Bitter Sweet Goodbye

Hello There--Caitlin here! 

Mom, Dad, Kevan, and Stephen--I've missed you guys so much! I can't wait to see you all soon! :) 

I volunteered to write on the last day of the trip because I knew I would need time to process all we've been through these past few weeks, and boy was I right. (Sorry Mom!) ;)

Well, today marks our last day here in ZA (South Africa), and to be honest, we all have mixed emotions about leaving. While we miss our homes, loved ones, etc…South Africa has stirred something in each of our hearts, and we're not quite ready to leave. 

At least we had a very easy day today. We went to St. Paul's church in Philippi (a township near the Sweethome township), and painted a few rooms in the church. Afterwards, we headed back to the Retreat Center (which we now call home) to pack. As we all became accustomed to sixteen hour days filled with classes, camp activities, screaming kids, midnight bedtimes, and 7am alarm settings…the quiteness of our last day made all of our hearts realize just how much has happened in the past few weeks, and how much our hearts are now forced back to the reality of everyday life. 

But while our day is less full schedule-wise, it is packed with goodbyes. Today we say farewell to our Bridges kids, and that is not something I'm personally looking forward to. I have a very hard time with goodbyes, so tissues will be a necessity. I have absolutely fallen in love with these kids, and hate the fact that I won't get to see them throughout their school year. Their warmth, joy, laughter, and hearts have captured all of us, and we all wish we could take them with us, or better yet, stay here with them. Our hearts pray that God would lead them through this school year, and that they would grow into the men and women they're meant to be. The love we have for these kids is abundant, and we will miss them every single we day we're not with them.

Oh my goodness, I am so overwhelmed while thinking over the last few weeks.  I seriously feel like we've been here a few months rather than the fourteen days we've actually been here! God has done such incredible things! And now that we're leaving, I can't say that I'm taking my heart with me. From the second we landed in Cape Town, it felt like home; and I know I am not the only team member with that feeling. It's every missionary's dream to fall in love with the place they're called to serve in, but I found that we didn't fall in love with South Africa, we fell in love with its people. 

Whether it was a child from the Sweethome township, a member of the CHE's (Community Health Evangelism), the high schooler's at Bridges, we all made deep connections with the people we were called to serve. And while, in my mind, I would be bringing home the weight of their stories, and the burden of their sorrows, I'm blessed with the gift of their joy. Because in spite of their circumstances, I saw more joy, more laughter, and more peace than anyone I know back home. God has blessed them with the peace of His presence, and they choose to rejoice, rather than weep. I am changed by their example of trust, service, and faith; and I pray, for our entire team, we hold on to the mentalitiy these beautiful people live by.

While I could go on and on, I know I need to end with this simple statement: God is here. God is working here in this broken Country. And while there will always be worries and concerns for the people we leave behind, God isn't leaving them. The family we have here is just as close to us as the family back home. We are bound by our Savior, and in that, we can smile knowing He is with them always.

South Africa, you stole my heart. And I don't really mind! ;)

On our way home

Hey everyone, (thanks for the assist on this one Wood.)

If all has gone to plan, you're reading this post, and we're flying somewhere at 35,000 feet. You can track our flight status by clicking on the links below. (Oh, and Jami, Isaac, and Caleb, see you soon!)



Our first flight, Cape Town to London. VS604

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/VIR604/history/20140118/2040Z/FACT/EGLL

Our second flight, London to LAX VS23

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/VIR23/history/20140119/1515Z/EGLL/KLAX

Now it's Time to Say Goodbye to All Our Company...

Hey guys!

It’s Kristin…tonight’s blog post is brought to you by me!

Real quick…Want to wish my mom a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Love you mucho and we’ll just say you’re turning 40 again. <3

Anywho, today was an awesome day. We finished up our final day of teaching at the academy and spent our last day in Sweet Home. Our team rocked it here at the academy and even stepped up when a bible and physics class had to be covered at the last minute. Erin, Steven, and Sarah used the opportunity to pump up the students one last time. Apparently, Sarah was the MVP of the day when she decided to teach physics and school Erin and Steven on the subject. For a brief moment, the students got to know what it was like to make paper airplanes in class and not get sent to the principal’s office. All in all, our team handled it once again and never stopped loving on the kids.

As for our team in Sweet Home, what a day! We actually had a day where we spent the entire time with the kiddos. It was some kind of wonderful. No matter how many times we see their smiling faces, we can’t help, but run and throw them up into the air; never wanting to let them go. Today was filled with tag, wrestling, way too much dirt in the mouth and even a few vampire bites, but it was all worth it. The later part of the afternoon was full of fun with our kids from the OVC camp we had last week. It was such a blessing to be able to see these kiddos one more time before we left. You worry that maybe they've gone back to their everyday life and left us behind, but these kids love us like family; I hope that will never change.

With all of these kids, both in the academy and in Sweet Home, it’s such a humbling experience to see that they have practically nothing, but love life and love us unconditionally. We tend to spend our time wondering about and yearning for a way to help them escape, but they are such a beacon of God’s love in these communities. As I've told my team, we are wired to solve problems and that’s ok, but it is these experiences that God calls out and says, “Just wait and see what I can do.” Although we look at a big picture and at what we could possibly provide these children back home, Christ looks at the biggest picture and looks at what these kids can do for Him.

Today was filled with laughter and tears; hugs and goodbyes, but this story isn't over. I think that’s where many of us stumble. We spend months are years planning for these trips and expect these huge God moments, but sometimes we forget that He likes to speak in a gentle whisper from time to time. So many lives have been touched, that it is impossible to not see that Christ‘s kingdom is here and now. These experiences are only the beginning!

As hard as it is going to be to say by to such beauty, I am excited to share what Christ has been doing first hand.  Although, I am definitely buying a vacation house in Cape Town…if I magically win the lotto.

I love you all and thank you so much for supporting our team!!

Love much!

Kristin

Back to Sweet Home: Day 2

Hello!  It’s Morgan writing to you tonight!  It’s midnight and we have had yet another packed day, but something about this place keeps us all going and LAUGHING from sun up to sun down :-).

Those of us that stayed back to help teach at the academy yesterday, along with a few others, headed into Sweet Home this morning.  Kaila, Amber, Natalie, and Chris stayed back this time to step in and teach at the academy and run the after school program. 

Our trip into the township started off with a stop at a Wal-Mart like store to fulfill some of the tangible needs in Sweet Home that the team saw yesterday during their visit.  The after school program and informal school in Sweet Home had virtually no supplies.  So we stocked up on sports equipment, school, and office supplies to take back to them.  Our first stop was to the informal school.  This is where those children from Sweet Home who do not have a birth certificate are able to attend school.  We were able to help them clean up and survey some of the major repairs they need to the building itself.  A huge prayer request would be for the time and resources to make the school building safe and equipped for the teachers and students before they begin next week!   Heather and Erin were able to educate some of the CHEs (Community Health Evangelists) with tools to use in the classroom.  The CHEs are volunteers from townships that have chosen to empower themselves so help their community with the problems they face.  It was really amazing to meet some of them and see how eager they are to make a change in Sweet Home. 

For the next workshop we all headed to the tiny church building in Sweet Home so Adam and Heather could teach on Money Management.  They did and amazing job. I know their knowledge in this area was such a blessing to the CHEs who attended!  Yesterday the team gathered some information from a couple of women who were in need of some help growing their chicken selling business.  Today, they were able to present them with a flyer they created to advertise as well as some supplies for the business.  They were completely overwhelmed and it was really special to see God provide for them through our team.   The rest of us were outside being mobbed by about 30 children!  My highlight of the day was seeing some of the kids we got so close to during the OVC camp running around Sweet Home.  We really just can’t get enough of these kids!   

Tonight, we got to just hang out with the academy students at the bonfire, making S’Mores and worshipping.  Caitlin led us in another beautiful devotional and shared her testimony.  I think I speak for all of us when I say how blessed we have been on this trip by both Caitlin and Steven’s gift for delivering God’s word to the team and the students here these past two weeks!   I think we are all soaking up every second we can spend with these kids in the last couple days we are here.  It is really starting to sink in for all of us that we will be leaving this incredible place so soon.   

Chris Kamalski, the student's pastor at Bridges Academy, led us in a short debrief  to prepare us in out transition back home.  We were able to share our hearts and just pray and encourage one another, which was really special for all of us.  We have grown incredibly close and I can’t begin to describe how many ways I have been blessed by each member of this team.  God truly put us all here together for a reason and I feel like I have gained 14 new family members! 

I can’t wait to see everyone I love back home in a couple days!  Thank you all for your prayers and support and please continue to pray for our last days in the townships as well as our hearts and the academy students hearts as we are all going to have a very difficult time saying out goodbyes Saturday. 

Back to Sweet Home

Heather here!

It’s a little sobering to think that we have only 3 more days left…

Most of the team went in to Sweet Home today, but a few were scheduled to stay back to help run the Academy after school programs.  The Academy has had a number of curve balls thrown at them this week with a few teachers either leaving or deciding not to return the day before school started.  Our team was asked to help fill in for a couple of these classes with today being their 1^st day back to school.  As of last night our understanding was that we were going to be helping in the Math and Science classes, but were informed this morning that we were needed to fill in for English, Religious Studies, and EMS (Economics/Business) as well.  Ryan, Steven, Caitlin, Morgan and Kristin did an outstanding job stepping up to the need!!!

Today was our first day back in Sweet Home since the 1^st day we arrived.  It was bittersweet for many.  Being able to see some of the kids from the OVC Camp last week was exciting, but the reality of their situation became much tougher now that we have names and stories to match the faces.   Monica led the morning session with the CHE’s (Community Health Evangelist) in a discussion to develop a flyer to assist sales and marketing for the ladies who sell chickens.  The intention was to also meet with the ladies who are starting a fast-food restaurant, but not all were present.  We are hoping to talk with them in the session I will be leading tomorrow on money management.  

Before we began our afternoon session, we were able to do a couple home visits.  God has really stirred up the hearts of many on our team to pursue what options exist to get kids who participate in the informal school the option to attend the normal school.  The 1^st home we stopped at was one of the homes we prayed over when we 1^st arrived.  The child who lives there has been unable to attend normal school because she does not have possession of her birth certificate.  This is unfortunately a fairly common road block these kids face.  The 2^nd home we stopped at was one of the kids that attended the OVC camp.  This 11 year old kid has been through quite an ordeal the last couple of days.  After being locked up in his home by his caretakers, he was able to run to his aunt for refuge.  He is also one who does not have his birth certificate.  The big dilemma for him is that he does not know his actual birthday, just the month and year.   He asked us to come to his aunt’s to pray and she was gracious to allow us in her home.  After Sisanda (who is on Bridges staff) was able to translate the discussion and we prayed, many of the girls began to discuss ways we could help including meeting with the social worker to learn more.  Please pray for this situation and for our heavy hearts.

The afternoon session to review ideas for the After School Programs (specifically life skills, health and discipleship) was productive as well. 

When we returned from Sweet Home we went to the Academy to have dinner with the students and for devotion.  We all shared in our debrief tonight how much we enjoyed just having another opportunity to spend time with the students.  They are already telling us (some fighting back tears) that they don’t want us to leave.  This is already preparing to be an emotional last few days!  Pray for focus, comfort and the ability to embrace each day without the fear or sadness that our time here is coming to a close.

And please continue to pray for our time in Sweet Home that over the next few days God would move in mighty ways!

Thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers!  Goodnight!!!

Is This Real Life

Hey Ya’ll!

Hope all is well at home back in the states; things are going great here in South Africa! Today we had a day off and we went on an African safari to bond together as a team and recharge for our next set of classes/activities.

It was an early start for us…like 6:30 am start to be exact, but we all took naps on the car ride. Once we arrived at the safari we were greeted with glasses of sparkling apple cider and an amazing view with breakfast. As we waited for our Safari we were entertained by Natalie and a peacock, who had a stare down.

The safari was absolutely breathtaking with not a single cloud in sight and the sun shining; it was gorgeous! It was a bumpy ride, but the animals were worth it. We saw lions, elephants, zebras, ostriches, hippos, rhinos, springboks, mountain buffalo, and other animals. We certainly were the wacky tourist on the safari as we were all trying to get the perfect picture of all the animals and gorgeous views, I felt bad for the few other people on the safari with us as they probably thought we were “Crazy Americans.” But it was truly beautiful for God is the greatest artist. After the safari we went to dinner in Franschhoek and walked around a bit engulfing ourselves in the culture around us. It really is a beautiful little town. Before bed we got to see the academy kids and wish them a good first day as they start school tomorrow. I got to pray with a group of them because they were nervous. It was a cool experience to pray for peace and comfort. These kids are great kids and this country is beautiful in so many ways. It’s so surreal and I’m constantly asking myself, “Is this real life?”

Today was a great day. It was nice to just stand together as a team in the glory of God and take it all in. It was a blessing to bond and recharge as tomorrow we start teaching CHE classes, doing prayer walks, and house visits in Sweet Home. We also will be doing the after school program at the academy. I’ve seen God doing great things through the hearts of this team. And I’m excited to see what He will continue to do these last few days. He has used each of us and our gifts in incredible ways ministering to these people and teaching lifelong lessons. It’s hard to explain the bond we have as a team, but one thing I know for sure is that we are all rooted in Christ and it’s been rad to see God work through all of us. We are here because God called each of us and it’s evident that God is working here in South Africa and we are blessed to be a part of it. I know that God is stirring up in all of our hearts and I’m excited to see what God has in store for the rest of the trip because this is real life and God is definitely moving.

Much love to you all! Be Blessed!

-Steven

P.S. Hi Mom & Dad! And shout out to all my friends and family! I love and miss you all!! J

Monday Happy Day

Hey everyone. This is Ryan writing the blog tonight. Today was an overall great and happy day. We, as a team, had a ton of fun together and with the kids. It was our last day of classes with the academy students and our comfort levels have skyrocketed. There was some trouble with the 8^th grade boys, but that’s to be expected no matter what country you’re in. We have made some great connections with the students and I am having more fun with this age group than I expected.

What I took away from today is how proud I am of the 12^th grade boys. They’ve opened up to us and what they have to share has blown me away, in a good way. They are grounded in Christ and I have great hope for them in the future. Although the troubles they have to face in the townships and at their homes is so foreign to us and so unbelievable, I can still see God preparing them and using them.

I am really looking forward to Wednesday when we will get to go back into Sweethome and see the OVC kids. My heart is still with all of them.

One more huge high for today…one 9^th grade girl (that we call ‘little Erin’ because she looks just like Erin) accepted Christ into her life. The entire trip is worth it just for that. She is such a sweet girl and we are all so happy to accept her into our family through Christ.   

Sunday Funday

Hello all!  Special hello to Mom and Dad—I love and miss you guys!

Today was awesome.  We kicked off this morning with church.  Caitlin and I led several worship songs then had the opportunity be included in the student’s worship—they are amazing.  It is such a blessing to be included in something so beautiful.  After worship, Amber shared a part of her story then Ryan delivered the message.  God used Ryan in some amazing ways today: he spoke truth and was such a light to not only the kids, but also to our team. 

Later in the day, all of our team and the academy kids went to a ropes course.  Upon our arrival we broke up into teams and started the course.  This was the perfect opportunity for the kids to have a chance to work together as a team and support one another.   When I struggled to climb an eight foot (though it seemed much taller) wall, all of the team members worked together to assist me.  It was awesome to see how everyone encouraged and helped each other.

Following the ropes course there was a lot of time to hang around with the kids, which was much different from the busy schedules that we had the past couple of days.  There was space for relationships to be formed and for God to work.  We are so blessed to have time to get to know and love on these kids.  We were able to build stronger relationships with the students during the evening games. 

Overall, today was filled with highs.  I love worshiping with the students, and I love hanging out with them.  It feels just like youth group back home.  I laugh a lot and I smile a lot.  God’s love is evident, and we continue to do everything for Him.  I am excited to see what God will do in our remaining days here.

Thank all of you for your prayers.  The support has been invaluable :D

LOVE,

                Sara Barring

I think they like us!

Hey there family and friends, it’s Erin!! 

First I want to thank you all for your prayers, support, and comments!!  They mean so much to us.  Anyhow, I am excited to write this post tonight.  Our team had such a great day with the Academy kids!!  Today felt less hectic and seemed to flow better and our morning started off much better!!  The kids are having a great time and it has been such a blessing to see the kids responding and participating in our classes.  I have really loved watching our team members step up and succeed in their teaching roles and also step up to take care of other tasks that need to be done.  There is so much love getting passed around here and I know that God is with us!!! 

Here are a few highlights from today: there was a water attack on the RockHarbor leaders.  But don’t worry; some of our RockHarbor team helped the kids, including our leader Monica, make sure each leader participated! All I will say is there were a few people dragged or carried out of rooms (Heather and I) and attacked with water from the kids and the traitorous RockHarbor team members!!  The kids loved it though and it was great to bond with them through that.  We had guys and girls night tonight which the kids really enjoyed also and it was great to see the kids really get comfortable and open up to our team!!!  There were several moments today where I was able to stop and look around and what I saw was beautiful;  Team members and academy kids were having one on one (or two) conversations and sharing stories.  Really being brothers and sisters in Christ; Family.  These kids are really smart, funny, sweet, and full of joy.  It’s incredible to be able to be a part of their lives and get to know them. 

I ask that you would keep our team and the academy kids in prayer over the next week.  Pray for opportunities to connect and minister to the kids and pray for God to prepare our hearts for whatever he is calling us to this next week. 

Blessings,

Erin

P.S. Hi mom and dad!!!  And friends!!  Miss you all and love you!!

#tensionswerehigh

Hey, it’s Kristin!

Sidebar: HI MOM AND POPS!! Miss you all and love you more!

Well, day 7 is officially winding down and I hope I don’t pass out before I’m done with this.

Man, what didn’t happen today…attacks from the enemy; missing hot dog buns, late classes. Nothing is off limits when you’re getting ready to teach 60 high school students. After such an emotional send off with the OVC kids yesterday and a breathtaking day exploring Cape Town, the enemy had found his perfect opportunity to strike. It was evident this morning that those amazing moments that leave us breathless are the ones the enemy craves to bring to a crashing halt.

Lets start from the beginning…we’ve all had those days where we wake up on the wrong side of the bed, but we usually turn it around after our first cup of coffee. Today was not that day; at least not for me. I don’t even think a Venti Americano with 5 shots of espresso could have turned my morning around. It was like I was the anti-Minions in Despicable Me 2 and no one was safe (sorry, had lots of time to watch movies on the plane ride). It was such an unnatural feeling; a feeling of heaviness weighing me down. I knew I had the choice to turn my morning around, but it felt miles away and unattainable. Self-doubt and unworthiness flooded me. I cried out to God and heard no answer. I was suffocating and the enemy was the one tightening the noose.

The best thing about these mission trips is that you’re blessed with 14 new best friends; people who are frequently going through the same emotions and roller coasters that you are. Luckily, some of those people happen to be a little smarter and a little more experienced than you are. Take Erin for example, a.k.a. my travel buddy, she’s just a couple years older than me, but could run circles around me with her knowledge and love. We’ve had an awesome opportunity to bond over the last year and build a genuine friendship. So much so, that she has decided to adopt me; Ryan is thrilled. Then there’s Monica, our fearless slash overly competitive leader, who God designed for loving on these kids and us. Any who, I got to see these friendships step up today when they both individually took me aside and broke down my walls.

I don’t know how many of you have had the pleasure of participating in a mission trip overseas, but it has been made clear that we all build up these expectations of what we are going to experience. I had a full year to build up hope and excitement, so when I stepped off the plane and I didn’t have that, “OMG, I’m totally in Africa” moment, I was totally bummed! I had built up this idea that I would get here and the heavens would open; angels would sing and I would have direction for the rest of my life. That was soooo not the case.

Let’s get back to today. Long story semi-short, I felt like I was missing something and that I wasn’t sure where I fit in. After my convos with Erin and Monica, I was reassured that all of us were chosen for this team and those reasons were starting to peak through. With their help, I realized that the “aha” moment I thought I was missing was due to the fact that I already spend a ton of time with youth back home; this kind of thing is just natural to me.

After regrouping, it became clear that I was not the only one under attack. The enemy knew how much of a high we were on and he was determined to bring us down. It was such a blessing when Adam could feel this presence and prayed over our group. It felt like an instant weight had been lifted and I could breathe again. When you come to places like this, you expect to encounter people dealing with these kinds of attacks, but you rarely expect that person to be you.

Following our impromptu prayer session, we were back on the right track and loving on everyone again. We spent the next few hours playing catch up and preparing for the academy kids to show up. With their arrival, we were excited to have brand new faces to love on. Let me tell you, these high schoolers are just as sassy as our OC kids…and I love it!! Although we could feel the enemy trying to find another gap in our community, like running out of hot dog buns, we pulled through and rocked our first day of classes! I’m so proud of our team and the way they led today. Many of them do not work with youth on a normal basis, so it was refreshing to see the success that came out of today.

We go into tomorrow tired, but stoked on what Christ has in store. We know that He is here with us and has this place engulfed in his love. My heart is full of joy when I think about the fact that we have a whole week left here. South Africa has stolen my heart and I’m so ok with giving it away.

Much Love,

Kristin 

Ps...I've come to realize that the key to a successful mission trip is nightly dance parties. 

#hashtag #HRodloveshashtags #isthisreallife #aretheresharksoverthere #wereallydoloveeachother #its1amandi'mtired #sinethembalhasanamericanmiddlenamenowit'swilliam #sinethembaactuallydanced

Emotional Roller Coaster!

Hi everyone, Kaila here!

This post is a bit late due to our internet issues but I wrote about our day on Thursday January 9.

I volunteered to write about one of our most interesting days here so far. When I say interesting it's because we started the day with an extremely emotional goodbye and ended with an exciting day exploring Cape Town.

It's hard to explain the emotions everyone was feeling this morning as we woke up knowing that we had to say goodbye to the OVC kids. After only 3 days with these kids, relationships were formed, memories were made, and hearts were invested. Caitlin said something I hadn't thought of before. She said something along the lines of "God doesn't work on time like we do so He can make miracles happen in short periods of time.” I think this is the exact thing that happened here. It was so amazing to see what we had been through together in just three days. After breakfast we shared our last moments together with some free time. We watched a slide show that Adam put together and the kids loved it! At one point one of them started to sing to put some music to the photos and everyone joined in on a worship song. It was a touching moment to see them praise God in that way. Then the time came for goodbyes, hugs, and tears. I’ll be honest and say I did not expect to feel what I did this morning. There was a much deeper connection with them and our team. Each of us had our own one or two kids that we formed a special bond with and letting go was heartbreaking. You could see those kids felt the same way. There was a relationship in particular between Ryan and a sweet young girl that we all knew was undeniably meant to be. God had brought these two together and watching that goodbye was the hardest. At first she avoided him because she was having a hard time facing the goodbye. Soon enough though he had her in his arms away from the group and she just held onto him and cried. He told me that he was praying over her and sung “Jesus Loves Me” to her. It is connections like theirs that make me know that God is working through us. She had love from him.

At first our sadness came from not wanting them to go, but then the harsh reality of them going back to the tough lives they lead in their townships began to sink in. They were going back to extreme poverty, danger, disease, unstable families, and brokenness. I know I can speak for every one when I say that we were all wishing we could take them home with us. It was really tough to say bye but we are left with changed hearts and I know we are all happy that we met each other. Not only did we get to love on these kids, but they loved on us too. They taught us more than they will ever know. Please pray for these amazing kids who desperately need it for protection, love, health, food & water, happiness, and especially to know God in their lives. We miss them already.

As we walked back to the retreat center I could feel that our team had bonded over this. We shared such an intense moment and we needed to lean on each other, support each other, and cry with each other. It was something I won’t forget.

We had some cleaning to do so we blasted a little Need To Breathe to help with the pain and got to work. After lunch we headed out for the day to explore Cape Town. We were excited because after the emotional morning a little distraction and time to reflect was much needed. First stop was at University of Cape Town where we got a personal tour from Sinethemba, a Bridges alumni who graduated and went on to college there. It was at the base of Table Mountain and had a view that was so beautiful! For anyone reading this who is deciding on where to go to college, you’re welcome. We took off from there to go to the Green Market where we did a little shopping and bartering (Natalie is a bartering wizard! Who knew?!). It was fun to wander around and talk to the people and see all the treasures they were selling. Next we headed to Camps Bay and stopped at a lookout point along the way. I’m sure you will all be seeing an abundance of photos from this spot when we get home. It was breathtaking! When we got down to the Camps Bay beach we took off our shoes and ran to the water to put our feet in. It was Amber’s first time in the Atlantic Ocean! The water was cold, the sand was white, and we were just happy to be there. Our final destination was the Water Front in the Victoria Wharf where we had a relaxing dinner. Pretty much everyone passed out in the car on the way home, trying to recover from our busy, roller-coaster-of-emotions day.

Our day off was such a blessing. It allowed us to refocus and refuel for tomorrow as we prepare for the Academy kids to arrive and our classes to start. I am so thankful for this team. Please be praying for strength, rest, energy, wisdom, and happiness.

Xo Kaila

Ps, big hugs to Taylor and my family and friends. I love you and miss you!