Changes.

It is so hard to believe it was 4 months ago that I set off on my journey to New York. Looking back on the days before I came I am reminded of the changes God has done in me, and in my life. I was a totally different girl 4 months ago. I have learned so much about God and myself. Before I came I relyed totally on myself for everything, I had a very hard time trusting in God. I worried about things that weren't even in my control. My senior year of high school was a really tough year for me. You may not have known it but I was struggling with a lot of things. I was trying to figure out who Kylie was by the worlds standards and not who Kylie is in God's eyes. During my senior year I just stuck to myself a lot and didn't really talk to very many people at school. Since I was little I have always done that, I haven't really had a problem with not having very many friends, my few close friends were fine with me. Since being at Word of Life I have met some really awesome people and have actually enjoyed making an effort to get to know people. I have been totally taken out of my comfort zone countless times since being here and as a result have grown tremendously. God has been teaching me more about Him through other people and their stories.
In September I was totally lost, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I have learned that it isn't what Kylie wants to do, its what God wants Kylie to do. He has a purpose and a plan for my life that is greater than I can ever imagine (Jeremiah 29:11). One thing is for sure, I want to live my life for Jesus and tell everyone who I come across that Jesus loves them no matter what they do and that He died on the Cross for ALL their sins, so that we wouldn't have to. God loves us SO incredibly much. It amazes me everyday. Now, I am not saying that its going to be easy surrendering everything to God, cause its not, its going to be really hard! I am going to have to surrender to Him each and every day, but to me its worth everything.

These are some verses that I have been reading a lot lately:

1 John 2:15-17 say: "Do not love the world, or anything in the world, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For every thing in the world- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does- comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

1 John 3:16-18 : "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. ANd we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and truth."

Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

1 Corintians 10:23-24: "Everything is permissible- but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible- but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others."

Romans 12:9-13: "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another is brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people whoa re in need. Practice hospitality."

Psalm 103:12 - "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."

Proverbs 31:30- "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

Those are just a few verses that have really been changing my heart and the way I go about life. God has changed my life, and He can change yours too!

I am looking forward to going back home and showing the love of Jesus to everyone!

There is this video we watch a Word of Life every friday before Snow Camp starts. It is a great reminder of who God is. I encourage each of you to watch is. To watch it, go to godtube.com and search for "Thats my King" it is AMAZING!!

Well I know this is long but I had to share what God is doing in my life with you all! :)

i'm back in new york

I left cali to come back to new york friday the 2 and arrived in albany saturday at 12:15 am. This time i didn't have the comfort of a friend to travel with. It was very hard leaving home again, and all my family and friends. To tell you the truth I thought about the possibility of staying home. But some how God got me up those escalators, and on that plane once again. The first half of the trip seemed very fast. The plane from Sacramento to Las Vegas was running late, so instead of having my 1 hour layover like I thought, I had to run from one gate all the way to the other side of the air port to make it on the other plane to albany. I made it just in time. I believe I was the last passenger on the plane. After a very long plane ride i arrived in albany and was amazed by all the snow on the ground. Growing up in Cali is totally different than the way it is here. I quickly got off the plane and went to the baggage claim. I somehow managed to get all three of my bags and went and waited for someone from the school to pick me up. Finally, someone came up to me and asked if I was a student at Word of Life. I was so relieved because I was beginning to think they forgot about me, and I really didn't like the idea of spending the night in an airport. We got in the car and started heading back to the school. Before we got there she was nice enough to take me through the taco bell drive thru. It is open till 2 in the morning! That was my last real meal :)  When I got to the school they literally just stopped the car and didn't help me at all with my bags. Picture this: A girl from cali, walking in all this snow, with three very heavy bags trying to drag them up steep stairs. And to top it all off the dorm was LOCKED! I panicked and quickly ran after the van, but i didn't get her attention so i called kate, hoping she would answer, and she did, thank the lord :) I got three hours of sleep that night because i had to be up for snow camp meetings... not fun! 

Yesterday we started classes and sadly i slept through them. I don't no what was wrong with me but I had such a hard time staying awake. Today was better, I only fell asleep during one class, so I am getting better :)

Anyways, I just thought I would fill you in on my trip here. I need to get caught up on homework so i am not behind when snow camp starts. 

I just want to say that I am very glad I am here. Yes I miss home a lot but I am learning so much about God and myself. 

I will write more later :)

packing :)

Today I dug my suitcases out of the closet down the hall and started putting all my clothes in them :) I am SO excited that in a week I will be at my favorite place in the world, home! I didn't really realize it till I came here, but I took home for granted. Home is the best place in the world. I can't wait to be surrounded by people I love :) It will be so wonderful! It seems like it is taking forever to get to Wednesday! I wish it would just be here already! 

Tomorrow (Sunday) I have classes, and also on Monday. I usually get those days off. But they have to cram all of our classes together in order for us to be home for Thanksgiving. Oh man speaking of Thanksgiving... I am so excited to get REAL food! No more cheese, pita, and mushy rice for me! :)

If you guys could pray for my flight on wednesday. I haven't traveled by myself before and am a bit nervous. I have a lay over in Las Vegas so that should be interesting :) 

Anyways, I can't wait to be home! 

See you all soon!

yay!

i come home in 5 days! i am so excited to see everyone! 

love you all! and see you soon! :) 

- Ky Ky

9 days!

it is officially nine days till the day i come home! and i can't even begin to tell you how excited i am to get on that plane. i am so excited to see everyone. i finally get to meet jack, and see co co!!! 

anyways, yesterday i got back from superbowl. basically, a bunch of youth groups come and watch a hockey game and then after that a message is shared and then after the message is fun games that last till 6 in the morning. 

after the message was shared the speaker asks the kids if they want to come forward they can, and the counselors (me) were waiting outside to talk with them. I talked to two girls, who came together. One was 13, and the other 14. The 13 year olds mother died not too long ago so she just wanted to make a new dedication to God, the other trusted Christ for the first time. So i explained the Gospel to them and made sure they understood what it means to Trust in Christ. After that, I prayed with them and they went back to the arena. 

A girl named Christie (my team leader) and I went to a bowling alley and helped out there. We basically got to run the place. We got the kids their bowling shoes, passed out pizza, and drinks, and helped with the prizes. It was a lot of fun. At around 3 I took a caffeine pill, bad idea! (when I told joey want i did, he wasn't very happy with me haha, supposedly they can make your heart stop and you can die, and you can get addicted to them So i promised him i wouldn't take one again :) i couldn't fall asleep for anything on the way home. everyone was knocked out and i was just sitting there with my eyes wide open. finally we got back to the BI around 12 and I went back up to my room to wait for Kate. When she got back we went to lunch and then came back and slept 2 1/2 hours till dinner. After dinner I came back and slept till this morning haha. I feel so gross but I am not tired anymore. Kate is CRAZY she was down in the lounge till 12 am! She is still sleeping as i'm writing this :) 

Anyways, I was up for more than 24 hours.... and I was seriously so CRAZY it was funny! 

I need to get ready for Church now, so I gotta go. I can't wait to see everyone next week!

Open Air Evangelism

As most of you already know by previous post on Friday and Saturday I was in New York City doing Open Air Evangelism with my Ministry Team for Word of Life. It was a very amazing experience, and one that I will cherish forever....

On Friday after lunch we all gathered in the bus to leave for our 4 hour journey to NYC! I was beyond excited not only to go to New York City, but to also have the opportunity to witness to the lost. Well, 4 hours had past and we arrived at our destination. We quickly dropped our stuff off at a little old Church we stayed at, right in the heart of New York. We then set off to the AMAZING Time Square. For those of you who haven't been there, it is SO awesome and beautiful!! I highly recommend you take a trip there sometime in the near future. But anyways.. we got with our partners and they set us on the street. I always had a guy watching me. The one that was keeping an eye on me was actually from New York City, so that was really cool. It was really hard for me to have the confidence to go up and talk to people. Finally after some time I decided that I should at least pass out tracks, so that is what I did. The night ended so incredibly fast and it was time to head back to the Church. 

The next day we got up and got ready for another day of witnessing. We went to Bryant Park, which was really cute. There was a little ice skating rink right in the middle. I really wanted to go ice skating but then I remembered why I was there, and it wasn't to do that :) It started raining pretty bad so we quickly got on the subway and headed to Grand Central Station. This was a whole different experience in itself. There was SO many different types of people, it was really scary. Again, I felt very scared going up and talking to people one on one so I continued to just hand out tracks to people. 

The best part of this whole experience was seeing my fellow classmates talking to people about Jesus, and seeing how the people reacted to what they were saying. In Grand Central Station, sitting across from me was a mom and her two daughters. I really wanted to go talk to them, but right when I was about to, some of my friends beat me to her. So, I just sat back and watched them. It brought tears to my eyes seeing how they accepted what they were saying. After my friends left, I just sat there and watched the mom explain to her children what they were saying. Sometimes it can make a persons day, if you just go up and say a friendly hello. 

There were about 26 people that trusted Christ from our group alone this weekend. We have an amazing God! 

I didn't have the time to take pictures when I was there, but I am going back soon with my parents and Joey. So, I will be sure to get some then :)

By the way: The Martina McBride song is for my mom :) 

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow I will be going to witness to the people in new york city. i both scared and excited for this expericnce. keep me in your prayers. i will be sure to post lots of pictures when i get back!