Sunday August 11th
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 12th
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 13th
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
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