A Calling On My Life

“God often uses our DEEPEST PAIN as the launching pad of our GREATEST CALLING.” 

Anonymous

My name is Kaysha Dial, I am 22 years old, I was raised in Bakersfield. I grew up in the Church. I knew at a young age that God had an important calling on my life but as I got older my feelings of abandonment and never feeling good enough pushed me away from my walk with the Lord. I feel God leading me to talk about what happened when I was about 16 years old. 

One night me and my close friends were partying. My friend Austin had taken some Xanax and had been drinking. He had gone to pick up some of my girl-friends that I had known since kindergarten. When 3am rolled around, Austin was going to give me a ride home but I felt uneasy about getting in the car. I told him to just sober up and I called my Nana to come pick me up and take me home. What I didn’t know was that my two girl-friends he had picked up had snuck out of their parent’s house so they had to be back before their parents woke up. I went home and fell asleep and I woke up to a call at around 7 am. 

A mutual friend of mine and Austin’s told me that they had crashed into a street pole going about 90mph, I instantly dropped to the floor and cried. Both boys in the car died, my two girl-friends lived but one of them was in a coma for 4 months but I had survivor’s guilt, I was so young and I thought I should have been in that car. 

This is one of the many times I know now that God had intervened to save my life,I just had no idea at that time, I was mad at God , I had grown up going to church and I wondered if God was so good why did he let my friends die?  I became very depressed and that is when I started doing more drugs.

Fast forward a couple weeks… one day during lunch at school, I believe I was a junior in high school at this time. A girl I was close with asked me if I wanted to go get high in the bathroom. I was smoking a lot of spice at the time. Which is synthetic weed so It’s basically grass with chemicals on it. Anyways, I took a hit and right away I felt super weird so she left and I locked myself in the bathroom stall and the only way I can explain how I was feeling in words is I felt like my brain was twitching. Next thing I knew I was on the floor, but I wasn’t in the bathroom anymore, the place I was in felt evil and I wasn’t able to move it was like a movie. I saw what I believe now were demons eating me alive.

It was all very vivid and scary. Then all of a sudden, this bright light came in from the bathroom door and all the pain stopped and I started to see all of my close friends!! I even saw Austin and Nate, (my friends who had passed away in the car accident) and they all kept telling me not to fall asleep and kept saying “stay awake Kaysha”! Then I woke up and there were paramedics, security guards and the school principal all around me. They were trying to ask me what I smoked and I wasn’t able to speak. I kept trying but nothing would come out. At this point I thought they were going to try to take me to an insane asylum or something. 

Now fast forward to the hospital … the Doctors proceeded to tell me that my heart had stopped for two minutes!!! They didn’t think I was going to make it. This whole experience was definitely proof that God kept saving me and there were many more times after this that I can look back now and see God’s hand in everything but I didn’t realize it until I was in induction I was worshipping and a flood of all these memories came to me and I felt God telling me “I was there” when that happened to you and I was there when this happened. 

It was in the times I thought I was most alone when he was right there next to me protecting me! 

Coming into the induction I was a little confused because I had completely forgotten about that part of my life. I wasn’t the same little girl that went to church on Sunday mornings, but in that moment, I was changed. There was still going to be a process but all I have ever wanted was to be seen and loved and that is exactly what I feel now. My relationship with the Lord is the most genuine, real thing I have ever had in my life. 

I still struggle in a lot of ways but I now know that as long as I am seeking him and putting him first that is when I find true happiness and fulfillment. I know God has an important mission for me to glorify his kingdom. All I have to do is show up and be willing to be used by God. It is not about our ability it is about our availability and no matter what it might look like I trust him. 

He has blessed me with the most amazing job serving on the communications team for teen challenge of southern California and my goal is to make content for people to be able to see the work of God and the transformation in the lives of people who come through Teen Challenge. God has proven to me that He is faithful, even when we’re not. 

Please pray for Kaysha to faithfully fulfill her calling through the Teen Challenge ministry as she serves the needs of others who have lost their way and are searching for answers.

We want to thank those who were the boots on the ground transforming Kaysha’s house into a home. A special shout out to our two church partners with the same initials: PCC … Pacific Crossroads Church of Santa Monica & Pacific Coast Church in San Clemente! We love and appreciate all the love, sacrifice, and support you provided.