If you're looking for encouragement today, click no further. Keli Kryfko — a beautiful friend of mine (who just so happens to be Miss Limestone County 2013!) — is today's guest blogger. And wow...does she have a story to tell!
Once you read Keli's words, I know you'll agree that her story is more than life-changing. It's life-giving. Personally, I can't help but be reminded of Psalm 116: 8-9 when I read her testimony:
"For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living."
Thank you, Keli, for sharing your story. I know God will continue to use your life to make an impact for His kingdom — whether as Keli Kryfko, Miss America, or Keli Kryfko, daughter of the King. So cool that either way, you're royalty.
Be blessed!
. . .
Have you ever been told that you had a purpose? Or that God
has a plan for your life? Well, I have been fortunate enough to grow up
in a home where this was said to me on a regular basis. And after 20 years
of searching, I thought I had found mine: I was going to become Miss
America.
Now, I know what you might be thinking. Maybe something like, "Well that's a little
extreme..." And I would agree with you. However, Jesus didn't give me
the gift of exceptional athleticism or even an IQ that would get me into
Harvard. No, he gave me the gift of long eyelashes and being able to
work a curling iron! It wasn't until I started pageants that I felt
like I had found my place in life. I truly love people and impacting
others — and if I can do so with a gallon of makeup on and an orange spray
tan, all the better!
This year at Miss Texas, I knew I could do it. I could win. Not in an overly
confident way — I just believed that this was my destiny. Well, God
had other plans...I didn't win. And I was devastated. I spent the next few weeks after the pageant in a
daze. "What now? Where do I go from here?" I asked myself. I honestly felt like I had lost a part
of my spark for life.
Driving home one night, I was in my car praying
that The Lord would just do something! I needed some encouragement. I
needed to know that I still had purpose and value, and that with or
without pageants, I could make a difference on this planet. That's when it happened.
A Basset Hound ran out into the middle of the highway. Since I'm an animal lover, my initial reaction was to swerve. When I did that, I ended up
over-compensating and the car went swerving down the highway. Before I
knew it, my car was off the highway and flipping repeatedly. In the midst of this, I kept telling myself, "It's okay. You are going to die, but
it's okay." I didn't know how else to comfort myself in that moment, except by accepting what was happening.
Then, for no clear reason, the flipping
subsided. I was awake, I was alive, and although the car was a hot mess, even the AC
was still working (I love how God takes care of me). A trooper who
was making a routine traffic stop saw the whole thing happen. Later, I found out that he had already
called in for a predicted fatality — along with several other onlookers. So you can imagine the trooper's surprise when he came up to my window to find me very much alive!
When I finally got the door to open, all I could say was "Jesus
really loves me!" It was in that moment — in the darkness of the night, which others might see as a horrible or even discouraging
experience — that God met me where I was at with exactly what I needed. God had
saved my life and showed me that my purpose here has yet to be
fulfilled.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is in Acts (Acts 13:36), where it
talks about the passing of David. It says, "Now
when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell
asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed." There are two things I take away from this verse — especially since my accident:
1. Notice that the verse talks about David's purpose in his OWN generation. Like I said earlier, I
love makeup, big hair, fashion, and all things girly. And guess
what?? It fits with MY generation. We are where we are by design — not by
default. Start thinking about how YOUR talents and passions fit into
this generation.
2. If you are breathing, you have purpose. Again, notice what the verse emphasizes: That when David had served God's purpose, that's when he passed
away. This shows that if we have life in this body, we have a purpose to fulfill. Yes, that includes YOU. I often question how God could really use me to help His purpose — but He uses us
all.
Since the wreck I have had a job offer in Houston, and — even more
exciting — a book offer with a faith-based publishing company. Is it what I
had planned? 100% no. But is it what God had planned? 100% yes.
You have been
created with a purpose and for a purpose by a God that loves you. My encouragement: Let Him
come in and develop a vision that will help you reach that life of purpose you were intended for.
- Keli
. . .
The ultimate
Well is Jesus Christ, by whom we as Christians are filled, purified,
and poured out over the world as thirst-quenchers and drought-enders. On
this blog, The Well will function as a collection zone for spiritually-centered posts. A
place where you can click to—prayerfully—be filled as you read
God-stories and words of inspiration written by both myself and other
contributors.
"...But
whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the
water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to
eternal life." John 4:14
"The
LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a
sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a
well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Isaiah
58:11
"I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint." Jeremiah 31:25
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