Praising through Everything

I stared out the car window, inhaling the scent of fresh air, feeling the cool breeze against my face. We came to a stoplight and I glanced down at the ground. Something on the cement caught my eye--hundreds of ants. The ants were running into each other, bumping into things, and frantically scrambling to find shelter before the rain started to come down even faster. I imagined them being calm just five minutes before the rain.

Sometimes, we’re like the little ants. When everything is going good in our life, we’re happy. The sun is shining down on us, and we’re completely oblivious to Who made the sun shine in the first place. But when the rain starts pouring and destroying our happy front, we’re desperate. We’re scrambling. We’re on our knees in prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” What happened to praying when things are going well? What happened to praising God through the good and bad times?

Kayla Joy 

On the Job Prayer

I once had a little girl I was babysitting ask, "How do you become a good babysitter? How do you be nice when they're being mean to you?" I tried to explain that it's sort of a 'learn on the job' type thing. Sure, there are things you can do to become a safer babysitter--such as learn how to do CPR. But how are you patient when the person you're babysitting is, as she put it, is 'being mean to you'? For me, it's prayer. Seeing as how, without God, I couldn't even take a breath, then He can definitely grant me grace and patience where I need it. Whenever I feel my patience tempted during babysitting, I turn to prayer. There's always time for a quick prayer for patience or grace on how to handle something. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Pray continually." I definitely have a long way to go before I'm praying continually, but even praying during things like babysitting can make such a difference in how you handle things. 


Kayla Joy

Five Lifetimes Fly

When I was little, I remember being in tears when I first realized that my sister would have to go away to college. For some reason, it suddenly clicked, and I realized we wouldn't be young forever. We wouldn't always be with each other. My sister tried reassuring me, saying, "Kayla, that's five years from now!" And, surprisingly, it worked. "One year is a lifetime away, five years will be five lifetimes away!" I reasoned in my childish mind. But as it turns out--life passes a lot faster than you might think.

Honestly, it's scary how fast time passes. I remember when my biggest concern in life was whether I would be able to play outside that day or not. I even remember being proud of myself for remembering what the word 'fishy' meant. And, now, suddenly, I'm going to be an adult in three years. As things change constantly, it's hard to find comfort.

Matthew 28:20b says, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” When time is rapidly flying past and things are changing, remember that, no matter what, God will be with you always, to the end of the age, to any age.


Kayla Joy

Blessings in Exchange

I've been trying to do random acts of kindness lately. I want to bless others with my random acts of kindness, but so far it hasn't just been blessing others.

Today, our neighbor was trying to mow with her two year old on her hip. Her husband wasn't home from work yet, and since she had no one else to watch her daughter, she had to mow with her. Obviously, this wasn't easy looking. I volunteered to watch her daughter in their fenced in backyard while she mowed the front yard. I had limited time to clean my room before some guests came, but I knew it was much more important for me to bless someone else than to have a perfectly clean room. The little girl instantly latched onto me, and I spent the next hour playing peek-a-boo, teaching how to blow dandelions, smelling flowers, and dancing with a two year old. Throughout the hour, I smiled more than I had all day and truly delighted in being in the presence of a little one of God's. I started off trying to bless someone, but God had a different plan. Instead, He decided to make me the person who was the most blessed. Random acts of kindness can definitely bless people, but I’ve found that it also blesses the person who does it.

Kayla Joy

Heart Shaped Reminders

I sat outside, watching the insects flutter by and the flowers bloom around me. While I watched a bird repeatedly pick up a worm and drop it, I felt discouraged, but I wasn't even sure why. And that's when I saw it. A beautiful, white flower with tiny, delicate individual flowers forming a shape around it. A shape of a heart.

Things are constantly changing in this world, but God's love never will. And He has amazing ways of reminding us of His love once we've forgotten how amazing it is. Don't take His love for granted!

Kayla Joy

Boldness

I scribbled three words down on a piece of paper, "Encouraging, boldness, and prayer". I decided that I really needed to work on all three, and I promised God I'd try to do better with them. Little did I know, God had decided to let me work on one faster than I was expecting!

Fast forward a week: I'm asked to present at a Christian club at my school. I'm in an online school, so I wouldn't actually see the other students--I'd simply talk on the mic and read out loud my presentation. The group wasn't that large, around 20 people, but I was terrified!

I can't be bold by myself--I wouldn't have it in me. Without God, I definitely wouldn't have been bold enough to present. Thankfully, I wasn't without God. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." When you realize that you can't do something on your own, remember that you're not on your own.


Kayla Joy

More Than You can Handle?

"God doesn't give you more than you can handle."

Where in the Bible does it say that? We've all heard that phrase before, but it's actually not Biblical based. Because let's admit it--we've all been at a place where we've told God, "I just can't handle this anymore."

Sometimes God gives us more than we can handle on purpose. Why? So that we realize we can't handle it, and realize that we need some One greater to, because we surely don't have it in us. Instead, the saying should be switched to, "God doesn't give you more than He can handle."

Kayla Joy

P.S. Sorry for the few blog posts! I've still been trying to figure out the new format!