As you all know, we recently lost our good friend KBells (Kathy) due to illness. Losing a friend is never easy, but take heart, for she sits with our Lord, and we shall see her again. Until then we will continue to lift up her family in prayer and ask the Lord to ease their pain and loss, for they feel it more than anyone.
One way to remember her is to think back to better days and the friendship she gave us all. So this post is a chance to do so. If you would be so kind, please share your favorite KBells story, long or short, or a note or prayer you’d like to pass along to her family. We’re going to share these memories with her husband Tim and The Kid (Chris).
Kbells, a special blog friend, touched my heart and soul eternally with her loving spirit. Everyone noted her wit, ability to win on football score predictions, tenacity and character as she helped her family survive really tough times, and her giving spirit and desire to make the world a better place through adoption. I loved seeing her interest in costumes and helping people be creative in simple endeavors to enrich life. She encouraged me in the ways she showed the value of family and how to be helpful to those in need. She will be missed here on earth, but enjoyed eternally in the afterlife according to God’s wonderful plans for His believing children. I suppose that would be the most important thing about her. She believed in Jesus and shared her faith. Her legacy lives on.
I will never forget how clever Kbells was. She had the fastest wit of anyone I know. She’d retort or set a comment after someone’s statement that made me laugh so often! She was fun to read.
She had a wry sense of humor about the college division within her family (!) and was devoted to all her relatives. I particularly remember her son, “The Kid,” and how much she loved him. Like the rest of us moms, she sought answers for how to raise her son with love and a sense of who Jesus is. She wanted so much for him.
What little she shared of her illness in the last months was sobering, but my heart, I suspect like many of yours, went to Chris. Even now my eyes fill with tears thinking about him finishing his growing up without her. That, I think, is what hurts most of all about her death.
I had the honor of reading her novel many years ago. It seemed very different from the person I knew on World Magazine’s blog (which is where we were at the time). Like many of us new writers, Kbells had a lot to learn but the novel showed insight into humanity that writers recognize.I gave her some pointers and life intervened.
These last years have been hard ones for your family. I’m sure God will continue to bring you to mind from time to time–particularly Chris–to pray. And so I will. We’re all so very sorry for our loss.
As has been mentioned, I appreciated her wit and humor. And I was amazed when doing the college football predictions how often she had the most or close to the most accurate predictions.
And her love for God and family spoke volumes as to who she was inside.
As has already been mentioned, Kathy had a great sense of humor, & often made me laugh by her one-liners. Her humor seemed to be a natural part of her, not forced. I loved her stories of working for EWTN, trying to make do with a limited budget.
And yes, her love & concern for The Kid. Chris, my prayer for you is that you will always remember not only your mom’s deep love for you, but also her faith, & that you will hold on to Jesus. God bless you. You are in my prayers.
KBells so often made me laugh with her humorous, witty insights. I wish I could bring to mind even one specific instance, but there were so many, they all mesh into one big memory of a lady who was able to see the light side of life, even in the midst of heartbreaking circumstances.
There is one distinct memory I have of KBells — one of her comments on the former World Mag Blog. The very first day I commented there, noting that two of my daughters share a birthday, and how the older was so thrilled to get a baby sister on her birthday, KBells expressed how much she missed her dearly-departed sister.
The depth of her love for family was made clear through that example and many others that followed over the years — her tireless care of her mother in her mom’s decline and eventual passing; the love she had for both of you, Tim and Chris, evident to us by her requesting prayer on your behalf, and for herself as she sought to be a Godly example of a wife and mother.
Her ministry of prayer for family and friends alike, and her undying devotion to her Savior as she kept her eyes on Him to the end, leave a legacy that points to Christ and His faithfulness. Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us.
Weeping with you both, Tim and Chris, at the loss of your dear wife and mom this side of eternity, and thanking God for His precious gift of salvation.
You are in my prayers. May the Lord bring you comfort and deep peace as you cling to Him on your life’s journey.
I didn’t interact with Kbells very often as I tend to stay away from the politics thread, but I appreciated her prayers and concern for all of our requests. I am grateful to have “known” her a little through this blog.
I am praying for you, Tim, and you, Chris. Praying for God’s peace and comfort for both of you.
I’ve been trying to decide what exactly to say, because I have several different angles from which to approach. I’m one of the ones who met Kathy in person (and both of you men, too), and she and “the Kid” met my collie, Misten, on a worksite in Nashville several years ago. I was still single at the time and living in Nashville, and I was struck by the sweet affection and undercurrent of humor between you two.
But I also think back to the reality that many in my family have lost a parent young, through death. My father died when I was almost 17, my sister lost her husband when she had five children 14 and under, and my own stepdaughters lost their mom when they were 12 and 14. So I know the pain of that loss, the life-changing nature of that. That loss is part of you now, and always will be–but someday you will again have sweet memories without the stab of pain.
May others love you well, may you love each other well, and may you know Christ’s love in this time. Other people won’t always know what to say, and they’re likely to say stupid things, but know that people around you do care even if they don’t know what to say or what to do.
A note to Chris- I lost my mother when I was 7. Sometimes it still hurts after 50+ years. Remember your mother for the love she had for you and her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Tim and Chris,
It was obvious how much Kbells loved you both, so it’s impossible not to miss her. Love is never wasted and it never dies, and you will see her again when you follow the trail she blazed to the Savior. Keep the faith, hold to the good, and know that you are not alone, people are praying for you.
Where to start and what to say? I, of course, met KBells on WorldMagBlog. Her posts were so well constructed that sometimes it took a moment to catch the “zing”. Other times I just burst out laughing.
My best memory of Kathy isn’t of the humor though. The story that sticks with me the most is when she told us of the years of struggling to have/adopt a baby. She told us about sitting in church one Mother’s Day and listening to the sermon about mothers and how angry and hurt she was that she couldn’t be a mother. Then she told of how little did she know that at that very moment of her deepest hurt God had a baby waiting for her. I understood and wept with her because I had gone through 5 years of infertility to have the daughter I have.
Chris, you may not have been flesh of her flesh or bone of her bone. You may not have grown under her heart, but Dear One you sure did grow in it.
Being mother isn’t about blood, DNA, or any of those things. Being a mother is worrying all night about the sick baby, being sleep deprived, because the baby has his days and nights mixed up. Being a mother is changing diapers and walking around with spit up on your clothes. Being a mother is wanting the absolute best for someone else and knowing that you are capable of murder if someone hurts your child. Never doubt your mother’s love for you.
Recently I read this poem and will leave you with it. Always remember that her love for you is stronger than death.
Gone From My Sight
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, “There, she is gone.”
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me — not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, “There, she is gone,”
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!”
Many times I have prayed for “the Kid” because KBells requested it.
But I am somewhat stymied on commenting about the football pool because I can’t remember if she was Auburn or “Bama.
I’m a Gamecock, so I was against both.
But I enjoyed the interactions.
So many thoughts surrounding my memories of Kathy. She was gifted with a quick wit and sense of humor along with a very tender heart for her family and friends. She is going to be greatly missed around here. One thing you can be assured of Tim and Chris….you have forever family in us….you will be covered in prayer and thought of often. ❤️
I was introduced to Kbells through the short bio she wrote for the old World Mag blog. In it, she wrote of the long desired child, who was sitting on her lap as she typed her bio. I did not join the community until several years after the time of her writing that bio, but what I remember most about her posts on first the World Mag blog and then this blog was her love and concern for her family. My heart goes out to Tim and Chris for their loss.
Nothing really to add, everybody has said it well. I have enjoyed interacting with Kathy for many years. She and I had a shared concern for our children and a desire to see them become responsible people with a heart for the Lord. She is missed. Her sense of humor and her love for family and other people. We have all been bettered for having spent time with her, even just ether time. May you two carry on with a will to follow Him and see her again.
Her posts were always “must reads” for me. Heartfelt and usually laugh-out-loud funny, they left me with the feeling that she’s someone I would have loved to have known in person. Someday we will get that in-person meet-up, of course. Her loss must be so hard, Tim and Chris — she loved you both so much. Praying for God’s peace, strength and comfort during this time.
Wandering Views 
Kbells, a special blog friend, touched my heart and soul eternally with her loving spirit. Everyone noted her wit, ability to win on football score predictions, tenacity and character as she helped her family survive really tough times, and her giving spirit and desire to make the world a better place through adoption. I loved seeing her interest in costumes and helping people be creative in simple endeavors to enrich life. She encouraged me in the ways she showed the value of family and how to be helpful to those in need. She will be missed here on earth, but enjoyed eternally in the afterlife according to God’s wonderful plans for His believing children. I suppose that would be the most important thing about her. She believed in Jesus and shared her faith. Her legacy lives on.
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I will never forget how clever Kbells was. She had the fastest wit of anyone I know. She’d retort or set a comment after someone’s statement that made me laugh so often! She was fun to read.
She had a wry sense of humor about the college division within her family (!) and was devoted to all her relatives. I particularly remember her son, “The Kid,” and how much she loved him. Like the rest of us moms, she sought answers for how to raise her son with love and a sense of who Jesus is. She wanted so much for him.
What little she shared of her illness in the last months was sobering, but my heart, I suspect like many of yours, went to Chris. Even now my eyes fill with tears thinking about him finishing his growing up without her. That, I think, is what hurts most of all about her death.
I had the honor of reading her novel many years ago. It seemed very different from the person I knew on World Magazine’s blog (which is where we were at the time). Like many of us new writers, Kbells had a lot to learn but the novel showed insight into humanity that writers recognize.I gave her some pointers and life intervened.
These last years have been hard ones for your family. I’m sure God will continue to bring you to mind from time to time–particularly Chris–to pray. And so I will. We’re all so very sorry for our loss.
Blessings,
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As has been mentioned, I appreciated her wit and humor. And I was amazed when doing the college football predictions how often she had the most or close to the most accurate predictions.
And her love for God and family spoke volumes as to who she was inside.
LikeLiked by 6 people
KBells was a very sharp lady with a strong faith and a great commitment to her family.
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Hard to add to what’s already been said.
As has already been mentioned, Kathy had a great sense of humor, & often made me laugh by her one-liners. Her humor seemed to be a natural part of her, not forced. I loved her stories of working for EWTN, trying to make do with a limited budget.
And yes, her love & concern for The Kid. Chris, my prayer for you is that you will always remember not only your mom’s deep love for you, but also her faith, & that you will hold on to Jesus. God bless you. You are in my prayers.
LikeLiked by 3 people
KBells so often made me laugh with her humorous, witty insights. I wish I could bring to mind even one specific instance, but there were so many, they all mesh into one big memory of a lady who was able to see the light side of life, even in the midst of heartbreaking circumstances.
There is one distinct memory I have of KBells — one of her comments on the former World Mag Blog. The very first day I commented there, noting that two of my daughters share a birthday, and how the older was so thrilled to get a baby sister on her birthday, KBells expressed how much she missed her dearly-departed sister.
The depth of her love for family was made clear through that example and many others that followed over the years — her tireless care of her mother in her mom’s decline and eventual passing; the love she had for both of you, Tim and Chris, evident to us by her requesting prayer on your behalf, and for herself as she sought to be a Godly example of a wife and mother.
Her ministry of prayer for family and friends alike, and her undying devotion to her Savior as she kept her eyes on Him to the end, leave a legacy that points to Christ and His faithfulness. Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us.
Weeping with you both, Tim and Chris, at the loss of your dear wife and mom this side of eternity, and thanking God for His precious gift of salvation.
You are in my prayers. May the Lord bring you comfort and deep peace as you cling to Him on your life’s journey.
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I neglected to mention that I am praying for Tim, too, of course.
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Chris, your mom and dad adopted you. My wife and I adopted our three children.
Tim, you served your country. I served my country.
I am crying at you loss. You were both loved. She loved you both. She still loves you.
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I echo you all. Her love, humor and faith were all apparent in her posts here.
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I didn’t interact with Kbells very often as I tend to stay away from the politics thread, but I appreciated her prayers and concern for all of our requests. I am grateful to have “known” her a little through this blog.
I am praying for you, Tim, and you, Chris. Praying for God’s peace and comfort for both of you.
LikeLiked by 5 people
I’ve been trying to decide what exactly to say, because I have several different angles from which to approach. I’m one of the ones who met Kathy in person (and both of you men, too), and she and “the Kid” met my collie, Misten, on a worksite in Nashville several years ago. I was still single at the time and living in Nashville, and I was struck by the sweet affection and undercurrent of humor between you two.
But I also think back to the reality that many in my family have lost a parent young, through death. My father died when I was almost 17, my sister lost her husband when she had five children 14 and under, and my own stepdaughters lost their mom when they were 12 and 14. So I know the pain of that loss, the life-changing nature of that. That loss is part of you now, and always will be–but someday you will again have sweet memories without the stab of pain.
May others love you well, may you love each other well, and may you know Christ’s love in this time. Other people won’t always know what to say, and they’re likely to say stupid things, but know that people around you do care even if they don’t know what to say or what to do.
LikeLiked by 5 people
A note to Chris- I lost my mother when I was 7. Sometimes it still hurts after 50+ years. Remember your mother for the love she had for you and her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Tim and Chris,
It was obvious how much Kbells loved you both, so it’s impossible not to miss her. Love is never wasted and it never dies, and you will see her again when you follow the trail she blazed to the Savior. Keep the faith, hold to the good, and know that you are not alone, people are praying for you.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Where to start and what to say? I, of course, met KBells on WorldMagBlog. Her posts were so well constructed that sometimes it took a moment to catch the “zing”. Other times I just burst out laughing.
My best memory of Kathy isn’t of the humor though. The story that sticks with me the most is when she told us of the years of struggling to have/adopt a baby. She told us about sitting in church one Mother’s Day and listening to the sermon about mothers and how angry and hurt she was that she couldn’t be a mother. Then she told of how little did she know that at that very moment of her deepest hurt God had a baby waiting for her. I understood and wept with her because I had gone through 5 years of infertility to have the daughter I have.
Chris, you may not have been flesh of her flesh or bone of her bone. You may not have grown under her heart, but Dear One you sure did grow in it.
Being mother isn’t about blood, DNA, or any of those things. Being a mother is worrying all night about the sick baby, being sleep deprived, because the baby has his days and nights mixed up. Being a mother is changing diapers and walking around with spit up on your clothes. Being a mother is wanting the absolute best for someone else and knowing that you are capable of murder if someone hurts your child. Never doubt your mother’s love for you.
Recently I read this poem and will leave you with it. Always remember that her love for you is stronger than death.
Gone From My Sight
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, “There, she is gone.”
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me — not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, “There, she is gone,”
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!”
And that is dying…
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Many times I have prayed for “the Kid” because KBells requested it.
But I am somewhat stymied on commenting about the football pool because I can’t remember if she was Auburn or “Bama.
I’m a Gamecock, so I was against both.
But I enjoyed the interactions.
LikeLiked by 3 people
It was what we in Alabama call a mixed marriage. She was Alabama he is Auburn. Poor Kid.
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So many thoughts surrounding my memories of Kathy. She was gifted with a quick wit and sense of humor along with a very tender heart for her family and friends. She is going to be greatly missed around here. One thing you can be assured of Tim and Chris….you have forever family in us….you will be covered in prayer and thought of often. ❤️
LikeLiked by 2 people
I was introduced to Kbells through the short bio she wrote for the old World Mag blog. In it, she wrote of the long desired child, who was sitting on her lap as she typed her bio. I did not join the community until several years after the time of her writing that bio, but what I remember most about her posts on first the World Mag blog and then this blog was her love and concern for her family. My heart goes out to Tim and Chris for their loss.
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Sending prayers up to God this evening for Tim and Chris. ❤
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Nothing really to add, everybody has said it well. I have enjoyed interacting with Kathy for many years. She and I had a shared concern for our children and a desire to see them become responsible people with a heart for the Lord. She is missed. Her sense of humor and her love for family and other people. We have all been bettered for having spent time with her, even just ether time. May you two carry on with a will to follow Him and see her again.
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Her posts were always “must reads” for me. Heartfelt and usually laugh-out-loud funny, they left me with the feeling that she’s someone I would have loved to have known in person. Someday we will get that in-person meet-up, of course. Her loss must be so hard, Tim and Chris — she loved you both so much. Praying for God’s peace, strength and comfort during this time.
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