Kayla grew up in the small town of Raymond, WI as the second of three girls in her family. She moved to Madison to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007. Kayla graduated from the UW in May of 2010 with degrees in Sociology and Communication Arts and is excited for the opportunity to live out her life working in full-time ministry. Along with interning, Kayla is currently working part-time at a women’s clothing boutique in Madison. Outside of work she spends her time running, reading, and enjoying the outdoors with friends. She loves Jesus, dancing, and cereal.

I am worn out.

With a packed schedule and a long list of deadlines ahead, it might seem impossible to find the time to take a break. To simply pause and walk away from the chaos that can so easily take over our lives. If you’re anything like me, you spend your days doing the MOST you can, as quickly as you can. It’s called efficiency, right?

Wrong. Being efficient should save you energy, not burn you out! Take a look a Jesus’s life. Where in the Bible do we find:

“Jesus ran.”

“Jesus had a million things to do that day.”

or ” Jesus rushed through the meal because he was running late.”

…Nowhere!

Jesus did not live a busy, hurried lifestyle. He wasn’t anxious, worried, or overloaded with “to-do’s.” Jesus frequently took time to pause, get away, and just spend time with God in prayer.

Often times I think we wind up in an overloaded, hectic lifestyle without even realizing it! But what if you we lived more like Jesus? This week, if you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed out, take a few minutes to stop what you’re doing, clear your mind, and be with God. I think we’d all be surprised at how 10 minutes away can change the pace of a whole day.

I have heard so many different ways of defining an “extrovert” versus an “introvert.” Here’s one fairly straightforward description: extroverts love being around people and are actually energized by interacting with others. Introverts, on the other hand, would rather be secluded, because being around too many people at the same time drains them. By this basic definition, I am a blatantly obvious extrovert. However, I have never been satisfied classifying myself or anyone else into just one of the two categories.

Regardless of our personality types, I think it’s fair to say that we all have a need for relationships and a need to feel loved. Whether you thrive on hanging out with big groups of people or if you’d rather just be alone, you have a need to be connected. We all do! Can you even imagine being connected to no one? The truth is, people come and go, in and out of our lives. Reason being perhaps: we are constantly on the move! As we go from one city to the next, one school to another, or one job to the following, we encounter different people, start new relationships, and inevitably leave some behind.

Here’s the cool thing though about being in a relationship with God. There is NO escape from His presence and there is NO escape from His love! No matter where we are or what we are doing God will always be there and He will always love us.

In the apostle Paul’s letter to the people of Rome, he says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38

What a powerful image of God’s His unfailing love and relentless commitment to us! It makes me wonder… how would our lives change if we stopped seeking to be satisfied by the instabilities of this world? What if instead we turned to what, ironically, we can never escape: the unfailing love of our God.

My freshman year of college was chaotic to say the least: new city, new classes, new friends… honestly it was all a bit overwhelming! I remember meeting a TON of people but really connecting with very few.

Then I heard about Life Groups at Blackhawk Church. What  a difference it made in my life! Not only did my life group provide an opportunity to grow authentic relationships with other women but it also allowed me to grow deeper in my relationship with the Lord. As we dove into God’s word together, I learned more and more about God’s character and experienced his love firsthand through the outpouring of support from the group. It was awesome.

When I had big finals coming up, I knew my groupies were praying for me. When I started a new job that drained my energy and all of my time, my girls were there to encourage me through it. When I had doubts and questioned my purpose in Christ, my leader took the time to meet with me one on one to guide and direct me in God’s truths.

A couple hours each week spent with my group ended up being the best time investment I ever made in college. (better even than the countless all nighters at College Library. go figure.)

Anyway… it’s no surprise that I get excited about this time of year: Life Group sign-up time!! If you haven’t already, check out Blackhawk’s website for more information about Life Groups, when and where they will each meet, and how to get signed up! There’s a group for everyone: just women, just men, or co-ed if you’d prefer. There are a variety of nights and times to meet, and an awesome line-up of leaders! So check it out at:

http://www.blackhawkchurch.org/connect/life_groups_groupfinder.php

I tend to get really excited about weekends that I don’t have to go into work and dread the ones (like this one) where I’m stuck with back to back 9-hour shifts. For most of us, our part-time or temporary jobs don’t capture our passions or keep us excited to return to the time clock day after day. However, there is hope! All you need is a new boss.

let me explain. actually, let Paul explain.

In Colossians 3 Paul talks about our attitudes in life. Verses 23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

I have found that working can actually become enjoyable when it’s for someone I love, someone I respect. This may not always be the case with our supervisors, but certainly for me, when I change my perspective and start working ‘with all my heart as working for the Lord’ I start to like what I’m doing. I find value in it. It becomes worthwhile.

Challenge: stop working for men and start working for the Lord. Whether you’re a full-time student or a full-time employee at Epic (it’s usually one or the other if you live in Madison), work with all your heart, knowing that it is the Lord you are really serving.

… who knows, the workplace just might turn into real relationships and community with co-workers, a deeper understanding of God’s gifting in your life, and new inspirations for the future.

I was once told that loving God was simple: Just love God with all that you are.

I think this is a way people try to sum up the meaning of  Matthew 22:37 where Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” But is this clarification of the verse (“just love God with all that you are”) really helpful to anyone?

How can you love something or someone with all that you are if you haven’t really figured out who you are yet? Or who you want to be. And doesn’t that change?

For the longest time I tried to figure out who I was, so that I could love God fully, with all of my being, but my approach turned out to be completely backwards. The truth is, I couldn’t understand who I really was until I fully loved the Lord.

Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to love God “correctly.” Think about your relationships with your parents or your friends- anyone you love. How often do you analyze how to love those people. We don’t think about love we just do it. We do it by investing our time and our hearts in those relationships. We just show up and care.

So here’s what I do. I show up for God and I care about what He has to say. Talk to Him, read what He has to say to you in the Bible, and care enough to respond to it by the way you live your life.