Hello friends, glad you made it!
This is my blog that I will be posting on regularly during my two-month long adventure to Thailand and Cambodia this summer. I will be sharing what is happening on the trip and the ways that God is moving, so this will be the way that you can keep up with it all! I do not think that God is going to begin to work on me the minute I get on that plane to leave this summer. I think that He has been for a while and that He will continue to do so while I am here, living day-to-day. So with that said, I will be posting every once in a while over these next few months as I prepare to take this exciting journey! Since this post is “About Me”, I’ll share a little about me and why I feel like I was called to go on this trip!
My name is Kayla, and I am a sophomore at Maryville College in east Tennessee. I am studying Exercise Science with the hopes of landing somewhere in the medical field. The specifics of that are still definitely up in the air, which can be kind of intimidating at times, but also can be exciting and full of possibility!
Missions have been a huge part of my life ever since I was 11-years-old traveling to Haiti to meet my future sister. I have been on six trips there since then, and it has always brought out the most genuine joy in me. There is something about being there that just screams simplicity. While in Haiti, the goal for each and every day is to follow wherever God wants us to go. Our goal and sole purpose is to love like Him and be His hands and feet. There is something so beautiful and simple about that! I know that should be my mindset each and every day as a Jesus follower, but it is much too easy to lose sight of that in the “ordinary” days when there is so much begging for my attention. For me, it is so easy to lose sight of my purpose and let lesser things have authority over my life. When this happens, life can get discouraging and exhausting. I let it get to this point much too often, but I long for that simple pursuit.
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And this life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” Galatians 2:20. Over this past year, it has really hit me that this life is not supposed to be my own. That is not what it was intended to be. Building my own kingdom and chasing my own worldly dreams are worthless. It is all about Him. The more I think about this, the more I want to follow Him in a reckless way. Being willing to drop everything in my life at any given moment because it is all His anyway. Having nothing in this world because nothing compares to Jesus. Him and only Him being where I find my satisfaction. Being willing to follow Him into the great unknown, fearless. This life is not mine, and so it should be completely given over to Him. He should have free reign.
This is my heart behind going on this trip. I felt God calling me to give Him a simple “yes” and not to worry too much about the logistics. I have been given the opportunity to drop everything for a summer and make Him and kingdom things my first and only priority. I cannot think of a better way to grow than this. I have no idea what I am doing (for real) and what this summer will look like, but I am beyond excited to sit in the backseat and let Him lead.
That’s a little about me, so thank you for reading! God is good! Subscribe to this page if you want to get updates!
