Have you ever felt a longing for something, a nagging feeling inside that you can’t really define? Life seems to be going ok until you finally stumble into God’s plan and realize this is what you have been yearning for your entire life. Life is a series of choices that we make, and sometimes it is hard to know what your next move should be. Sometimes we take the wrong path, and God must work his plan back into our lives. I often wonder if God shakes his head and begins the mysterious series of events that will bring us back on course. I can’t begin to understand how he works these events out to draw people from all walks of life together to become his body, his hands, and his feet.
Jayme Kugler made her way to us through a series of moves that have taken her from Beaumont to New Mexico, Washington, and finally back home to Beaumont. I hear the excitement in her voice as she talks about how it felt to walk into this church, among these people, and instantly know she belonged and was welcome here. I still laugh when I think about how excited Jayme was to stand by Pastor Jon and serve communion. She wants to be involved and to do everything she can to help. It is uplifting to feel her energy and that excitement about serving God. She is a regular on the sanding line at bed builds, a Kairos kitchen helper, and coach Jayme, who makes VBS recreation time so much fun.
Kids are her passion, and she does everything she can to encourage them and help build their self-esteem. She knows how important this is to a child because she experienced it firsthand. She knows what it is like for a child to endure the misery of adult problems. She started looking for a way to escape and found that with softball. She discovered encouragement and praise as a member of the team, finally a group to belong to. Still, something was missing, and life seemed like one enormous burden, and she was trying to carry them all by herself. This was too much to bear alone, so God stepped in. Jayme needed to come to terms with the past, pick herself up, and move forward. He got her attention one day when she drove under the influence and wrecked her car. She relates her burdens to the stuff that moves forward in the vehicle when you apply a hard brake. The odds and ends that come out from under the seat and the groceries in back, tipping and rolling before finally coming to rest. She compares these items to her cares and anxieties, and when they finally came to rest, she knew God would help her carry them. He did take these burdens, and she is proud to be 15 years sober.
Attending church is so much more than something to get done on a Sunday morning. It’s about being part of God’s community, with a place to share, learn, love, lift each other up, and be a friend. Jayme’s story can remind us that a connection to God’s community is not something to take for granted. And that we should stay excited about what God has done for us. Jayme told me she can finally say she has a church family, and Sundays recharge her battery, so she can make it through another week. Isn’t life amazing when we let God work things out? How many more connections are out there, just waiting for us to find, and lead the way to a full circuit of power?
Story and Photography by Michelle Holland
