Trying something new.

So last week I was constantly sitting down to blog, inevitably I would think of something else I should be doing, get up to go do 'that' and find myself later with half a blog idea gone. 

That cycle repeated itself all the way until I left this past weekend to go out of town and celebrate the bridal shower of a dear friend. During my driving time over the weekend I thought of many ideas for blogging (yay!) and was driving so none of them got written down (boo!). 

I have been sitting at my kitchen table on and off for the last 20 minutes or so trying to re-create some of my brainstorming which has gone (thankfully) surprising well! 

If you follow any other blogs, you know that my blog does not have cute DIY projects or fabulous foodie recipes, those are not my gifts to share. If you follow this blog, you also know that I mainly share what is going on in our lives since many of our close friends and family are not geographically so close. But lately I have been praying + brainstorming in general about topics I wanted to write about here - beyond daily life for Adam and I. 

I don't have it all figured out yet, I will keep you posted, but what I DO have so far is that I want to start each week of blogging, the same way I start each week of life - in God's word. An idea so simple and basic, but yet easy to overlook. 

Today I am going to share a Psalm with you. Last night, Adam + I read Psalm 139 as part of our devotions together. This Psalm contains several verses about how God has 'fearfully + wonderfully' made us and 'knit us together in our mother's womb', which are probably familiar sounding passages to you, even if you didn't know where in the Bible they were from. 

What struck me as we read through the whole Psalm was how powerful all the other verses were that I wasn't personally as familiar with. I was especially drawn to verses 23-24, the very last words of the Psalm, as a personal prayer this week.

This morning I was excited that a quick Pinterest search on this Psalm produced hundreds of images highlighting the great words found within. So today, I am encouraging you to read through Psalm 139 below - what verses are you drawn to? What challenges you? What gives you hope?

My personal prayer this week. 

Something to consider today.

I think that everyone usually has one day in their week that is make or break. What I mean by this, is that all it can take to ruin your week or turn it into a great week is a single moment going bad or well. Which, at least for me, can be kinda frustrating when that moment turns my week into what feels like a disaster. Thankfully, this week, I my moment happened last night and turned my week into a beautiful place to be.

Every Tuesday night, I am blessed to share in faith conversations with a Young Adult community at my church. Last night, one of the things we discussed was how we would describe the hands of God - which turned into a really cool, Spirit-filled conversation.

What we talked about though, is not as important or memorable as the experience of literally hearing God work through conversation and shared stories & ideas. It occurred to me this morning that those weeks or days that seem to turn sour come more as a result of my sinfulness and lack of willingness to acknowledge how holy and amazing the work of God in my life is. What a challenge to consider that right?!

I listen to music on Spotify a lot at work - today I am listening to Artist Radio based on Gungor (look them up if you have never heard of them before, they are one of my favorites!) - anyways - Matt Redman songs have been playing almost every other song on this channel. On his most recent album he has a song called "Holy". Every word of this song was so perfect to hear today. I looked up the story behind the song and in this story he makes this statement: "As christians we need to live with the whole picture in mind!"


Personally, I don't think anyone can hear those words enough. Considering the holiness of God, the power, the love, the promise of His return...we won't ever be able to truly grasp how great those things all are, but we can know that His holiness seeps into our lives. Every day.

I pray you seek to recognize that your days and weeks are beautiful reflections of His holiness.

Love,
Kyla

Encouragement.

Hello February! WHAT?!

I am not quite sure how we are already 44 days in this year, but here we are. January was a busy month of traveling for me, which brought many blessings and opportunities for ministry (High School Ski Retreat & 8th Grade Retreat) and to see people I love (NADCE + Mid-year meetings for DCE Interns back at college). Because of being out of town so much though, I feel like February is coming out of no where and its kinda knocking me back a bit.

I don't know if any of you ever feel stressed or discouraged, but I would be willing to bet that I cannot alone in these feelings. Partly I know that for me, the extra stress I have been feeling as of late has to do with being out of routine - physically and spiritually. Yay for being human. One day out of routine and it just becomes that much harder to jump back into it. Thankfully, I have a forgiving fiancé when I am way too cranky at the end of day and dear friends who challenge me to not settle for stress when God's word is at my fingertips.

So today, I am thankful. Simply put its great encouragement to me all the various ways God finds to show me His love daily. This does not mean all stress in my life right now has just vanished or anything, but it does mean that I can be thankful I do not face any day alone. 

I hope that if any of you reading this are experiencing stress or discouragement or whatever really, that you can be in some way encouraged today. Jump into God's word, spend time talking to a good friend over coffee, take a walk outside, breath deeply and be thankful for another day...you get the idea - know you are not alone in how you feel :)

Love,
Kyla

Coming tomorrow: A Valentine, a wedding planning update & some pictures from end of January & beginning of February adventures!

Drink coffee. Read books. Be happy.

Really, my daily life can be as simple or as complicated as I let it become. The reality is that, most days my mantra need only be:

I mean really, those 3 things in some capacity [most days] are about as simple as a to-do list should get.  Especially considering the books I try to read the most are all found in the Bible. "Be happy". That is one part of this list that does trip me up. "Happy" isn't always easy when mornings are too early, work days are too long, and close friends and family are too far away. So today,

Joy to me can be a foundation for feelings when "happy" just doesn't cut it.  An emotion that has solidity where happiness can be incredibly fleeting and subjective. Joy comes from a deeper place. A place where I daily seek to 

Let go. Let God. 4 words that are freeing and yet also inevitably the start of adventure that becomes my every day life [especially working full-time in ministry].  God [whether I 'let' Him or not] loves me so much that He grows my faith and works on my heart everyday. My faith growing is a daily adventure, which may seem like a funny way to think about the 24 hours in any given day [as an adventure], but I want you to take a moment and consider this:

I read all this...

An adventure to learn that

and to 

Adventure is the best way to learn that

Because, simply put, 

seriously. everyone.

But each day is never to short to

because:

So on this daily adventure of life, I try to