Isn’t it crazy how God works in our lives? We’ll be living, going about our days minding our business, and one day He decides to surprise us with a sweet gift. I had an experience like that yesterday, and it made me want to start a series on the big and little ways He shows up for me. 

I’ve had a slight cold for the past few days. Nothing serious – a cough and a stuffed nose with a bit of sneezing. It’s been mild enough that I’ve felt able to continue focusing on my daily routine. I still go on walks around my neighborhood, speak to my friends and colleagues, and enjoy my time alone. 

Well, lately it’s seemed that these little changes were creating massive shifts in what I understand to be my basic vibration. I’ve been studying how I feel through the days and what memories pop up – for example, on days where I dance so hard that my lungs begin to hurt, I’m reminded of my days running track in high school, my 12th place win in the 2013 Junior Olympics. Or on days where I just relax and read (I just finished The Song of Achilles), I’m brought powerfully back to my days of reading the Percy Jackson series, and how I would imagine creating my own Mount Olympus someday. 

In the past when I caught a cold, all I could focus on was the discomfort in my body, how many things I had to do, and how it seemed like I wasn’t allowed to rest.

But this week was different.

I’ve been committing myself to treating me the way I want to be treated, so the moment the sniffles came on, I went to the store and bought myself all the snacks I would need, set up my games on my phone, and prepared my space for a week of rest. And the day before yesterday, I found myself first reminiscing, then praying.

You see, in my childhood home being sick meant we were patient zero. Everyone was to stay away. You couldn’t cough outside of your room, couldn’t sneeze, and if a parent suspected that your cold had been passed to them? Get ready for a shaming that would make you feel like a leper in ancient times.

It wasn’t until I got to college that I realized most people were taken care of when they got sick. Moms made their kids soup and hung out on the couch with them, contagion be damned. Friends brought them their favorite snacks and sent funny videos to cheer them up. Siblings climbed in bed with them so they could all be sick together.

I found myself thinking about that – how I always seemed to take care of myself alone. A year ago the topic would have sent me into a depression, crying and asking God why He kept me so alone all that time. But- can I say I’m healed? This healed Kayla found myself proud for taking good care of myself, and in watching an Abraham-Hicks video about Jesus’s healing vibration, realized that the simple acknowledgment of my changed behavior meant bigger and better things were on my way.

So, I prayed and asked God that the next time I catch a cold, I have friends who do all the things kind friends do.

I didn’t expect my prayer to be answered so quickly.



Yesterday I was feeling much better, so I went for a walk around town. Where I live is not far from Koreatown, so off I went, excited to see what my neighbors do on rainy Saturday evenings. 

I heard the sound of banging drums and symbols as I crossed the street. To my left was a small band playing what I knew to be traditional Korean festival music in front of a church I hadn’t been inside. My long look was all she needed. A tiny, tiny little ajumma skittered up, wrapped her arm around mine in an iron grip, and began to beckon me inside. 

Now I wasn’t too sure about what was happening. I had just been brought into a Scientology church two weeks ago, and as a Southerner I hadn’t met any Christians in the habit of grabbing people off the street, but I’m obsessed with Korean culture and I loved the sounds of the drums, so I gave in and decided to enjoy. We smiled and clapped and did a little head nod, all while she pulled me swiftly to the circle of drummers. 

I thought we would stop there and dance, and while I hadn’t been prepared for an audience and still felt under the weather, I also knew that God didn’t put in me in front of people without reason. I was preparing something jumpy and cute to go along with the crashing brass and methodic thumps, but all of a sudden I was in the familiar wrist-grip of a small older man, and off we went into the church.

At that point I began thinking about representing my people. See, I hadn’t done my hair before I left – it was in 6 twists underneath my scarf, no gel or fixed edges or anything. An awh shit flickered through the back of my mind as the man flung open the doors, where I was met with the eyes of what must have been over 200 Korean men and women. 

Well, if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s how to be the only black girl in a room. I smiled and did my best little bow, an annyeonghaseyo fluttering out with each moment of eye contact. The next thing I knew, my arms were full of expensive-looking gift bags and I was walking as fast as I could to the open aisle seat towards the center of the floor.



The woman who found me on the street’s name was Mimi, and I had happened to choose the seat behind her husband and friends. The preacher had already begun when she sat down next to me.

I’m glad she came when she did. I’ve gotten pretty far on Duolingo, but the vocabulary I’m learning is very much different from what they use in the church, and there were no subtitles to be found.

Mimi translated for me. The service was about faith, and how trusting in God was healing the community from terminal diseases. People in the crowd, Mimi’s husband included, had been cured of cancer or woken from comas or healed from some other condition, all by the power of prayer. They were there to celebrate their health and participate in the church’s giveaway (a gorgeous diamond ring and a brand new rice cooker).

I had a time. Mimi and her people turned out to be super cool – the type that half listen the sermon and half converse with each other. When they heard me stifling little coughs, they flooded me with Hershey’s, water, and back rubs. And of course I left with a full plate of japchae, rice, bulgogi, and gochujang-soaked fish cakes. I felt the same as the coughing baby a few pews behind. 

After the service I came home, finished my plate, and finally got to my room to look at my new treasures. God had delivered me everything I didn’t know I needed.

First was a giant box full of supplements. If you know anything about Korean society, you know that supplements are huge part of their daily healthcare. Every k-drama I’ve ever watched has had a product placement for gummies or salve sticks that were made to keep people healthy.

This adorable yellow box was full of herbal pills, made for everything from vision to digestion. After a quick read through with trusty ole Google translate, I went for the red ginseng and probiotic pill.