Kayla Moved Away

That which I greatly feared has come upon me: Kayla is all grown up and moved away from home! I thought I was sneaky talking Kayla and Cami into staying home while working on their undergraduate degrees. It was great—three to four more years to spend with them, that many more years of continual input into their younger siblings’ lives, oh…what a great idea. But all great ideas come to an end—and so has this one. Now this one may backfire on me—Kayla moved to TX in July and Cami is getting married in November. My “gradual-but-later” approach did not include two children moving from home at the same time! L

I know, Kayla is twenty-two, has a nursing degree, and is preparing for ministry—but I still don’t want her to move! She graduated from Indiana-Purdue-University in Fort Wayne in May with an associates degree in nursing. Then it was time to take the next step: get her second degree (biblical studies) to prepare for medical missions. She chose Southwestern University in Texas because (1) that is the college she has been taking distance classes from each semester simultaneously with working on her nursing degree while at IPFW; and (2) she wants to get her degree in an area in which she can work with Hispanics in various ministries while she gets it; and (3) she got a full tuition scholarship (just like her other two previous colleges).

She got a nursing position at Baylor Hospital in early June, passed her boards with flying colors the end of June, and moved to Texas mid-July. Ray, Kayla, and I drove Kayla’s car there, and we got her settled in a short-term apartment situation in Dallas until her dorm was available in Waxahatchie (thirty miles from Dallas). We spent two days organizing, shopping, and eating “Texas” food.  Leaving her in that little apartment all alone was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.

The first six weeks she worked a lot, did her orientation and training at the hospital, and learned to drive in Dallas! We talked every day—usually more than once a day as the boys would call her and pass the phone around whenever they were lonely for her, too!  At the end of August, she moved herself out of that little apartment (since she really didn’t know anybody yet except a few co-workers in her work setting) and into her private dorm room on campus. Then classes began—and the real fun began for Kayla! She loves her job immensely, but she loves school more than anything else! She could hardly wait to start her classes—Developmental Psychology, Biblical Preaching, Counseling, Volleyball, and Greek. She adores that Greek!

She is in a different stage of life than her “college-counterparts”—she leaves each weekend in scrubs to work twelve hour shifts at a huge hospital. She has one degree under her belt already. She is older than they are. She has written books; preached many, many times; taught the Bible for years and years; taught homeschooled students biology, chemistry, Spanish, apologetics, research paper, speech, debate, government, writing, math, and language arts; and much more. However, getting on campus and studying the Bible there (while working as a nurse) is what she has been waiting to do for some time. To be able to focus on biblical studies and sit under excellent Bible teachers are two things that she has longed for during her difficult three years in nurse’s training. And she is finally there! Hopefully, the “generation gap” and “experience gap” that will likely surface as she lives on a college campus won’t hinder her as she seeks to understand others’ needs and desires.

Kayla is an incredible person. She is intellectually gifted while being dyslexically and dysgraphically challenged. She accepted Christ at a young age—and took that commitment seriously. She chose, on her own, at age thirteen, to make “mom her ministry.” She has served this family, and then later homeschoolers all around the world through her curriculum writing for the Advanced Training Institute, tirelessly. She is diligent, wise, deferential, resourceful, loyal, responsible, compassionate, generous, and selfless.

We all miss her so much. We talk every day or every other day. Of course, she talks to her siblings every chance they can get her on the phone (the joy of cell phones). I do want God’s will for her—even if it doesn’t involve a little, white, wooden house in Indiana!

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Posted by momofseven

I know how you feel. We put our Rebecca on a plane to California this fall. She is attending West Coast Baptist College now, majoring in missions. We were sort of used to her being gone, since she's served in Dallas the past year. But still.....so far away. **sigh** And our oldest son will be marrying in December. He's already "gone"--off to Oklahoma. They *will* grown up! :-( I just snuggle the 7-year-old all the more! Praying you can enjoy this new stage of life. Maybe we'll have grandbabies in a year or so! ;-)

~~Gayle Furlong

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