Hey everyone! We are officially in Greece now! We spent a few days in Thessaloniki, then a week in Athens, and now we’re in Corinth for two weeks. We are praying every day, asking God what He wants, and staying expectant for where the Lord will take us and what He is going to do. I’m so excited for ATL in this country and ready to see what He will do.

I’m so proud to say that I finally feel confident in hearing the Lord’s voice. It has been a journey of ups, downs, and a lot of doubt. Before the World Race, I thought “listening to God” was more of a metaphor, phrases like “I heard the Lord say…” felt foreign to me. If anything, I thought maybe you could hear God once or twice in your whole life. Now, I speak to Him every day. I ask questions. I cry to Him. I sing to Him. And He answers! So wild. I never thought I’d be the one saying, “I heard the Lord say…”but here we are.

In Guatemala, I'd ask leaders and teammates so many questions, and their answer was often, “Ask the Lord.” ... that made me so mad. I was actually enraged because what do you mean ask the lord... you ask the lord then. Ha! I was so sick of hearing it.

One ATL day, we were all sitting and praying, asking God what we should do that day. Of course I was frustrated because I wasn’t hearing anything. The whole time we were praying, I kept telling Him, “Why do You speak to everybody but me?” One of the girls had shared earlier that God calls her by name, so my angry prayer turned into, “Why aren’t You saying my name?”

When everyone finished praying, we came together to share what we heard. Ressie Mae said, “Uh, this is really weird, but all I heard was ‘Kayla.’”
WHAT?! God used her to say my name and speak directly to me. Not only was it incredibly meaningful for me, but it was also one of the first times she clearly heard the voice of the Lord. God met both of us right where we were and used her boldness even when it felt irrelevant to what we were praying for. So cool.

In Albania, Ressie Mae began prophesying over our team. She was constantly hearing verses that the rest of us were also hearing. Everything she shared was clearly from the Lord, and I remember thinking, Dang, if I ever need confirmation that something is from God, I’m asking her. Ironically, God used that to show me that I hear Him too.

Another time in Albania, our team was praying about what spiritual gifts God wanted us to use in that season. I started praying and once again, I was frustrated because I thought I wasn’t hearing anything. So instead, I prayed about what Ressie Mae’s gift might be. I thought I heard the word faith. It felt so basic that I wrote it down super tiny so I could scribble it out later.

Then Ressie Mae shared that she heard the word faith too, but thought it was boring because it felt so basic. She also said she heard, “You and Kayla, you and Kayla will have stories of big faith together.” I immediately went back to my notes and rewrote faith in big letters. Clearly, I had been hearing the right thing.

Rewind to training camp, Ressie Mae had shared with someone on our team that she wanted to open up but didn’t know who or when. They prayed that God would bring someone she could feel safe opening up to. Later, she and I ended up talking and opened up about so much (probably because I was asking too many questions) but It felt natural, easy, and safe. Right after that, we walked into a session that was entirely about what we had just talked through and how to process it. It was wild.

Last one, fast forward to Greece. Our team was in Athens, praying about where to go next. I kept hearing a no about staying in Athens and felt like we were supposed to move on. But when you’re in a team, that’s hard, especially when you think others might be hearing the opposite. My prayer was, “God, if You don’t want us in Athens, please don’t let me be the only one who hears no. I need confirmation.”

And sure enough, Ressie Mae spoke up and said she felt like we needed to move on from Athens.

It’s been so incredible to see how God has used both of us, not only to confirm direction, but to confirm that we hear Him. He is so kind, so personal, and so intentional in the way He speaks. This journey has taught me that hearing God isn’t about perfection or confidence—it’s about willingness, trust, and relationship.

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