God’s Faster than Amazon: 9 Time Zones, Broken Hearts & The Healing Power of The Eucharist
Back in December of 2023, I worked as a content creator for a hostel in Maui, Hawaii. During this time, I hit a very low point in my life. I’d given up on love and relationships and felt completely and utterly defeated. Then, just like all the stories start…I met a guy who, at first, I wanted nothing to do with because I knew Australian men have a reputation for being players, and he was just a guest going to leave in 4 days.
In short, he and I hit it off; it was that cheesy cliche of feeling like you’d known someone your whole life. We became fast friends, and it was evident to everyone around us that we liked each other so obvious that our friends ditched him & me on our day excursion around the island so we’d have to ride back in the spare car just the two of us. It led to our first date, where he grabbed and kissed me while dancing. Immediately after, he asked if he could officially date me so we got drinks and talked about everything until the bar closed…I laid out my boundaries, faith, and expectations for life and he shared his with me. I was absolutely terrified that this relationship would end up like all the ones before and did my best to sabotage it I told him he shouldn’t date me, that it would be too hard, and that I’d push him daily to become the very best version of himself, that Jesus and I were a package deal and since he expressed his doubt regarding God’s existence I tried to push him away. But despite everything I said, he kept coming back with, “no, I’m man enough, I can go without sex, I will go to church with you, I want to date you, I have to go back to work in Australia in 3 days, but I want to see you again.” I, of course, didn’t believe it and said that he’d probably go home, and I’d never hear from him again, and if that was the case, no hard feelings. All I asked was for him to be honest with himself and with me; I did not want to waste my time. It was a beautiful conversation, so much so that the bartender let us stay almost 30 minutes after closing because she wanted to hear how the conversation would end, as she later told us.
After he returned to Australia, I expected to never hear from him again, but this man pursued me daily despite a 19-hour time difference, making an effort and asking when he could see me again, so I took a leap of faith, applied for an Australian work visa and booked a one-way ticket to the land down under.
Days before my trip, I was overwhelmed with a whirlwind of emotions and decided not to go, but just as my fingers were hovering over the mouse to hit cancel for any reason on the flights, I heard The Father’s voice say, “Wait daughter, sit with me & share what’s on your heart.” The conversation led me to an old journal, flipping to a random page with a quote I’d written four years prior; it read,
“TAKE THE RISK OF LOVE OR PERISH THERE IS NO OTHER CHOICE!”
It had been a reflection I wrote based on C.S. Lewis’s quote:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable; love anything, and your heart will be marred or possibly broken. If you wish to keep it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Lock it away in a casket or a coffin of your selfishness, wrap it around with little hobbies and luxuries, but in that casket, dark, airless, and motionless, it will not be broken. It will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”
The simple truth is that I was afraid because I was terrified this story would end just like all the others before. But for years now, I’ve habitually found a way to overcome my fear as soon as possible if I find out something scares me!
Fast-forward to me flying down to the land down under to celebrate Australia Day, which is like the Aussie’s version of the 4th of July. I met all of his friends and family who adored me, and I them. It was so good. We had separate rooms in his parents’ house & did everything from making meals with the whole family to going to mass every Sunday together, going on outdoor adventures, building storage shelves, etc. We really got to know one another, and I thought if this is how life with him is, I could do this for the rest of my life.
Little did I know that he’d been deceiving me the entire time.
The night before I went on a short trip with my girlfriends, I found out that he had been planning to see his ex and see if she’d take him back while I was gone. Not only that, but he’d been talking to her and planning this since the day I arrived in Australia!
Funny enough, the ex reached out to me during my girl’s trip, but I decided not to reply because I didn’t want to be involved in a love triangle and drama. But after he and I officially ended things, I decided to reply to her. We kept the convo short, but she told me the whole truth about how he told her I was “Just a friend, that I was in love with him, and that he was trying to gently push me away because he didn’t want to hurt me.” She, of course, didn’t believe him, based on how he handled their relationship two years prior in a similar way; she told him to go pound sand and never to contact her again.
In the end, I felt like I was right back where I was the day before he walked into my life—losing hope, trust, and any desire to have any more relationships. I was just exhausted and angry.
I have been in eight long-term serious relationships, had five proposals, and gone on countless get-to-know-you dates, but this last one… I have never felt so deceived, disrespected, and duped.
So, there I was, heartbroken, in Sydney, Australia, working as a content creator at a hostel. I told God he needed to do something or else my emotions would get the best of me, and I would do something rash that probably would destroy me, precisely my spirit. I felt so defeated and hopeless that I decided I was going to get on Tinder, pick a decent-looking guy & lose my virginity to him. Be done with this whole waiting for a marriage that wouldn’t come, at least not for me. I’ve been on many dates where the guys, even supposed “Christian guys,” ask me before we finish our meals at a restaurant, “So, what am I getting tonight?” & I’m like, “Dinner & a conversation.” “Yeah, but afterward…”
Fine…I told myself I’d become like everyone else, and who cares? I’m done! So, there I was on Instagram, background checking my potential Tinder dates when a reel from my longtime friend and fellow Franciscan Alumni and renowned chastity speaker Jason Evert about him being in Sydney to give a talk came up on my feed. Now, mind you, I hadn’t seen Jason for a few years, and my algorithm had him in my “least shown in feed for over two years!” Recognizing God’s lifeline, I immediately commented and messaged him.
Shortly after that, I was approached by Matthew Gazy, a digital reporter from SBS, an Australian News agency, wanting to interview me about “why I had chosen to live a life of chastity.” Ironic, considering I was about to throw it all away. It’s wild how much social media can impact and connect us! During the interview, I shared my story of why I chose to be counter-cultural, live a virtuous life, and practice chastity from a very young age to this point. In doing so, I reminded myself just as much as I explained to him why it was worth it.
After the interview, Jason replied to my DM and invited me to his talk, which I didn’t know required tickets, but God sent me a stranger, now a friend, who had an extra. The talk and the healing power of a brutally honest, tearful confession and adoration time saved me.
But that is not the end of the story…after sharing my story with Jason, he invited me to be on the next episode of his podcast, “Lust is Boring” and share my story, during which there was a power outage in my building, but I just whipped out my phone light and kept going. In St. Francis’s words, “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”: 
Pt 2: JPII Wilderness Retreat, Love & Responsibility,
Now I am a HUGE believer in ripples, how one act sets into motion a series of events while at the time seem unrelated or not correlated but with hindsight being 20 20 as I write this, see just how much God was planning long before that night, in Sydney. It’s not a coincidence that after two years of being in my “least shown in feed” category on Instagram, not only did I see Jason’s post right when I needed it most, but that in doing so God would retrain my Instagram Algorithm to show me another video. Only this one was an invitation to join a JPII Wilderness Retreat in Banff Canada after 2 girls unexpectedly dropped out of the trip. Out of the numerous applicants bidding for those last-minute spots for whatever reason I was chosen. Fast forward to 26 Catholics going on 10–19-mile hikes in Banff National Park, celebrating mass below glaciers, and on the shores of some of the most beautiful blue waters in the world. This trip centered on one of my all-time saint heroes – JPII – with a focus on his great work, Love & Responsibility, my heart still healing got a much-needed immersion in faith filled community. Time spent in nature with God, with fellow believers receiving the sacraments daily and pushing your physical limits, it’s like what Msgr. Shae said at the National Eucharistic Congress, “Attention starving people, we found where the food is!” Only I was the one who needed the reminder.
My top 4 memories from that retreat were: Confession on the mountain with Fr Anthony where I shared with him everything you’ve read in this email up to this point and then some and his penance for me was to ‘Befriend St. Joseph & ask his help to become more humble” (still working on that daily haha). Memory #2 was when I, due to an injury, needed to walk barefoot for 5hrs during our long 19-mile hike day down the mountain and through the rock canyon. So freeing, but difficult, childlike, wild and joyful. Memory #3 & #4 funny enough occurred during the same day at Lake Louise. Because of my injury on our last day, I elected not to join the others on the main hike and hang back at the shore, paint, sketch, pray and just really give God my day. During the afternoon after a much needed nap a young woman sat next to me to nurse a nasty blister which I of course offered to help with, In short this woman was the exact mirror image of me the night God rescued me in Sydney, she too had been through a heartbreak, was deeply dissatisfied with how her life had turned out and come to Banff to meet a random guy to sleep with and have what she called her “Annual F Up.” We spent the next 3 hours together talking, listening, crying and praying together…I shared with her just how much God loved her, how he brought me to her all the way from Australia just to remind her of her worth and share a bit of what I had been learning during the retreat on Love & Responsibility. We still stay in touch and recently she shared with me that God has been romancing her like no man ever has, he even sent her 4 full perfect rainbows the day after our talk which was confirmation for both her and I of just how much of a miraculous encounter this was.
After my new friend left and the crew got back from their hike Jason graciously booked canoe rides for all of us so we could enjoy the beauty of Lake Lousie from the water. Now, I have been paddle boarding, boating, canoeing you name it all my life so I decided this time around I’ll sit middle, be the passenger take photos and let the boys “handle it” little did I know one of my 3 men crew who was paddling at the front of the boat had never done anything like this before and every time he tried to paddle ended up causing our boat to turn in a circle. Needless to say, it was frustrating, but nothing a little whisky and encouragement couldn’t fix, especially since not five minutes into our paddling did it start to rain. Now don’t get me wrong I LOVE THE RAIN & appreciate every aspect of God’s creation, but it had been a long day, I was cold and worried about my camera gear even though my bag was water resistant, so I looked up at the sky and shouted, “HEY GOD! I love the rain; your creation is so beautiful, but could you please give us some sunshine in like 5 minutes? I’m cold dad!” Now, when I say I like to joke that God’s faster than amazon, I’m talking same day delivery baby…EXACTLY 5 MINUTES after my prayer left my mouth the clouds parted and a beautiful, warm and perfect sunbeam broke through the clouds right down onto our boat & 2 perfect double rainbows appeared behind us. Now, two things: one I love how with God simply we just have to ask and being specific does help. Two, because we were slower at paddling…the sun parted the clouds and shined a perfect sunbeam on our part of the lake and behind us two perfect shorelines to shoreline horseshoe rainbows showed behind us in absolute perfect beauty. See my JPII IG Highlight reel for photos.
The sighting of a rainbow never fails to bring a smile to my face. It’s one of nature’s greatest optical phenomena. They signify optimism and positivity: with them comes the sunshine after the rain.
Rainbows 
express our joy, our beauty, our will to persevere. That even after the darkest storms life can throw at us if we persevere in the end the light will overcome the darkness & something miraculous will happen. Our lives become rainbows. Beacons of hope for all to see.
In short, God is good 🙂 & during this retreat, I first learned of the National Eucharistic Congress and how some of our groups were planning to go.
Pt 3: National Eucharistic Congress, Revival & Radical Rest
Thanks to the JPII Wilderness Retreat I not only learned of the NEC but was able to attend with some of my fellow retreatants. That week and the miracles that occurred are a book in and of themself, but I will share, at the very least, a brief summary of how God healed me and reminded me of who he’s calling me to be.
On day three of the congress, I awoke absolutely exhausted, so much so that I slept from 3 pm on day two until 1 pm on day 3. I was so frustrated with myself for missing Father Mike Schmitz’s talk, mainly because I hadn’t seen him in person since the Steubenville Conference back in 2013, the summer after my brother died and my professional sports career was taken from me due to an injury where the words the God spoke to me through Fr. Mike that I decided to give God everything and changed my life forever (but that’s a story for another time).
Still frustrated with myself, I ended up going to an afternoon breakout session but then decided to return and sleep the rest of the day, give myself some grace at the fact that I’d been in 8 different time zones within the past three weeks, combine that with healing from a broken heart I remembered something I learned while with the Carmelite Sisters in San Diego, “God can still work when you are sleeping.” On my way back to the Airbnb, I felt pulled to St. Johns where perpetual adoration was being held. And since I learned a long time ago just to act immediately when Jesus calls me to come spend time with him, I redirected my feet to the Church. It was packed with not a single spot to kneel or sit, standing room only except at the very front, right at the steps of the altar. Usually, I would have marched straight to the front without hesitation, but a voice in my head stopped me. “Who do you think you are going to march up there and take center stage? How selfish of you! Do you think you are more special than anyone else here that you would assume to take such a place of honor? Stand in the back and be respectful, you peasant; you are in the presence of a King. ACT LIKE IT!” Well, when I heard the word peasant, I laughed and said, “Get behind me, Satan,” then marched confidently up to my dad as if he and I were the only two in the Church and kneeled right in front of the middle aisle at the steps. To my right, the sisters had an increasingly large group of children they were reading Bible stories to, singing with, and educating on the Eucharist.
The story that they told was of The Good Shepherd, I remembered thinking I have heard this one so many times before, what more could I possibly learn, but the Holy Spirit encouraged me to just sit like a child and allow myself to be surprised. So, when Sister had us children repeat, “The Lord is My Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.” I did so without really thinking much of it, but then sister went on to explain how what that means is that God loves us so much, and because he is the perfect father not only will he take care of us, but we will also “want for nothing.” It was in that moment I realized I’d been listening to that scripture WRONG MY ENTIRE LIFE!!! My whole life I thought, “There is nothing I shall want” meant we shouldn’t desire anything but Jesus & while that is an incredible virtuous posture to strive for what it means is we will want for nothing, he knows what we need, what we desire, in fact, he gave us our desires and dreams for a reason. How because he is the perfect father who loves to dote on his children the verse doesn’t mean don’t desire, but give everything to him in prayer, & have faith that he will provide for all you need.
Sitting like a child, running to the father and diving into his arms, letting him be the father I never had. Allowing myself to rest in him, to take refuge in the Eucharist, knowing that I not only will indeed find rest, but I will want for nothing. Truly one of the most beautiful experiences of my life and a perfect summary of how the Congress went for me. I kept running to Jesus in the Eucharist bringing him my broken heart, my hopes, my dreams and asking BIG THINGS of HIM.
Now, thanks to the NEC congress and asking BIG THINGS I have been invited to partner with my all-time favorite Catholic Prayer App. I leave in a few days for my 9th time zone this month, the Hallow App Sumit at my Alumni Franciscan University in Steubenville Ohio, a place I have not returned to since my graduation back in 2021. Also, I am currently building a ranch with my family and renovating/transforming a 56-acre property just 30 minutes outside of Yosemite National Park into a retreat center and wedding venue, but things keep coming up that we need to fix that we simply put do not currently have the finances for so please pray for God to continue to provide.
In short, I am amazed at just how much God can do in a single month, how God can take the most broken hearts, draw them to himself, and turn their pain into passion and trials into testimony. I know my walk with God is far from over, and there is still much suffering in my future, but now I can finally say I joyfully boast in the trials. Lately, the enemy has been tempting me with dreams of past sins and my deepest desires of being married with a family and twisting love into lust. While I know we aren’t culpable for what happens in us when we sleep, we are responsible for whether or not we choose to dwell on those thoughts upon waking. Old Kendal would allow those thoughts to consume her all day and lead her into falling into sin out of sadness, defeat, and shame, but now I laugh in the face of evil and say, the more you tempt me, the more I will pray. Everything he throws at me, I throw up to God, for it is an honor to be so hated. It is truly flattering to know that I pose such a threat to the enemy’s plans for destroying the souls of my brothers and sisters.
That is why I feel God has placed such a zeal for the salvation of all souls in my heart that he allows me to endure so much that I might offer it up. That prayer, “Lord, I pray that others may become holier than I provided I become as holy as I should,”
My daily prayer:
Blessed Are You Lord Our God
WHO PUTS BREATH IN MY LUNGS
AND A BEAT IN MY HEART.
Everything I have is yours.
Everything I am &
Everything long to be I lay at your feet.
Take what you want to take and give what you want to give.
You who are life and breath of each of us.
I give you this day in its entirety & ask you to glorify it, to heal it, & to make it new.
Many Blessings to you all Love your sister in Christ,
Kendal Huntsman aka @OverallGoodDayGirl
