eight years later I look at my umbrella fella the same way I did as that silly 17 year old girl. He still takes my breath away. His hair may not be ginger red anymore like it once was but he is more handsome now than he ever has been. He is still a geek or a nerd or maybe both, I don’t know but God bless him and he deserves a medal for trying to teach me computer stuff. He held our umbrella and me tighter when our youngest daughter passed away from a pulmonary embolism. Kevan has been a fabulous model for Kami of what an umbrella fella looks like. Kevan Cayce, I love you!

Comments

Lisa Cowan Krenek
June 10, 2019 at 6:52 pm

I LOVE your message here! Thanks for sharing.



JoAnne Hill
June 12, 2019 at 12:42 am

Shellye, You and Kevan are very bless in so many ways! I enjoyed your umbrella story about you two. Keep your stories coming.
God bless, JoAnne Hill



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