Fixing My Eyes on the Cross

Well, I have just about reached the halfway point of Kaleo and I can hardly believe it.  I am amazed with not only how fast the time has flown, but also how much God has taught me and grown me in such short of a time.  In spite of the long days and hard work that wears us out (as seen below), working at Five Guys has become almost natural to me, and God has been opening so many doors for ministry, I can hardly express how excited I am in my heart. 

As a project, we have all been making some wonderful memories, getting to know each other and God so well, and learning what a life lived for the Great Commission looks like.  A few weekends ago, we had a social where we all dressed up in things that come in four.  My D-group and I, minus Kelly, decided to go as a smore.  I was the lucky one who was chosen to dress as a marshmallow, haha.  Who would have thought that a human being could actually look like a marshmallow, but let me tell you, we made it happen.

This past week, we also began studying what is called process evangelism.  Until this point, we had been focusing on “cold-turkey” evangelism, where we simply shared the gospel with strangers.  Now we are beginning to learn how important it is to share with people we know and people with whom we can invest more time in and help in fostering spiritual growth.  God has opened so many doors with this.  I have been overwhelmed with how well we have been able to connect with our coworkers.  I feel as if I am a friend with many of them.  God has already allowed us to share His truth with four of them, and I am so grateful for His faithfulness and His willingness to use us as His servants. 

Through all of these things, we have been studying how important and central the cross of Christ is to evangelism, leadership, and our own personal lives.  We are reading a book titled Living the Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney as well as studying the book of II Timothy, and it is changing my life; I highly recommend reading and studying both to anyone who wants to grow in their faith.  One quote that really sums up what we are learning is this: “In the midst of our various responsibilities and many possible areas of service in the Kingdom of God, one overarching truth should motivate all our work and effect every part of who we are: Christ died for our sins.”  Mahaney points out that Paul told Timothy that the cross and the sacrifice Christ made for us is of “first importance” and should be what drives everything that we do.  I have been so convicted and moved through all of this.  In my life, the gospel has truly taken a backseat, and I am heartbroken to admit it.  If we forget the sacrifice Christ made and aren’t sharing it with others, what are we even doing as Christians?  In Matthew 28, the last words Christ says on earth are revealed.  He places a calling on His children to go and make disciples.  This was His plan to reach the world, and it is our calling to fulfill it.  I challenge all of you to read Matthew 28, and be reminded not only of the calling that is ours, but also of the greatest sacrifice that Christ made out of immense love for you.  When we realize how great the sacrifice was that Christ made for us, than we will be able to truly be thankful for His grace and understand that no personal sacrifice we can make enough to repay Him for His love for us. 

I thank all of you for your prayers and am so blessed to be able to share with you.  Please continue in prayer for the hearts of those we are trying to reach through evangelism and also for continued faith and open-mindedness that we will all be able to learn all that Christ intends for us to know this summer.  I cannot wait to share more in person all that God is doing!! 

Much gratitude, conviction, and love,

Caylee Joy

This time a week ago, I thought I would be completely worn out and sick of my job, but 8 days into it, I am already starting to feel like family with the staff. The food industry is definitely a difficult place to work, but after getting used to being on my feet, working my butt off all day, and constantly smelling like a burger, I can definitely say I am getting used to it and really beginning to enjoy my job. The managers are pretty awesome and my coworkers are really fun to be around. They were really great about teaching us new Kaleo kids the ropes at Five Guys, and let me tell you, there is plenty to learn. Who would have thought you had to be strategic and efficient in preparing lettuce, meat patties, and slices of cheese? These people have fresh burger preparation down to a fine art, though, and it is pretty cool.

Other than working at Five Guys Burgers and Fries, my mind is continuing to be filled with incredible new methods on growing closer to God, knowing Him intimately, and amazing tools on sharing the gospel. This past weekend was what is called D-Group weekend (The “D” standing for discipleship). Our group of four awesome girls (Kara, Kaylee, Kelly, and myself) packed our bags, and headed to Destin for the weekend. We did fun things like snorkeling and bike riding, all the while getting to know each other so much more than we had. I feel like we really began to bond as a group and it was such a blessing. God is going to grow us through one another and I am thankful for each of them and looking forward to the rest of the summer.

Being completely honest, so many things about this summer have been much more difficult than I expected, but God is using all of my challenges to make me the child of God that He has intended for me to become. The biggest struggle is realizing that as a Christian, I have been so selfish and complacent in my faith. I take God’s grace for granted all too often, and yet He still relentlessly pursues me. God is revealing to me so many blind spots that exist in my faith and all of the things that He desires to teach my heart. In one sense, it makes me feel so small and insignificant, but in some ways I think that that is a good thing. God will use me in so many ways, I am confident of that, but I am also certain that I am just one piece of the massive jigsaw puzzle that God is putting together. In seeing all that God is going to teach me this summer, I am so excited for all that is to come following Kaleo.

Please be in prayer for my fellow Kaleo participants, anyone we may be encountering through evangelism, and especially all of my coworkers. We have been asking God to pave paths to share with them and ready their hearts for any truth we may be able to give. I am getting to know many of the people I work with pretty well and I am so excited for all that God has planned. Please pray that I will have the wisdom to listen to the Spirit and words not of my own but of the Lord’s. Thank you again for all of your prayer and support!! God bless all of you.