Josie Bates and Kelton Balka are counting down the days until their October 5th wedding. Kelton has also just written out their love story and posted it to their
wedding website.
Did you know that Josie and Kelton met in summer 2014, during a piano recital at which both Josie and Kelton's sister were performing? But it wasn't until summer 2015 that they had their first extended conversation and exchanged phone numbers.
After they spent time getting to know each other for a few months,
Kelton left for college (Pensacola Christian, where he was Bobby Smith's roommate). As was shared on a recent episode of
Bringing Up Bates, Josie then put the relationship on hold after her parents expressed that they believed she was too young. Kelton shares his reaction on the
wedding website:
I was crushed. I had never met a girl like Josie, and I couldn't understand what God was doing or why Josie had ended what was just beginning.
But during that year, wise words from his father gave Kelton a renewed purpose, and he focused his attention on his relationship with the Lord, his studies, and working out. During fall break 2016, Kelton was invited to the Bates' beach rental to celebrate with Tori and Bobby, who had
just entered a courtship, and the rest of the family (do you remember
that episode?). From that day, Josie and Kelton's friendship was rekindled, mostly via long distance, but they did not consider themselves a couple until around the time of Kelton's graduation (
with a finance degree) in May 2017.
Photo courtesy of Josie Bates
