2018

2017 was a really difficult year for me, but 2018 was a refreshment to my soul, honestly. A lot of change has taken place and I have found myself in places that I never would have anticipated. Just this year, I have traveled to ten different countries, read and studied the entire Bible, taken some time to become the most in shape I’ve ever been, and am now leading a team of young missionaries in East Africa!

At the beginning of this year I was still working three jobs, but it slowed down so much after the holidays, and I quit each of them about a month before I left for Switzerland. I had some time to spend with friends and family.

In April, I left for Switzerland, to take the Bible Core Course at YWAM Lausanne, stopping briefly in Northern Ireland/Ireland to visit a close friend from DTS. I read through the entire Bible, studying twelve books inductively, and traveling while doing so; to Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. I saw some places that I had only dreamed of before and I made some really incredible friends. It was honestly the time of my life. I genuinely enjoyed every single day of it.

After this was a brief time of traveling alone in Germany, which was beautiful, before heading home for a bit. I dedicated this time to enjoying my friends and family and to my physical health. I had some time to spend with my friends, reconnecting, even, with old ones that I had fallen out of touch with, and family. I was enjoying the beauty of California, having my usual beach bonfires, coffee conversations, and camping trips in the redwood forests. They were extra enriched now, though, for some reason. Leaving things for a while gives you a new appreciation for them and I’ve become a different person through the spiritual growth that has taken place in me. There was also the knowledge that this would very possibly be the last times for many of these things. While I’m not always around, I do really love and appreciate the beautiful place where I grew up. I was learning a lot about nutrition and working out daily, reaching healthy goals that I had set for myself and seeing/feeling results that I could be really proud of. I took time to mentally relax and recharge, regularly, reading and enjoying the sun a lot. It was a very peaceful time at home – the most peaceful I have had yet.

In September, I was back in Lausanne, staffing a DTS alongside a great team. I never expected to enjoy leading this much and I’ve learned a lot doing it; a lot about serving and about stepping out of my comfort zone, having to take responsibility in a new sort of way. It’s been a great time of growth for me and I hope that it has been for those who I’m leading, as well. I loved revisiting topics that I went over in my own DTS over two years ago, and I loved sharing some of what I learned with others. I’ve grown more intimate with God and he has not been silent.

I’m now leading a team of nine students with two of my fellow staff members in East Africa, living in a village and working in ministries to help reach out to the people here with God’s love, doing all that we can to help them develop their community. It’s truly a beautiful country full of beautiful people and every day I am impressed by the maturity that the students display to me. I pray that this will be a really memorable time for them – a highlight in their walk with God. It definitely is for me.

This year was one of joy, adventure, friendship, beauty, balance, and self-discipline. I learned a lot about myself in 2017, and this year I was able to look more outward, observing and intaking the people and places around me, seeing the world more and more through the eyes of God.

I have felt that 2019 is a year of new things. Every year is, of course, especially for the young. But I think that this year will hold big new things and new stability – never stagnation, but stability of a new sort. I think a lot of pieces of my all-over-the-place life may start to come together more in a way that I wouldn’t necessarily expect. This is a word that many have spoken over me in the past couple of months, and I’m praying that it may come to pass.

Thank you so much for reading. You can sign up for my newsletter if you want to hear more about what the team is doing here right now. Just email me: emkathey@gmail.com!

I hope that you have some great stories from this year and have created wonderful memories! Blessings into the New Year!

#europe #travel #health #spiritual