“Timothy, I thank God for you-the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day, I constantly remember you in my prayers. I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again.”

2 Timothy 1:3-7 (NLT)

Hey guysss!! It has definitely been a good minute since I last wrote a blog post. To be honest, I said I would have one a few weeks ago, but that never happened haha… life has been so busy that I have struggled to find time to sit down and reflect on what God is doing in my life. Originally, I was convinced God gave me a blog topic for April, but then when I sat down to write, I felt that topic was actually meant for another day. So, that led me down the path of writing nothing for weeks...! Sorry guys… but it’s okay now!! Because after taking time to ask God what He wanted me to write about during this time before leaving, He gave me a mini blog series idea! It’s called… Preparing for Blast Off! Basically, over the next few months, I’m going to be open and honest about what this interesting time before leaving looks like! So, instead of me filling this post with rambling, let’s talk about April’s topic, Family and Friends!!

Let me be real… family and friends are without a doubt the hardest part about leaving for 9 months. The only reason my heart loves the state of Wisconsin is that’s where basically all the people I love are!! When I first found out I was accepted into World Race’s Gap Year Program, I was overcome with so much excitement that it didn’t fully sink in what that truly means in the case of the people in my life. It didn’t really hit me until Good Friday.

It was on Good Friday that our family was supposed to go to the worship night our church was hosting. Before heading there, my parents decided that it would be a good idea to last minute go to this Good Friday Experience… an hour before the worship event began. I mean, yes, this experience thing sounded really cool! I just didn’t want to be late for the worship night we had originally planned. So, we arrived at the church where this event would be hosted, and they gave us this pamphlet to read over while we entered. The first words that caught my attention were “This experience takes about 45-60 minutes”. Uhm… what?!?! For me, this was a problem… I showed my dad what it said. He said, “We’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.” Excuse me!? We were definitely going to be late, how could I not worry!? But it was while we were walking through this experience that one of my sisters (can’t remember which one) looked at me and said, “Next Easter! Oh wait… never mind, you won’t be there anyway…” At first, I looked at her like she was dumb. Why wouldn’t I be here for next Easter? Then it hit me… oh right… I wasn’t going to be home next Easter; I will still be on my mission trip. Nine months is a really long time, isn’t it…

While we continued to walk through this Good Friday Experience, I started to think about what I was going to be gone for. I began to realize that not only would I be gone for big things like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthdays, New Year's, Easter… but I will also miss the tiny things. Such as Monday Family Nights, always hanging out with friends every Sunday after church (even though we never know what we’ll be doing until Sunday), sleepovers with the girls, eating ice cream with a movie and the fam, just being able to hug the people I love most… I won’t get to do any of these things for nine whole months. What am I getting myself into?!

So instead of being honest and expressing these thoughts I was struggling with comprehending, I chose to keep it to myself. I didn’t want to remind my family and friends of these hard events I was just beginning to grasp. Well, to nobody’s surprise this “bottling things up” idea did not last very long. It was this last Monday that I found myself sobbing at our dining room table about how I just want time with my friends and the people I love before I don’t see them for a long time. This means it’s currently fresh and harder to process. I love all the people God has blessed me with. I really can’t imagine my life without any of them. I’m going to miss them all so much!

And since God’s timing is absolutely perfect, for my college course, I was assigned to study and write about any passage I wanted to in either 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, or Titus. At first, I kinda just skimmed through each of these books because I wanted to find the shortest passage. Eventually, I realized that by doing that, I was getting the least out of my education as possible. So, I reread through each section of all of these books over and over again until I found a section that specifically stood out to me. Then I finally found it, as you probably guessed from the verse at the top, I found 2 Timothy 1:3-4 and immediately started crying. As Timothy cried in the midst of their parting, you don’t do that for somebody who is just an acquaintance. This verse just helped me realize how close and pure Timothy and Paul’s friendship really was! And despite their time apart, Paul was already excited for his and Timothy’s reunion. So, where am I even going with this...? Like Paul, I’m going to be away for a long time, but I’m already excited for the day of my return, and unlike Paul, I know my time away will be much better than Paul’s time in prison. Yes, leaving family and friends will be hard, but I trust that what God has for me through this trip will be something beautiful. 

That is all I have to share! Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to read a little of what God is doing in my life.

With much love,

Kielynn :)

P.S., here are some updates for anyone wondering…

Currently 13% funded! Praise God!!

If God is leading you to give or maybe even sponsor me, you can click the link above! Thanks, guys :)