It’s Prayer Time!

August 21st- Wednesday

A day filled with journaling, reading the Bible, running, dancing all around the city in Montecatini, non stop prayer which was amazing! I couldn’t go to sleep that night because my spirit was not done praying even though my body was tired, so I stayed up for a couple hours after midnight and prayed, journaled, and read a bit!

 

August 20th-Thursday

I met with Nancy, a girl who I knew from when I studied abroad 2 years ago in Florence. She is back in Italy, because God has also called her back here. She is not sure the specific purpose as to why He has called her back, but out of an obedient heart she is here…..hmmm…this story sounds familiar ha! When we met up, she brought a surprise friend with her….Diogo…my big brother from Brazil!! So we all talked and talked…and listened really to the wisdom of our big brother Diogo! It was wonderful, then before we knew it the movie night was starting so we headed up to the Quick’s house for some wonderful fellowship.

We watched the Pink Panther, which was pretty funny, and then aferward we all played games together for about 2-3 hours! It was really fun and we had lots of good laughs too! It was a miracle that I actually had a plan of where I was going to stay that night, because usually I just go and if I miss the train then I just hope that someone will let me stay at their place ha! But this time Oliviah and I planned a couple days before, and she invited me to spend the night at her place! So I walked back to her house…(About an hour walk) with her and her 2 roommates! It was a great walk, and a great sleepover! Oliviah so graciously gave me her bed to sleep in and she slept on a mattress on the floor…as we say in Texas…”Bless her heart!” haha

 

The next morning I got up, spent a little time with Oliviah before she went to work and then caught a bus back to the city. I hung out in the city for a while, and then headed back to Montecatini! Today, my heart was inspired again to write a book! I need prayer over this, because I just don’t know where to start so I am just not starting at all….so if you could pray for the Holy Spirit to guide me in starting and writing this book together with Him…that would be WONDERFUL!

Saturday- August 24th

Happy Birthday Teneke and Chapman!! Today I went to Tineke’s birthday party with Joyce and Guido. And what is funny is that I think I only met Tineke once at Florence Gospel Fellowship Church, but I got to go anyways! And boy am I glad that I went! Oh it was soooo much fun and such a blessing! I met Tineke again ; ), and then I met her friend Mirjam…which happened to be a girl that I had already met when I was an intern for the Into the Wilderness ministry. Mirjam knows my cousin Eva and was on the trip with us! So it was neat being able to catch up with Mirjam and spend some time with her! Also, my 2 Brazilian brothers, Diogo and Cosme, and they are always a lot of fun and Oliviah the wonderful sweetie was there as well! So I just had a great time! Also the birthday party was at Tuula and Maurizio’s, and I hadn’t seen them in a while so it was such a blessing to see them again! It was also really interesting being back at their house because their house was the first place that I went when I first arrived to Italy in January! I have been gone from home for about 8 months now, which is crazy because it doesn’t feel that long, but it was just amazing that being at their house brought a lot of reflection to my heart about what has happened over the past 8 months! I remember when I was at Tuula’s house back in January, she prayed over me to receive the gift of tongues….and I still had a lot of fear in my heart about this gift and didn’t receive it until 4 months later when I was in Jerusalem. It was neat to be able to reflect on this and just see how much the Holy Spirit has done in my heart! I also told them that I can’t imagine my prayer life without speaking in tongues now! It was funny too, that this very morning I woke up speaking in tongues to the Lord which was soo beautiful! Our Heavenly Daddy is so sweet, patient, kind, loving, and gracious with us!

The rest of the day we ate lots of Tuula’s INCREDIBLE Italian food, and lots of cakes too! We talked, enjoyed each others company, threw grapes at each other off of the balcony, and hung out on the balcony watching the sunset. I was able to get to know Tineke, and as soon as I got to hear some of her heart and share some of mine, we instantly became great friends! Before I knew it we were out on the balcony singing songs to Jesus together! It was awesome! I ended up staying the night there, so we could continue the wonderful night! We talked about relationships, marriage, love, life, and listened to Tuula share her love story about her and Maurizio! It was so fun! Then we ate dinner together, went on a walk around the city, gave each other piggy back rides, and then listened to Diogo tells us the greatest jokes while we laughed sooo hard we cried…at least I did ha! Then we walked back just in time for a lightning and thunderstorm to begin! We all gathered on the porch and watched the storm for a bit, and after a while everyone went to sleep except me and my big brother Diogo. I have been WAITING ALL SUMMER for a storm like this, and I was willing to sacrifice sleep to be able to sit on the porch and just admire the power of the Lord! Diogo talked the night away about all kinds of things about the Lord, all the while I was mesmerized by bright flashing lights that lit up the entire night sky and the powerful rumbles of the thunder that shook the earth! It continued to thunder and lightning all night, so we didn’t sleep too well, but it was a wonderful night!

 

Sunday

A wonderful breakfast prepared by the magnificent Tuula. We ate and then were escorted the delightful Maurizio in his car to the bus station! We hoped on the bus and headed towards Florence. When we arrived in Florence, Tineke invited us to go on a hike. So we hiked, adventured, laughed, talked in southern hick accents (mainly Diogo ha) and then we made it back to Florence again. We walked to my favorite panino shop, and Tineke and her generous heart bought us all a panino! We enjoyed the delicious Panini, great conversations, and then we headed on our way! I felt so honored to be able to hang out with the birthday girl, Tineke, who I just met on her birthday! What a wonderful time I had with them! I headed back to Montecatini, then got ready and hoped on another train headed to Viareggio for church at the beach! We enjoyed some fellowship, sang, talked…I tried to in Italian ; ), and then we ended early because some people had to catch a bus early that night. So I was able to have some alone time with the Lord on the beach, which was wonderful!!! I walked a long the beach as some storm clouds were rolling in and the sun was setting. I ended up putting my headphones in and danced for a bit along the beach! As it got darker, I headed to the train station to go back to Montecatini! Wow, what a day!

 

Tuesday- August 27th

Viareggio, wonderful beach town the Lord brings me back to quite often, here I come again! Arriving 2 hours before meeting with a group of friends to have a jam session, I walked along the beach to the pier. Walking, looking out at the sea, praying over the Italian people I was passing, and looking back out into the wave filled sea lit up by the sparkling sun glistening over the top of the water; my heart began to cry out to the Lord because I desired the feeling of His presence, a deeper understanding of His love, I wanted to see Him in a way I never have before, and I wanted to hear His voice! I felt like I couldn’t hear his voice, so instead of getting discouraged, which is where my heart was starting to go, I took my thoughts captive and I began to THANK HIM! I thanked him for my family, friends that He has blessed me with from ALL AROUND THE WORLD, His provision time and time again, the beautiful sea right in front of me, the opportunity to be in Italy…and as I began to thank Him I began to feel the thickness of His presence. In these times when I don’t feel God or hear Him, I know he is still living inside of me so it has to be the condition of my heart that is blocking me from the beautiful presence of our sweet Lord! …This very thing just excites my heart for Heaven, because there will be no more sin, enemy, our flesh or anything else that will get in the beautiful and perfect unity that we will have with our Heavenly Daddy!! As I continued walking, Jesus stirred up a heart of prayer that brought about a fervency to pray for each person he put on my heart! This was incredible, because I really do enjoy praying because I know the person I am praying to..JESUS, really does hear our prayers!!! It was in this very moment as I was fervently praying for people in my life, that I realized that this was exactly what God wants me to do. I have been struggling with what God wants me to do, whats next, what should I do while I am here in Italy, where I should go, how I should earn money, etc…and God just reassured my heart… “Kayla, I just want you to PRAY!” Often, I forget the power of prayer and the incredible opportunity I have right now to just cover this world with prayer wherever our sweet savior brings me! When he brought me to Paris, I was able to walk ALL around the city and cover it in prayer. Prayer is preparing the soil and the land for seeds to be planted, watered, cultivated with sunshine, and producing luscious fruit! So thank you Jesus for the times of quiet and times that I feel lost in direction, because this means it is TIME TO PRAY! Please continue to remind my heart of this truth:

Psalm 65:2

“You who answer prayer, to you all people will come.”

Wow, I just discovered this verse! I love how David addresses God as the “one who answers prayer”, and because God does answer people we will continue to come to Him! Have you ever noticed that even if people don’t believe in God or have a relationship and something really difficult happens they ask for prayer or they say that they will pray for someone who is going through a hard time….God cares, listens, and does answer!!!

 

Wednesday- August 28th

My heart romanced by the prompting of the Lord tenderly waking me up at 4:30am to sneak away and spend some QUALITY time with Him before the world awakes. Immediately inspired and motivated to learn more about writing a book, while enjoying a cappuccino and some breakfast foods to keep me awake and energized this morning. Reading, learning, stumbling across great tips of how to start writing a book, and being totally romanced by the drip drops of the rain falling from the rooftops and the on and off heaviness of the rainfall. Feeling the love of Our Heavenly Daddy pouring down from Heaven right now! Woahhh baby! Let’s dig into talking with our Heavenly Daddy! Its time to PRAY!

Praise and Prayer

I am coming back to this point again, where I don’t know what’s next… what to do and where to go…And since I have been at this point a few times now in my life, I am starting to understand what to do when this happens…God simply wants us to talk to Him, praise Him, thank Him, and just be with Him! It is a hard concept because we love to consume our lives with things so that we don’t have to face the silence. Its because in the silence is when the depths of our hearts arise and come to the surface. I am not gunna lie the depths of our hearts are not always the prettiest things to see or face! But its in these times when Jesus really grabs my attention, because I have no one else to turn to but Him! He knows our hearts better than anyone else, even better than we know our own hearts! He knows how to purify our hearts, and to make us more and more like Him! I write this to encourage you and myself to press into Jesus in this time of silence. This time that you may feel like you are wasting or this time where you feel like you are stuck because you don’t know what’s next. Let’s pray together…talk to our Heavenly Daddy more than we ever have, lifting us others in our lives, lifting up our city, state, country, leaders, community, family, friends, and our own struggles and joys! Let’s not get stuck in our selves and our own little worlds, but let’s PRAY like we have never prayed before! Let’s take advantage of this time to thank Jesus for who HE is!

Thank you Jesus that you are FAITHFUL, Sweet, the King of Kings, Kind, Loving, Romantic, the Best Friend, Comforter, Funny ; ), Brilliant, Purposeful, Father, Daddy, Holy Spirit, Always doing Miracles, Our Savior, Our JOY, our Life, encouraging, uplifting, GRACIOUS, Our Protector, Our HOPE, GLORIOUS, Mysterious, Wonderful, Delightful, FREEDOM, Provider, Creative, Lovely, Champion, Victorious, Humble, FORGIVING, the Best Gift-Giver…Jesus you are our everything!

Wow, how amazing that as I was writing these things about Jesus and just praising Him and thanking….my heart began to change. My heart is filled with peace, joy, love, purpose, and contentment in not knowing. It is not about knowing what is next, but its about living everyday, every moment with Him. No matter what we are doing or not doing, no matter where we are or where we are not, who we are with or is not with us, it is simply about worshipping Him in ANY and EVERY situation. One of my favorite verses that reminds me who I am living for is Psalm 73:23-26

“Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.”

Whom do we have in Heaven, but JESUS! He is the One we can’t wait to be with forever in perfect unity and fellowship in Heaven! And this earth has NOTHING we desire than Jesus!….This is a humbly verse that always helps me fix my eyes on Jesus rather than desiring anything else than Him! He is the ONLY ONE who can truly satisfy every desire we have, because He is our Creator so He knows what we desire and truly need…and that is HIM!

I have been dancing more and more with Jesus out in parks or just open areas! He is totally filling me with His grace to not care what people think about me, and to just dance with him freely and openly! This blesses me and others around me, which is soo much fun! This past Sunday, we had church at the beach again and ohhhh man it was FUNN! Jesus is INCREDIBLE and I am sooo thankful that church is not a building to him because I love the outdoors too much ha! Church is when His children come together to worship Him and have fellowship with one another. I love having church on the beach, because we are sooo transparent because there are no walls to keep anyone out. We sit in the middle of all of these people at the beach, and everyone listens to us worship Jesus with guitars, our voices, and of course I couldn’t help my self…dancing!!! I can’t upload the video here, but I put all of the videos on my Facebook!

 prayer and worship on the beach!

 

What’s amazing is that God is using dance to attract his people….both young and old! As I was dancing, Joyce told me that she saw a lady dancing in the distance to our music, so immediately I ran over to her and had brought her over to our group and her and I started dancing together! Guido capture a video of me dancing with this sweet lady!

There was also a little girl who was attracted to us worshipping Jesus so her and her mom came over to us. And the little girl and I started dancing as well!

These people felt free to join us in worship, because there were no walls to keep them from coming!!!

We continued the night praying over each other, speaking words of encouragement, and calling out what Jesus sees in one another as brothers and sisters in Christ! It was incredible, intimate, powerful, life-changing, and drew me closer to Jesus! Another beautiful thing about our fellowship night on Sunday is that it was filled with people from all over the world: Tanzania, Nigeria, Ecuador, Italy, the States, and Canada! Only about 10-15 people, but full of diversity in nations and ages! After this incredible evening, we ate together and just enjoyed one another! Oliviah and I had a sleepover at Joyce and Guido’s.

The next morning Oliviah and I were able to spend time with each other, which was such a blessing and plan our next hang out time! Then Joyce, Guido, and I went to the beach together. They are experts in going to the beach, and what I mean by this is that they pack everything you could possibly need to make your time at the beach the best!! They brought a tent, towels, blanket, sandwiches, watermelon, ice cold water, cards, umbrella, sunscreen, and their childlike wonderful hearts! We stayed there until it looked like it was going to storm..which was almost until sunset! Then we watched Despicabe Me, because I told them it was a movie they had to watch ha! They enjoyed it, and of course I did as well! Kid movies are my favorite, no matter how many times I have seen them!

Tuesday – August 20th

Day of rest. Prayer time with Joyce…very sweet. Later that evening I had a great conversation with Guido about wisdom on marriage! Then movie night again with Joyce and Guido! I really enjoy their company. Thank you Jesus for your sweet provision! I may not know what is next, but I do know that I get to choose to worship you and praise you today!!! Matthew 6:33 “But seek His kingdom and His righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well.”

Let’s seek Him first, praise Him, and pray to Him!

Jesus loves you!

Sunday August 11^th

Ole leading us in worship on the train.

Kim and Sarah singing to Jesus on the train ride to Viareggio!

Kim, Sarah, Ole, and I all hopped on the train to go to Viareggio for a day of worship at the beach with other brothers and sisters! On the way there, Sarah started praying out loud for the day and that the Holy Spirit would just guide our steps and that we would just be able to worship Him with our lives. Then Ole prayed, and then Ole started playing his guitar on the train. We started out all singing in soft voices, and after 30 minutes we were singing our hearts out to Jesus. The Holy Spirit totally broke down my hardened heart and broke through my pride. He graciously and lovingly humbled me and I was able to repent and walk in the freedom that Christ died for! I began to dance on the train, while Kim, Ole, and Sarah continued to sing their hearts out to Jesus! Before we knew it, we arrived at Viareggio and we were all sad to stop worshipping the Lord in that way, but we were pumped up for the day! Then we got to the front of the train station, and I realized that we still had 10 minutes until Steven would arrive. So Sarah and Ole said lets keep worshipping! I just love these two! So that is what we did, in front of the train station Ole strummed the guitar with passion while he lead us in worship. I saw a freedom and boldness arising in Kim to sing her heart out to Jesus in front of a crowd! And Sarah and I sang and danced all around! All 4 of us worshipping our Heavenly Daddy began to draw a crowd around us! People were attracted to the presence of our sweet Heavenly Daddy! We continued to play, sing, and dance for about 20 minutes! Steven was overjoyed to see us all worshipping our Heavenly Daddy in such freedom and he joined us! Then we stopped playing and dancing and people came up to us and asked us different questions about why we were playing/dancing/ singing. We were able to share the great news about Jesus with them!

We started walking to the beach to meet another friend, and boy were we pumped for what God had in store for the rest of the day! We met up with a guy named Simone, and then we sat in the middle of lots of people on the beach and we began to play and sing worship songs! It was sooo beautiful to see all of the people watching us sing to Jesus, they were enthralled and seemed to really enjoy it. There was a drunk guy who didn’t like it, so he would come over and make fun of us and yell different things at us. We kept playing anyways. We had a couple different people come over to us to hear the music better and had some conversations with us as well.

Steven and Simone leading us in worship on the beach for all to hear!

I also went swimming, but there were lots of jellyfish in the water…I couldn’t see them, but every time I came out of the water I would have a new stinging sensation on a different part of my body! After the third time of going out in the water, I decided to go in one last time with the 3 people from Norway! We swam quite a ways out, but at one point one of the guys said, “The jellyfish are all around us.” I started to panic a bit, because I couldn’t see the jelly’s but every time I kicked my feet or moved my hands to tread water I touched a jellyfish!!! Thankfully Ole wanted to go back to the shore, so him and I swam back together while the other two continued to swim out! The whole swim back Ole and I kept touching jellyfish and kept getting little stings as well. Our whole bodies were stinging, but we just tried to keep asking each other questions and getting our minds off the pain and the surrounding jellys. This helped me stay calm and it helped ease my fear! I was praying a lot as well! When we finally got to where we could stand up again, we both were ready to just get out of the water! So we got out and saw and felt that we were covered in Jellyfish stings! And needless to say, that was the last time we got in the water for the evening ha! Joyce, Guido, and several others arrived at the beach and we were able to just have a sweet time of fellowship for the rest of the evening. We listened to the Norwegian pastor tell story after story of his experiences of Christ’s love and miracles, and all the while we watched the sun set over the beautiful jelly filled ocean ha!

Kim and I had to leave to catch the last train back to Montecatini, so we said goodbye to everyone, grabbed a pizza, and made our way to the train station. Eating delicious Italian pizza, and talking about what it looks like to have a relationship with Jesus filled our hour train ride home to Montecatini. Sweet Kim asked such incredible questions about the Bible, knowing the voice of God, and many other questions that challenged me to look deeper into my heart and my relationship with Jesus! We continued our conversation in Montecatini as we ate some delicious gelato and continued to open up our hearts to one another! We made it back to the house, and I was overwhelmed with thankfulness for the beautiful day of fellowship! Thank you Jesus so much for bringing Kim all the way from the States, have us meet in Paris at the hostel you had me at, and then bring us together again in Florence to share our lives and to encourage one another to know you more!

Monday August 12^th

This morning, the three guests from Norway left with Joyce and Guido to go to Rome to catch their flight to Niger, Africa! They were going on a mission trip there for 10 days, and Joyce and Guido so graciously offered to drive them 4 hours one way to Rome and 4 hours back home! I love their servant hearts, and they encourage me to want to serve others so selflessly and to really “go the extra mile!” Thank you Joyce and Guido for being an example to me of what it looks like to love your brothers and sisters in Christ! John 13:35 “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Kim and I had a restful morning, and then we headed to Florence! On the train ride there a guy was stunned by Kim’s beauty, so as soon as we got on the train he came right over and sat next to Kim. He started talking to us, and asked what we were talking about, and Kim told him we were talking about books. I was reading Kim a book called, “Love Does.” I held up the book and showed this guy what we were talking about it. He said, “Oh you are reading a book about love?” I said, “Yes, it is about Jesus’ love and it His love is not just something that is talked about but it requires action!” He was surprised at first that this came out of my mouth, and then he began to share that He believes in Jesus as well! This guy’s name is King and he is from Africa, and he is a soccer player! It was great to share life, pour our Jesus’ love to this brother in Christ, encourage Him, hear about his life, and he invited us to his church on Sunday. God is soo good!

King and I on the train

We said goodbye to King, exchanged info, and then I began Kim’s personal tourguide for the day! I took Kim to all of my favorite places: Duomo, through the alleyways of Florence, bubbly water fountain, the Arno river, Ponte Vecchio, a great Gelateria, Moyo for a great cappuccino, sat in a piazza journaled and listened to a guitar player, took her to my favorite panino place, and then hiked up to Piazza Micheal Angelo where we watched the sunset and ate our delicious and massive panini!! As we were watching the sunset, a little boy (about 2 years old) came over to us and just kept staring at me. He climbed up on the bench next to us, and I was looking or his parents and saw them on another bench a little ways away keeping their eye on him. So the little boy sat next to me, just starring at me for a good 5 minutes, so I decided to tell him that Jesus loves Him. He smiled and then he wouldn’t leave our side. His parents were trying to get him to go, but he wouldn’t leave. He climbed down off the bench, but he just stood right in front of me. I gave him a hug and then he just continued to stand in front of me and he wouldn’t leave even though his parents were calling his name and walking away around the corner. He just stood right in front of me, and then all of a sudden I said, “Jesus loves you!” one more time. And immediately he jumped a little bit as a smile beamed across his face, and then he ran around the corner to his mom. Kim and I just looked at each other, because we couldn’t believe what we just saw. This precious two year old (who spoke Spanish by the way) just needed to hear that Jesus loves him one more time before returning to his mom to leave. THIS WAS INCREDIBLE! Children know who Jesus is and they need to hear that Jesus loves them! Everyone needs to hear this beautiful truth that they are truly and dearly loved by Jesus, the wonderful Savior of the world!!!

Sweet Kim and I!!!

Tuesday- August 13^th

I woke up to sweet Kim asking me what time she should leave the house to get to the airport to catch her flight at 12. I asked her what time it was, and she said 8:30…I told her she needs to leave now! So we packed everything quickly and got her on the train she needed to get on just in time to be able to make it to her flight on time! Several hours later, Kim messaged me and told me she made it on her flight! God is soo faithful and the best provider!

The next couple days were filled with open time for me to exercise some of my creativity! I sewed a skirt to make it into a pair of shorts, I made a bracelet, went running around the city of Montecatini, and have danced in the park or a garden almost everyday this week! This is sooo good for me, because everytime I dance out in public for the Lord, God shows me that when my focus is on Him then all of my fears go away! He is creating a deeper boldness in my heart to want to dance for Him and share our dance with others! I have also been doing lots of dreaming with Jesus! Sharing the desires of my heart with Him, and then surrendering those desires into His hands, because ultimately my desires HIS WILL! I have been having great conversations with Joyce and Guido that have really encouraged my heart! I am still praying for what God has in store for me to do here in Italy for these next couple of months, and as of right now I am planning on going back to the States in October! Still praying through this, and would really appreciate your prayers for me to keep in step with the Spirit!! Galatians 5:25 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

The wonderful Joyce and I just spending time together in the living room, soaking in Jesus’ presence, talking about life with Guido, and just enjoying sweet fellowship! I am sooo thankful for Joyce and Guido and the way they have continually open their hearts and their home to me as I come and go!

Jesus loves you soooo much!!

I encourage you to tell at least one person today that Jesus loves them!!!

Loved by Jesus,

Kayla Marie

Let’s Thank Him

August 8^th– Thursday

Day of rest. Fellowship night in Florence. We watched a kid movie at the Quick’s house and then afterward we just talked and hung out with each other….which I just loveeee! I really do love these people so much! Diogo and Cosme…my two Brazilian brothers asked me about my adventures in Paris, and they do a great job about asking me my motives, giving me wisdom, and guidance! They are true big brothers to me….really thankful for them. Then we all went to an Irish pub (Kady I thought of you when we went there ; )) We did some line dancing ( And I thought of you my sweet Chrysandra), talked, and just enjoyed one another. One of the girls asked me to show her my best move…so naturally I went for the ballerina spin…I can still only do about 1 ½ turns before I lose my balance and almost hit something…but its still my best move haha! I had missed the last train, so two girls Laura and Amy let me stay at their place…and ironically it was the apartment that Joyce and Guido were managing and I had no idea hah! So I ran to their apartment with them, while they biked next to me for about 30 minutes! It was a great way to end the night, because I do enjoy a good run at night! I went to sleep with a heart full of thankfulness for the way God loves and provides for me!

 

August 9^th– Friday

We had a relaxing morning: Amy made me breakfast, which was delicious and so very kind of her to feed me! Then we decided to go to the beach….hoped on a bus, then a train, and then after an hour or so of walking… we finally made it to the beach!! We swam, read, talked, slept, ate a picnic dinner, and then made our way back home! A great day at the beach!

 

August 10^th – Saturday

Today, I read literally ALL day! My eyes were bloodshot and hurting because I couldn’t stop reading this wonderful book that Amy let me borrow. It is called “Love Does.” It was a simple book, and it actually reminded me a lot of my blogs ha! The guy in the book shares his stories about how he loves on people, how God teaches him through daily situations, and lots of different adventures that he went on. The stories are full of the Lord’s faithfulness and teachings that came out of those adventures! It was inspiring me to want to write a book myself…I just might have to do that! Lead me Jesus!

After reading all day, my friend Kim who is from Texas but I met in Paris told me she wanted to come to Florence and asked if she could stay with me. This was awesome and crazy because I just said goodbye to Kim less than a week ago in Paris and now she was coming to stay with me in Italy for a couple of days! God is soo cool! So I picked her up from the train station, and then as soon as we got back to the house, the other house guests from Norway arrived as well. It was a full house at Joyce and Guido’s that night…so much that Joyce and Guido selflessly gave up their REALLY COMFY bed to sleep upstairs in the neighbors house, who is a sweet old lady with an extra bed! Anyways, we talked the night away with these wonderfully, passionate, lovers of Jesus, who are from Norway!! Sarah, who is only 21, had a very similar story to mine! She felt the Lord calling her away from home to grow deeper in her relationship with Him and become completely dependent upon Him. God ended up calling her to Canada for a discipleship school, to work on a cruise ship, and then to a discipleship school in Norway, but her home is in Sweden! I was inspired by her trust in the Lord, her childlike heart to just follow her Heavenly Daddy wherever he takes her and to continue to trust Him when trials, storms, and hardships are thrown at her! There was no accident that God had brought this sweet sister to Joyce and Guido’s and he had me return from Paris at this perfect time so I could be here when they visited! I love God’s purposefulness and His perfect plan! I encourage you to just take some time right now to just reflect on your life..on the past week…on today and just thank God for the little things that he has done for you! Whether it was a friend came over to see you at the perfect timing your heart was feeling lonely, or you found your keys in time to make it to work on time, or you had all green lights on the road, or you made it to the train station just in time to jump on the train in time, whatever it is…big or small…just THANK JESUS for His provision and sovereignty in your life! I have realized that the more I thank Him for these little things in my life, it helps me want to give Him more control of my life, because I have been able to SEE over and over and over again His incredible Faithfulness!!

 

LET’S THANK HIM TOGETHER RIGHT NOW!

Thank you Jesus for…..

Blessings in Paris-His people

August 3^rd, 2013 – Saturday

Your face Lord I will seek! I had a great breakfast time with all of the people in the hostel and enjoyed some great conversations with all of the staff working there, who all know me by name now ha! I told them I would stay another 2 days, and see where God wanted me next! They were excited to hear that I was staying a couple more days! I skyped with my wonderful momma jomma! I went to a garden and journaled in a garden with hundreds and hundreds of beautiful flowers of all shapes, sizes, colors, and smells!  Which reminded me of how creative God is not just in nature, but with His most precious creation…HIS PEOPLE! I began to ask the Holy Spirit to open my eyes to see His people the way He sees them! He began to soften and open my heart to see how broken and hurting these people are, but also the beauty within them!!

Later that night I met up with Kelsey, my sweet friend that I met through the church in Florence. She and her friend just so happened to be in Paris as well, so we met up for some dinner. We talked for a couple of hours of what our sweet Savior was doing in our lives and around the world! Sweet fellowship in Chirst….nothing else like it!

 Me,Kelsey, and Dawna

August 4^th, 2013- Sunday

Breakfast…met some new friends…and before I knew it my new friends became my adventure buddies for the day! Rodrigo is from Argentina and is Jewish, and Immanuel is from Brazil and doesn’t believe in anything. Immanuel was our tour guide for the day because he absolutely loves Paris and had been there several times! He knew a lot of the history as well, so it was interesting to walk around the city seeing it through a different perspective! We saw lots of monuments, the Louvre museum from the outside, the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dam church, and several other monuments! We walked around the city for a good 6-7 hours ha! It was crazy and by the time we got back to the hostel, we were all exhausted! I got back and then had to get ready to go to Hillsong church! I ended up getting a bit lost on my way there, but a sweet angel who was a sweet French lady named Francios helped me find my way! She even gave me her number and said please call me if you need anything! I arrived at the church an hour late, but nonetheless I ARRIVED! Ha…The sermon was about forgiveness…soooo powerful! Thank you Jesus for FORGIVING ME AND THE WHOLE WORLD OF ALL OF THEIR SINS!!!! WOOWWWW!! THANK YOUU!!!

 Francois..the angel that helped me find my way!

The Louvre Museum in Paris

After the service, I looked around a bit for Kelsey because she had said that she would meet me there, but I couldn’t find her. I walked around through the crowd of people at this church and didn’t know anyone. I felt insecurity enter my heart, and a longing to be around the people back in Florence because I know everyone at that church and it is a lot smaller setting so if you are new…everyone will come over to you and introduce themselves! I just asked God to provide a friend for me as I awkwardly looked around…and then all of a sudden a sweet girl named Sheila just started talking to me! Then 2 of her other friends came over to me and they all asked me all kinds of questions!  I felt so loved and cared about! I was able to share how the Lord had brought me to Europe and the girls was so intrigued and said they were inspired. Sheila and I kept talking and talking and talking…we ended up praying together, and then she invited me out to dinner so we could talk some more! We had some Mexican food…yummm…and I was able to hear more of this beautiful sister’s heart! God used both us that night to encourage and inspire one another to trust the Lord with our whole lives! We then went to the Eiffel tower and there was a movie playing near it…and Audrey Hepburn movie on the wall…there were hundreds of people in complete silence watching this movie in English with French subtitles! It was AMAZING watching a movie outside right next to the Eiffel Tower sparkling with lights, under the star lit night sitting next to my new friend and sister in Christ! We enjoyed an ice cream together…best way to end one incredible day!

Sheila and I!

The Audrey Hepburn movie outside by the Eiffel tower! Lot of people…and miraculously silent! ha

August 5^th– Monday

Still here in Paris…”Lord, where do you want me and why do you still have me here in Paris?”…The question of my heart for almost the whole two weeks in Paris ha…

One of my many roommates, Kim from the US, asked me if I wanted to go to coffee with her. Her and I found a café and before I knew it I had the Bible open and we were talking about Jesus. I was able to share with her the Gospel and GOOOOODDDD news about Jesus! She grew up in a Christian home, but is discovering more of who he is for herself. I had the honor of giving her God’s word, and in return she gave me her beautiful bracelet from Kenya…that is where her parents are from. After coffee, we went to lunch and we both opened up our hearts more and more and I ended the day telling her that she should come to Florence to see me because she would be in Europe for a couple more weeks! We prayed together and then parted ways! I was soo blessed by spending the afternoon with this sweet girl, and I am sooo excited to see what our sweet Jesus will continue to do in her life! She hopped on the bus to go south to meet a friend in Nice, and I remained there in Paris!

Kim and her new Bible!

the bracelet from Kenya that Kim gave me!

I ran to the Eiffel Tower later that afternoon, prayed over the city, over each person the Lord put on my heart, and really dug into God’s presence!

 

August 6^th– Tuesday

A sweet girl from the Hillsong Paris church messaged me and said that she would like to have lunch. So I met up with her and she had bought lunch for us! We walked to the river and dangled our feet over the edge of the water and Amata, sweet 20 year old new believer in Jesus, showed me the ways of the French! She had bought a fresh baguette sliced it and showed me the way to make a French sandwich. Slice a good portion of the baguette, slice in half, spread the butter on each side, add cheese, ham….and EAT! Yummm! Simple and DELICIOUS! Buona Petit! She made me a sandwich, and then she had me try to make her one! We prayed together, sang together, ate together, and shared our hearts about Jesus together! She asked such deep and beautiful questions that really made me thin about how Jesus has truly changed my life forever! After the meal, we ate the wonderful tarts that she bought us from the bakery! Yumm! Then we each took turns singing a worship song to Jesus! It was soo raw and really beautiful! AMATA!! It was such an honor to meet you, and I am soooo glad that God had brought me to Paris just to meet you my sweet prayer warrior sister in Christ! I am sooo excited for the plans that Jesus has in store for you and with Him!!!

Amata and our wonderful French lunch she prepared for us!

Amata and I with the famous French Baguette!

Later that afternoon, I spent time with Kelsey and we just enjoyed one another before she had to catch her train that night! After saying goodbye to Kelsey, and hoping I would see her back in Florence before she left for America, I tried to get a ticket back to Florence…lots of obstacles in the way that wouldn’t let me buy a ticket..time, price, internet connection not working, card not working, and no peace in my heart…I finally surrendered and stopped trying to buy a ticket to Florence…Let go and just enjoyed God’s presence.

Kelsey and I and her French Baguette! The French really do carry around long baguettes of bread through the streets ha!…Kelsey being like the locals!

 

August 7^th– Wednesday

I woke up later this morning. Barely made it to breakfast before it closed. I went back up to my room to ask Jesus where he wanted to go today, and I found myself trying to get a ticket back to Florence just one more time….and guess what?!!! I got a ticket for TONIGHT at 6pm! Hahah…I was shocked that the card went through, the internet worked, and the price was descent! Wow thank you Jesus! Then I started packing like crazy, and then made my way down to the front desk to check out! My sweet friend Johanna at the front desk couldn’t believe that I actually got a ticket and was leaving, because I had said that I was leaving a couple of times ha! But this time I actually had a ticket, and was really going back to Florence! She joked and said that she was going to lock me in the hostel so that I would miss my flight ha! I ended up meeting with Sheila one last time before I would leave that evening. We had some hot chocolate and were just able to talk a bit…she treated me to some French desserts and then I headed on my way out the door to go to metro, then bus, then airplane! Thank you soooo much Sheila for sharing your life with me, your sweet giving heart, your excitement to get to know Jesus more, and for just being a wonderful friend to me while I was in a foreign place with no friends! May God bless you in mighty ways for showing me His love! I am excited to see where the Lord will lead you and to see you fall more in love with Jesus! So thankful for you! You are another reason why Jesus brought me to Paris!

Metro ride, bus stop..waiting for a while, busride, airport…plane was late….made it to Pisa!!!…train ride to Pisa Centrale…then to Lucca…waited in Lucca for almost an hour…another train ride…5 minute walk home to JOYCE and GUIDO’s!!! Oh thank you Jesus!!! I made it! 

The Lord directs our steps

The rest of July 31^st– Wednesday and Thursday..i never slept so the day continued ha

I stayed up all night in the Paris airport reading a book in Italian, journaling, reading the Bible, amd skyping my brother Diogo, my sister, and my dad! I talked to them almost all night and it kept me wide awake and I really enjoyed my conversation with each of them! 5 am came around quite quickly so I immediately went to the ticket counters to try to get a ticket to Sicily to visit my friend who was doing some beach ministry for three days. I asked the ticket lady how much it would be…she said 1,000 euro!! Haha..i just laughed and said okay thanks anyways! Then I went to the train ticketing office and asked them if there were any trains to Florence…they said no direct ones and for some reason I just didn’t have peace about it and I felt like God was telling me, “Kayla, just come sit down and wait and trust me.” So I sat outside and started listening to some worship music. Then I just started DANCING haha…It was so natural and as I was dancing I couldn’t believe that I was dancing in the middle of an airport ha! But it was soo fun, and of course I got lots of looks…I am starting to get used to it ha! I am sooo crazy in love with Jesus that I don’t mind!

After a couple of hours, I went back inside and sat down next to a girl and immediately she just started talking to me. We hung out for the next 4 hours and she just opened up about her whole life to me! It was crazy how much she was sharing with me, but I knew the Lord had sent me to the airport to just listen to, pour into, and love on this girl!

Around 1, I realized that I was not going to leave Paris that night, so I decided to head back to the hostel that I had been staying at. It is really safe, clean, and it has a lot of great people that are traveling as well. And I have also developed a great friendship with all the people on staff there! They take great care of me and are always asking me when and where I am will be going next ha! So I returned to the hostel surprisingly filled with JOY and PEACE! It was crazy…because I thought for sure I would come back confused and asking God why….but instead I was just excited to spend this time with Him and to just let go and TRUST HIM! I talked with the staff for a while, went on a run, and then went to bed around 9pm because I hadn’t slept in almost 48 hours!

Friday August 2nd

Today I tried to find another ticket online…and just sought the Lord as to where he wanted me…and ended up having peace about just staying at the hostel for another night. And my friend Chloe messaged me and asked if I wanted to spend the day with her! So her and I walked throughout the city, grabbed some lunch and ate it in the grass by some boats and the river, and then we walked to the Notre Dam Church! We had great coversations about the Lord as we walked through the streets of Paris! It was wonderful! Then I returned to the hostel and just had a wonderful time of worship with Jesus! Then I skyped the Testas because the needed an emergency babysitter for the Into the Wilderness camps. I was willing and ready to go if that was where God wanted me! We both looked up tickets to Torino, and then…my internet stopped working…and while I was waiting and waiting and waiting for it to start working again..I ended up falling asleep. In the morning, I just had so much peace about remaining in Paris…I tell ya I have never felt so confused and peaceful as I do right now ha! God is sooo good! If you all could please be praying for God to provide a babysitter or 2 today for the Into the Wilderness camp that starts tomorrow that would be awesome! There are 24 kids, and only 2 babysitters, so if you are reading this and are interested in helping out please contact me and I will get you connected with them right away!

 

Saturday- August 3^rd

Today I am doing a lot of reflecting, enjoying, and digging into Jesus!

Here is a story that I forgot to share with you that I saw last Sunday:

 

Sitting by the train station on a beautiful sunny day, I saw a little girl running to her dad. As soon as she reached his arms, she through her little arms up around his neck and hugged him as tight as her little body would let her! The dad had the biggest smile on his face and was just enjoying the little girls affection towards him. After a long wonderful hug, the little girl pulled back and gave her daddy a big kiss on the cheek. They said goodbye, and the little girl walked back to her mom, but the whole time she kept her eyes on her dad. Her eyes never left him and she never stopped waving at him! Even when her dad entered the bus, she never took her eyes off of him. She kept blowing him kisses and she didn’t care who was watching her, she just wanted to let her daddy know how much she loves him! With excitement the little girl pointed to her dad even though he was on the bus and not everyone could see him. She knew exactly where he was because she never took her eyes off of him! She even helped her mom find where he was. The mom and the little girl waved and blew kisses to the dad until the bus was no longer visible.

WOW!!! I want to love you like this God! Heavenly Daddy, please help us to never take our eyes off of you. Help us to be so lost in the love that we have for you that we don’t care who sees us because our hearts can’t stop expressing to you how much we love you!

 

Here are a couple verses that I hope bless you as much as they are blessing me right now! He is soo faithful and He will guide us…we just have to let Him lead!

 

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do and he will show you which path to take.”

Proverbs 20:24

“The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?” …haha this one is AWESOME! …sooo true ha! I can’t understand all of his ways, but I know that His ways are GOOODDD!

Isaiah 40:41

“But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings of eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

Proverbs 27:13-14

“Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be BRAVE and COURAGEOUS. Yes, WAIT PATIENTLY for the Lord.” – This one is hard haha…I can wait…but to do it patiently is a whole other story!! Haha…I need your grace and your strength Lord to wait upon you! Also, what is interesting is that waiting patiently upon the Lord requires bravery and courage!

Dig into His word and His presence. Let go, and let your Heavenly Father lead the way! And don’t forget to blow kisses to Jesus, give Him a big hug today, and don’t take your eyes off of Him! Have an incredible day with jesus

Enjoying our Heavenly Daddy,

Kayla