019 : Experiencing God Amidst Grief w/ Kayla Elledge
This week’s episode features kayla Elledge, a twenty-six year old woman who was born and raised in Greenville, SC but is currently residing in Charleston, SC WITH HER husband, Keith. Kayla is an online fitness coach who is passionate about helping women find the joy and healing powers of fitness like she has. she is an athletic coach, content creator, and fitness model who was also on an nbc dance show recently. today we hear about her heart and story as we get to know allll about who kayla elledge is. this episode takes a deep dive into seasons of grief and how god can use those seasons to shape us into his calling on our lives. kayla shares her testimony with listeners in a way that is raw, vulnerable, and tremendously encouraging.
TRIGGER WARNING: Discussion of Paternal Death and Grief
maddie and kait kick things off by asking kayla about the NBC DANCE SHOW THAT SHE WAS ON.
kayla shares that nbc FOUND HER ON TIKTOK AND REACHED OUT TO HER for an audition, which eventyally lead to her being cast and recording in atlana, georgia. The show ACTUALLY AIRS THIS MONTH! KAYLA CAN BE SEEN WITH OTHER DANCERS LIKE NICK JONAS AND SHAKIRA.
KAYLA THEN TRANSITIONS INTO TELLING HER OWN STORY ABOUT HOW SHE GOT TO WHERE SHE IS NOW. KAYLA HAS BEEN MARRIED FOR JUST ABOUT A YEAR AND SHE IS A STRONG BELIEVER ON TOP OF ALL OF THE OTHER HATS SHE WEARS.
KAYLA BEGINS TELLING HER STORY FROM 2018. iN JULY OF THAT YEAR, SHE WENT ON A FAMILY VACATION TO CHARLESTON JUST LIKE THEY DID ANNUALLY. FOR THIS PARTICULAR TRIP, IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING FAMILY VACATION THAT SHE AND HER FAMILY HAD EXPERIENCED. ON HER WAY HOME FROM THIS TRIP, KAYLA expressed that she WAS FEELING REALLY UNEASY AND COULD NOT CONTROL HER EMOTIONS BECAUSE SHE HAD A CRAZY AMOUNT OF GRIEF RUSH OVER HER, AND SHE found her self SAying “IT WILL NEVER BE LIKE THIS AGAIN.”
KAYLA SHARES THAT SHE FEELS THAT god was prepping her for him about to rock her world.
two weeks later, it was right before her college graduation and kayla was at the lake with her sister. her dad was at the beach with his friends and kayla and her sister got a call that there was an accident. in her mind, kayla first thought that something minor had to of happened. she and her sister were in the middle of the lake and they had to rush out and then drive five hours to go to the hospital where there dad was without knowing what was happening to her dad.
kayla shares that she prayed from the moment she got into the car until she pulled up at the hospital, asking god to have his way in this situation.
once they got in the hospital they were told that their father had been in a boating accident where he dived into the lake off of the boat, straight into a sand bar that he did not know was there. the doctors informed the two girls that he had broken his neck and that his brain was “practically gone” since the moment he had hit the ground.
kayla and her sister saw their father laying in a hospital bed, hooked up to a ventilator, physically there but mentally already gone. kayla says that she remembers her mom there, throwing herself over her body and losing it. her sister threw up in the corner of the room, and kayla herself was just angry.
all three of the women processed the situation differently. just as we all do in unexpected situations.
the next day, kayla woke up and thought “it’s go time".” and she was ready to go, so she went on a run. kayla feels strongly that god was preparing her two weeks before for the events that had transpired with her dad.
kayla ran the loop around her neighborhood everyday for the next year no matter the weather, and she feels she felt like that because she knew that whatever the day brought, if she could get through her run she could get through anything. she knew that she would have to be the one to sign her dad’s death certificate, disconnect his phone, plan his funeral, etc.
and each day that she ran that route, it got easier—which is just a perfect example of what god does for us in times of grief—it always get easier day by day and he answers prayers every single day. god gave her all of the strength that she exhibited through out the entire experience and she even says that she is not sure she could undergo the same situation again and exhibit the same strength except for through the Lord’s intervention.
kayla feels certain that not only will she never be the same, but her faith will never be the same because god completely pulled her through that season and continues to push her through the hard days.
KAYLA EXPRESSES HOW HER FATHER WAS INBETWEEN LIFE INSURANCES AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH, LITERALLY ONE WEEK WITHOUT IT, YET THAT WAS THE WEEK THE LORD HAD CHOSEN FOR HIM TO GO HOME. SO VERY QUICKLY KAYLA, HER MOM, AND SISTER HAD TO SELL THEIR HOME AND COULD NOT EVEN MOURN IN THEIR OWN SPACE.
BECAUSE OF THIS HORRIFIC PERIOD OF HER LIFE, KAYLA DECIDED THAT SHE WANTED TO USE COACHING AND FITNESS TO HELP NURTURE AND HEAL PEOPLE, TO SHOW PEOPLE THAT FITNESS IS MORE THAN JUST TAKING CARE OF OUR BODIES AND BECAUSE OF LOSING HER DAD SHE WAS ABLE TO CHASE DREAMS SHE DID NOT EVEN KNOW SHE HAD.
“HOWEVER YOU ARE HURTING, MAYBE YOU ARE JUST A SEASON WHERE YOU ARE JUST STUCK IN A VALLEY, OR STUCK IN A RUT, THERE IS STILL BEAUTY IN THOSE SEASONS” -KAYLA ELLEDGE
AFTER KAYLA SHARES HER TESTIMONY KAITLIN and maddie THEN ASK hER SOME QUESTIONS.
qUESTION: “ARE THERE ANY OTHER LITTLE WAYS THAT YOU FEEL LIKE YOU TRULY SAW THE LORD TOUCH YOUR HEART IN THAT SEASON?”
KAYLA SHARES THAT SHE ABSOLUTELY SAW THE LORD IN SO MANY AREAS OF THAT SEASON. FOR ONE EXAMPLE, SHE SHARES THAT HER DAD WAS OBSESSED WITH BUBBA TEETH, THE FUNNY LITTLE TEETH YOU PUT IN your moth. ABOUT THREE DAYS AFTER LOSING HER DAD SHE WAS IN SPROUTS, LOOKING FOR PROTEIN BARS AND THINKING ABOUT HOW ODD IT WAS BEING IN THE STORE, AND SHE WAS JUST OVERTAKEN MY EMOTION AND SHE JUST BROKE DOWN IN THAT ASISLE. AT ONE POINT, KAYLA LOOKED UP TO HER LEFT AND SAW A MAN WITH BLUE EYES, JUST LIKE HER DAD, WITH BUBBA TEETH IN HIS MOUTH THAT LOOKED JUST LIKE HER DAD’S SMILE. KAYLA LAUGHS AND TELLS LISTENERS THAT IT WAS THE FUNIEST THING TO HAPPEN TO HER BUT ALSO SHE SAW GOD IN THAT MOMENT.
after she got her composure, kayla states that she was running around trying to find the man to tell him what she did for her and she could not find him anywhere. not on any aisle, not in the checkout line or the parking lot. that was all god.
“god has a sense of humor, but also he answers prayers and he answers them in a personal way”- Kaitlin
QUESTION: “now that you are where you are, and it’s been a few years, how are you still healing every day?”
kayla answers that one of her favorite things to do is to dedicate her workouts and lists in her day-to-day life to god and she worships him for all he has done for her and continues to do through her.
“THE ONLY THING THAT GENUINELY MATTERS IS DID YOU GLORIFY THE LORD” -KAYLA ELLEDGE
maddie reminds kayla that she is doing so good and that the work she is doing is holy work and it does not go un=noticed.
question: “if you had to leave our listeners with one piece of advice for walking through difficult seasons, what would it be?”
kayla shares that she remembers directly following her father’s death seeing news articles and being devasted all over again and she wishes she could have realized that there are no accidents and anything that happens in your life is according to his plan.
“accidents are non-existent when you are a believer” -kayla elledge
This week’s episode featured Kayla Elledge, you can find her on instagram here: @kaylaelledge where you can follow the link in her bio to pay $1 for her app to access her workouts. she also has a tiktok that is @kayla_elledge.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Thank you SO much for being here. We hope you leave today feeling more encouraged than you were when you started listening and like you are a welcome part of this community— because you ARE.If you want to connect with us and other listeners in the Refined Sisterhood community, join our Facebook group here.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/therefinedsisterhood/
Follow Along:
https://www.instagram.com/therefinedsisterhood/
https://www.instagram.com/maddiekturner/
https://www.instagram.com/kaitlinfaithhaines/
Music : Better Than Life by Oliver Dodge