kaylee emrick
- Katie Hagen
- Apr 21, 2023
- 3 min read
With a stature nearing 5 feet 8 inches and a maturity beyond her years, 16-year-old Kaylee Emrick has seemed to trick the whole world into thinking she’s older than she actually is.
Although her age might surprise people, her infectious joy never has. Being cheerful has hardly ever been a chore for her. But her natural charisma doesn’t always merge effortlessly with the mundane brick walls and dank linoleum floors of public high school. How can it when incessant math problems are waiting to be solved and yearbook page designs are due?
“I don't want to be here" seems to be a common motto for high schoolers as the sun comes up and they sit down for their first period.
For Kaylee, as a new semester dawned on her, she found herself feeling mentally and spiritually downcast. Walking along this foreign, negative path, she pondered a question stated blankly in James 3:11, in which the power of words is presented as a metaphor:
"Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?"
The mental dam of toxicity that obstructed her healthy mindset finally broke. Kaylee closed her Bible that day with a renewed understanding that words are not spoken in void. The inherent gravity of the tongue looms large, and it drowns out the lie that what one says has no real significance.
“The complaints that I make out loud are essentially complaints that will only progressively get worse in my head,” Kaylee said. “That’s simply not the mindset that I want for me.”
Anyone who knows Kaylee would say that she possesses an air of bright kindness. But, it was her openness in navigating the daunting uncertainty of a coming-of-age teenager's life that particularly struck me. Her humanness is evident.
Even when it seems her joy has evaporated, one cannot help but convince themselves that it never strays too far from her natural essence.
With acquiring true faith, joy can never fully be lost. So, believing in this, Kaylee began to search for ways in which she could focus on something bigger than herself.
She redirects the spring of her heart to overflow in glorifying the Lord. Naturally, this is the posture that brings her back to humility and kindness, even at times when negativity fights to be the center of her attention.
Without a doubt, you can always count on Kaylee’s intentional love manifesting itself through a homemade batch of cookies or an encouraging message (sometimes simultaneously).
“I think it’s really easy to be spontaneous in a sense that’s impulsive,” Kaylee said. “It’s harder to be intentional and think about what you’re saying, and I think it’s important to have a deep understanding of what you’re doing. It’s such a simple piece of advice, but I really needed it at the time.”
Even when she finds herself in a funk, it’s her belief in Christ’s faithfulness that brings her back to a hopeful state. While her circumstances may shift, her perspective on God doesn’t. This mindset originated from the beginning of her relationship with Jesus, and it’s still what reverts her gaze back to the assurance of the Gospel.
At this time, Kaylee’s ultimate “God-sized dream” as she coined it, is to one day open up her own coffee shop or café. This inspiration for the future comes from the desire to create an atmosphere where enlightening conversation is born and quality community is cultivated.
When it comes to fostering relationships with others, she has realized the importance of developing connections that inspire growth in her. Kaylee acknowledges the age-old idea that who you surround yourself with is the person that you will ultimately become.
So maybe it’s her height that makes her appear older—or perhaps it’s her outlook. Similar to a garden, it requires constant assessing, weeding, planting, and watering. And when joy begins to bloom, you will surely find Kaylee.
Comments