In a blog post published just over a month after the death of his wife, Joey Feek, Rory Feek shared how he continually feels God's presence, and how an early-morning gathering with several Christian friends inspired him to consider what story he will tell next.
Joey, 40, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014, and entered into the arms of Jesus on March 4. Over the past few months, Rory has documented his family's journey on his personal blog, This Life I Live.
In his latest blog post, shared on April 14, Rory, 50, revealed that once a week, he and his neighbor Gabe meet for coffee, along with a group of other men.
"Some men are Catholic, some attend a Church of Christ or Baptist church or somewhere else, but they all share something in common... they all love God. And they love their wives and want to be better fathers and men," he writes.
While together, the men "do man stuff - whatever that is. Mostly talk and share stories and laugh ... There's no agenda. No plan to get to the bottom of anything ... except our coffee cups."
Rory writes that, during these get-togethers, the men "laugh," "heal" and "ponder what's next in our lives. What story God is using us to tell."
"It might be something heavy and profound - like what Joey and I've been through the last year or two - where you feel His presence and you know you can not get through a single day without Him. Or it might be something much smaller. A moment that seems insignificant, but most likely it's not," he explains.
"In my life, it's never been the big events that change everything ... it's always been the small ones. The ones that you don't think matter. But they do.
"And so I will celebrate and capture the big stories and the small ones in my life," Rory continues. "Because they are all part of a much larger story that someone else is telling. A story about healing a heart that is broken. Too broken to talk about, so we don't. We just drink coffee. And we laugh."
The Feeks, best known as country duo Joey + Rory, married in 2002 and have a 2-year-old daughter together, Indiana. The couple's final album, Hymns That Are Important to Us, debuted at No. 1 on both the Top Country Albums chart and Top Christian Albums chart upon its release.
Before her death, Joey reportedly told her husband that she wanted him to continue telling their story and other stories.
"Joey and I have both experienced the power of living, and telling a great story, so I hope to be able to continue writing and being part of a great story," Rory told People Magazine.
He revealed that in the future, he plans to write a book, and on Thursday will premiere Josephine, a film that he directed, co-wrote and edited at the 2016 Nashville Film Festival.
The Boot notes that the movie tells the story of "a desperate young farmer's wife" who poses as a man to enlist in the army and "battles the enemy, the men of her unit and her own identity in a quest to find her missing husband."
The film is inspired by a Civil War soldier named John Robison, who wrote letters home to his wife, Josephine, while he was away fighting. On their 2012 album His + Hers, Joey + Rory included the song "Josephine," also inspired by those letters.
Rory used Kickstarter to fund the film, and raised over $121,586. A trailer for Josephine can be viewed here.
"I always believe that, in the end... the 'work' should do the work," he said. "Magic doesn't happen because you plan it. It happens because you believe in it. And I believe in the magic of telling a great story... like Josephine's. One that's hard at times, and rough and scary, and you don't know what's going to happen."
