February 16, 2025 • 25 mins
In this episode of Bleeding Daylight, storyteller and author Taylor Lyall shares his 13-year journey of waiting on a dream to serve in South Africa. After spending a transformative year teaching in a township and working with orphans, Taylor felt called to return permanently. However, that door has remained closed for over a decade, leading to profound lessons about faith, purpose, and divine timing.
Through his story and his book "I Can't Wait," Taylor explores the challenges and unexpected blessings found in seasons of waiting. From learning to put down roots in Chicago to discovering ministry opportunities right where he is, his journey offers hope and wisdom for anyone experiencing their own period of waiting. Taylor's experience reminds us that sometimes our detours are actually destinations, and that God is actively working even in our seasons of pause.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
Wherever there are shadows, there are people ready to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight.
This is Bleeding Daylight with your host, Rodney Olsen.
Welcome and thanks for listening.
Do you want more people to hear inspirational stories of hope?
Please share Bleeding Daylight on social media and through word of mouth.
(00:29):
There are dozens of other episodes waiting for you at bleedingdaylight.net.
Please leave a five-star review for Bleeding Daylight on your preferred platform.
We live in an instant society that doesn't like waiting, but can waiting help shape us for the better?
Today's guest has written a book about the extended period of waiting that he and his family are still facing.
(01:03):
Taylor Lyall is a storyteller of faith, transformation and unexpected journeys who has navigated life's twists from teaching orphans in South Africa to selling pet insurance while serving as a church deacon.
Taylor has experienced the profound beauty of waiting on God's plan, which he candidly explores in his book, I Can't Wait, sharing deeply personal lessons about surrendering personal ambitions and embracing God's unexpected path.
(01:32):
He reminds us that following Christ isn't about grand achievements, but about cultivating a profound intimate relationship with God that transcends our own limited understanding.
I'm so pleased he's joining me today.
Taylor, welcome to Bleeding Daylight.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me.
Let's rewind your story just a little bit.
(01:52):
Let's go back to the days after Bible college.
You're serving as a youth pastor at the time.
When did you realize that God was actually calling you to move halfway around the world?
I think it's common with a lot of us.
You're out of college and you have your eyes set on the world, a change in the world, make a difference.
(02:13):
And I think the Lord leads us through some trials.
So I went to Washington State and I was a youth pastor and it was a great experience, but I experienced a lot of hardship and failure, not just in the failure, but in my time of working with youth, I realized why part of my failure was I didn't have a deep passion for it from the Lord.
(02:38):
I really had a heart for kids and little kids.
I like to be silly and make voices.
I learned eventually to juggle.
So I think I was more of a big personality and really just feeling my heart for kids, kids in need, especially.
I heard of the orphan crisis in South Africa and kids who grew up without parents.
(02:59):
And that really touched my heart and kind of gave me a heart for those kids.
I felt like I was going to advocate for kids my whole life.
And I really felt that if I was going to advocate for them, I should probably get to know them.
I heard someone tell a story that they would look for creative ways.
I think if your mom was struggling with alcoholism, you would find creative ways and passionate ways to help your mom in her struggles.
(03:28):
So creativity is bred from a place of love.
And so I wanted to be creative, to serve the orphan and be passionate about helping kids in general, kids in need.
I realized I need to come to love them, to know them.
And so that was one of my big reasons of wanting to go and serve kids, especially kids in South Africa, to put faces to these numbers, these statistics of the orphans in Africa.
(03:54):
I want to explore that journey to South Africa in a moment, but I'm wondering, do you know where that real heart for young children came from?
Where was that desire birthed to really help the smallest of those?
I think it just comes from a young age of being in the church.
(04:14):
And then just a little bit of time, usually in the church, when you're a little bit advanced, you're a little bit older, whether it's helping with my younger brother, or once I was in junior high, started serving the elementary school, kids started helping with VBS.
And so I just think it was just something that made my heart leap, serving kids, just that simple innocence, especially a baby.
(04:40):
It feels like they're straight from heaven.
I just felt a movement of the Holy Spirit, just felt God's touch on these kids.
It's just something that made me come alive.
When we go to a place that's in a different country, a different culture, there's nothing really that can prepare us fully for that.
And I'm sure that you did whatever preparations you could, but can you remember those early days and what were the major adjustments that you had to make when you first arrived there in South Africa?
(05:09):
I got sick really quickly, just adjusting to the different types of food and the time change.
I just remember being really sick.
There's lots of other things, whether it's calling a traffic light, we call it in America, a traffic light or a stoplight, and they call it a robot.
The funniest thing is I showed up thinking I would serve in the orphanage, baby's home, and they really needed a first grade teacher.
(05:38):
One day in my class, I argued with a first grader about the pronunciation of Z versus Z, because in the United States we call it Z and then a lot of other places call it Z.
So, I argued with a six-year-old and I lost, because she was right, because it's the context of where you are.
(05:59):
So, it was just a lot, a young American thinking everybody knows about America, and sometimes we like to think that we're right or everybody sees our movies and wants to come to America, but I had a lot to learn about the world and so many beautiful places who were different than me, but right in their context.
Tell me about those days, because you were there for what, a year in South Africa?
(06:23):
Yeah, I was there for a year.
Every day, I went into the local township, a beautiful township called Olivanot Bush, and I taught in their grade one class in their little preschool that they have there.
It was just different.
There's a lot of different nationalities and races and experiences, people from all different cultures.
(06:44):
I went into this township and it was probably 40,000 Black Africans and me, this six-foot-eight, two-meter-tall, white American guy just stuck out like a sore thumb.
Usually, I'm one who fits in and can kind of go along with the crowd.
Obviously, you stick out a little bit being tall even here, but just being one who everyone looked at and talked at and made to feel different.
(07:10):
It was just so amazing to meet people from a different culture, different context than I grew up, and they have such a beautiful heart for people.
They welcomed me in, made food for me.
My heart really changed.
I know I originally went over there to bless the orphans, learn to come to know the orphan, and that exactly what happened.
(07:31):
There was some kids who were there because they were abandoned on the side of the road or thrown out in the garbage and just some of these terrible situations, these terrible stories of these kids who were just kind of cast off and made not important by their parents.
I really just came to love the kids there and the people.
(07:54):
We've gone back several times, have a heart to move there one day.
That was kind of what my book has been about.
We had a dream and vision, and it's been about 13 years since we originally felt the call of God to move there.
It just hasn't come about yet.
There hasn't been an open door to walk through.
That has been our heart, and now we're kind of, well, maybe we didn't have everything right, or maybe there was a reason God wanted us to move there for some reason, and now He has other plans for us.
(08:23):
My book is dissecting some of those things of why we wait, what God does in our waiting.
It's not about some of this huge thing where we're going to do for God.
It's really just knowing Him and walking with Him and keeping our ear open to Him.
I'm wondering, how have you come to terms with the waiting?
Was it always a case of saying, well, this is the path we believe God has us on, and yet we're not there yet?
(08:48):
Or have there been some struggles along the way saying, Lord, we've put this in front of you.
We believe this is your will for us, and it's not happening.
What's going on?
I think mostly the latter.
A lot of crying out to the Lord, a lot of complaining, if I'm honest.
I think for a good, probably decade, we were living like it was just around the corner.
(09:14):
We really felt like it was always about six months, 12 months in advance.
Okay, it's just around here.
We needed to replace our car, but oh no, we should just fix our car, put a Band-Aid on it because we're not going to invest that much money into something if we're just going to leave shortly.
I've treated people like that at times where I didn't want to invest fully into relationships or maybe assignments I had here in Chicago because if I was going to bolt soon, if I was going to leave the country in six months, why invest that much here?
(09:52):
There was a lot of times where I would look at other people that I went to Bible college with, see them leading ministries or churches or doing things that I wanted to be doing, and there was a lot of complaining and jealousy and frustration.
That's one of the chapters in my books.
You can't compare your waiting.
(10:13):
We are different masterpieces.
You can't compare Starry Night with the Mona Lisa halfway finished.
We're all different.
God's masterpiece.
Each one of us, I just had different levels of completion.
There's been definitely times of being faithful and having hope.
Then there's also been times of frustration and just wondering if it's ever going to happen.
(10:38):
I think recently we've come into a place, we bought a house about two and a half years ago, and we really felt after a decade of me having a hard time waiting, complaining at times about waiting, we really felt God really leading us to buy a house, which means you're going to be here a while if you're purchasing property.
We really felt like this was a time where God was going to lead us into a place of putting down roots and staying and not just living like, it's just around the corner.
(11:09):
Go ahead and purchase the new car or invest in a big purchase or other things that will let everyone around you know that you're here.
Has that been a real struggle for you to put down those roots, to do some of those things that suggest permanence?
Does that feel to you like you're betraying that vision?
(11:29):
How do you deal with that?
At times it felt like either we were betraying that vision or I was foolish.
Did I get it wrong for a decade?
Did I hear God wrong?
Am I chasing after something that I should have been doing, going a different route and devoting my time and energy towards something else?
But I think when we've put roots down, it was actually more of a breath of fresh air where we're like, okay, we can settle.
(11:57):
We can invest in things.
We can invest in our community.
Once we bought this house, I really came to appreciate the city more.
I complained a lot about Chicago.
I'm from Southern California.
And now that we put down roots, I'm like, the city of Chicago is beautiful and there's so much to do and interesting people to know.
(12:17):
So I think this time of putting down roots and staying really took the weight that we're feeling to figure everything out or to make it happen and really just, all right, we are taking the weight off of us.
At times we feel like it was our responsibility for me to get a job or an opportunity to move to South Africa, that it was really, all right, we are setting down roots and just investing until God calls us to move.
(12:46):
You're in that period of waiting still, and that's what your book talks to.
During that time, have you encountered other people that are waiting in different ways that are waiting for God to act on their health or waiting for a different kind of experience of God?
Yeah.
Even talking to people who've read the book have just been blessed by it because I think we're all in some sort of waiting, whether it's waiting for a friend to come to know the Lord, or I've met a lot of people who are single and waiting for a spouse.
(13:21):
And I think a lot of us have a dream or vision that is yet to be fulfilled in the Lord, whether it's not wanting to do their job that is just paying the bills and they want to explore their passion a little bit.
So I have met people in a variety of different ways.
So I think all of us have some sort of waiting, whether it's really large, moving, or a little bit more financial freedom, or a lot of people obviously have the desire to get married.
(13:49):
So I've definitely encountered people along the way, and especially as the book is being read and the message is getting out there.
Where do you think the heart change came for you in going from that period of waiting, and it's just around the corner, and living almost a temporary life there in the US, to saying, no, no, we can put down roots, we can be here, and it's not betraying the vision.
(14:13):
We still are open to God moving us to South Africa.
Where did that heart change happen for you?
We had this time where we lived in an apartment for 11 and a half years.
It was time for us to also buy a new car.
So there was a time where we were forced to this decision, where we're going to live in Chicago, if we were going to buy a new car.
(14:43):
So I think there was a time where the Lord kind of made it easy for us to make some decisions because our apartment was sold and was gut rehabbed.
So they were going to tear it all apart and then build it again and charge three times the rent.
So obviously we could not live there anymore.
And the car that we were driving had to pass this emissions test.
(15:07):
We had to invest more into the car than what it was worth.
It was kind of a fork in the road that you really have to make a decision, either you're going to do this or you're going to do this.
So I feel like the Lord sometimes makes certain decisions easier than others.
And so that was a time where, all right, we had to put money into a new car.
(15:27):
We had to put money into either a new place to stay in Chicago, rent an apartment, or we really felt Him leading us to buy a house.
And so in that process, I really felt, it was even maybe a few weeks before that, where the Lord was really just instructing us and encouraging us to, all right, put roots down.
(15:51):
You don't have to look else.
You don't have to look at houses in South Africa.
You don't have to look for opportunities.
It's Chicago for now.
And the natural met the spiritual.
Obviously the Lord has His hand in so much in the natural things.
So I think in that natural, He wrapped that up in the spiritual.
So He taught me lessons and spoke to me in that time.
(16:14):
And obviously for 13 years, you can't spend every day with a suitcase in one hand and a passport in the other ready to go.
So what has occupied your time?
What have you been doing during that period?
We continue to serve faithfully at our church.
We're deacons at our church.
I've served at our kids' ministry for 14 years now, where I'm up there and juggling and doing Mickey voices and all sorts of things.
(16:41):
We have two daughters now.
My wife helps lead our food pantry at our church.
I actually sell insurance for dogs and cats.
I didn't know it was a thing, but the Lord has provided in that we homeschool our daughters.
So there's been a number of things, but I would say most active is through our church, Anthem Church here in Chicago.
(17:02):
I lead a men's group, a men's Bible study at our church.
So we keep quite busy serving our church and serving God's people.
I think even writing is a dream of mine.
This is my second book.
My first book, Humble Walk, came out in 2017.
I'm consistently staying busy.
Just a lot of different things.
(17:25):
We've mentioned a few times that book that you have recently released called I Can't Wait.
And I think that most of us have been in a waiting period, whether it's for a matter of months or in your case, a matter of years.
And for many people, it goes longer than that.
But what about that first book?
I was going to touch on that.
Tell me a little bit more about that book that came out, Humble Walk, back in 2017.
(17:50):
The subtitle is Lessons from a Simple Man Following Jesus.
There's a lot of just lessons that God has taught me.
One of the chapters is going to South Africa and Him leading me to that and just giving me a heart for justice.
I even get into waiting a little bit as a precursor in that book.
(18:11):
My wife and I, our first relationships were each other's first girlfriend, boyfriend.
We didn't have a relationship before then.
And just the whole story about that.
There's just a line from a youth musical that I did that goes into that where it says, He's got perfect timing.
He's never a moment too late.
(18:32):
He's got perfect timing, no matter how long you must wait.
I get into waiting a little bit in that book about being single until I was 25 years old and meeting my wife in South Africa.
So two Americans going to meet in South Africa.
That's one of the chapters of my book, how we ended up spending some time together.
(18:52):
And she went to a different part of South Africa and I never thought I would see her again.
And we ended up connecting and I flew to a different part of South Africa and got to date her.
And we eventually long-distance dated before I decided to move to Chicago years later.
So it's a lot of different stories about just different lessons that God taught me over the years.
(19:15):
Budgeting generosity, a lesson that my wife has taught me.
Encountering different people, experiencing God's goodness through different people I met at different jobs.
So it was just a lot of different lessons with no one main focus.
Like I can't wait, but it's just different lessons that I learned.
The main message from Humble Walk comes from Micah 6.8, where he has shown you, oh man, what is good.
(19:41):
What does the Lord require you?
But to seek justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God.
We look throughout scripture and it's absolutely right that we should dig down into chapters and verses, but sometimes we forget that there are just so many stories throughout scripture and they speak to us powerfully.
And I know that storytelling is a big part of what you do, certainly in Humble Walk, especially those stories that are there.
(20:08):
Talk to me about the power of storytelling and what that means for you.
I love story, especially teaching kids ministry.
This incredibly big God created the world and yet also walked on earth amongst us and he lived a sinless life, a perfect life and demonstrated for us how to live.
(20:32):
And so trying to explain to these five through 11 year olds, how these huge, big concepts of the Bible can relate to them.
I love making stories simple.
I just taught in Sunday school last week about the walls of Jericho and walking around each day for six days and then walking around seven times.
(20:56):
And how does that relate to a seven year old?
Kind of went through how sometimes God asks us to do things that might seem a little bit silly.
Do you think that seemed a little bit silly that they just blew trumpets and shouted and then the walls fell down?
I showed them that sometimes God will call you to do something silly, whether it's praying for somebody, standing there and praying for them if somebody has pain or if they're sick at school or going to sit with somebody at their lunch table who's sitting by themselves and you have to sit with them and that might seem a little bit silly.
(21:33):
So taking these huge concepts of the Bible of this huge God who created the world and make it simple and understandable to a seven year old can be challenging, but I find such a joy in life in it.
And really Jesus was the greatest storyteller when he can just walk along with his disciples and say, look at the lilies of the field.
(21:56):
I take care of them.
And you just like walking along and pointing stuff out and make it into a story just for his simple-minded disciples, just as we are simple-minded people who need ways to connect with the living, breathing God.
And story is such a good accompaniment to have scripture made into story.
(22:17):
And so kind of having a good balance of that, not neglecting scripture, but also told in a powerful, understandable way.
We mentioned earlier that there are various kinds of waiting.
It's the person waiting for a life partner.
It's the person waiting for a change in health.
(22:38):
It's the person waiting for a job to come up or so many other different things.
If someone's listening now and they're in their own time of waiting, what would your words be to them?
I think look for ways that God is at work.
Look for ways that he is building you up into what he has for you.
(23:01):
The friendships you have right now are teaching you how to be a good spouse one day, or the small chores or tasks at work are training you up to do something that he has for you later.
I don't know if you've seen The Karate Kid.
It's one of my favorite movies, actually came out the year I was born.
So I didn't see it in theaters.
(23:22):
Mr. Miyagi had Daniel wax on, wax off.
He waxed the cars, painted the fence, sanded the floor.
And Mr. Miyagi was training Daniel's muscles to have muscle memory that was later used for fighting karate.
I think God does things like that.
It's like, God, where are you?
What are you doing?
(23:42):
And he's given us tasks and muscle memory and teaching us to start small, work for the small things, because he has greater things for us.
And so many times in my life, and I'm sure so many out there, they look back at what has led them to this point, like, oh, okay.
Okay, God, there you were.
(24:03):
That's what you were doing, God.
So I would say, look for the things that God is doing, because he is at work.
He is preparing a way for you, whether it's exactly what you want
and exactly what you're waiting for, or he has something different for you that is going to be
better for you, because he knows, even though we have our own desires, you know, maybe we'll never
(24:28):
get to South Africa, but I know following him and he's preparing something for me that is going to
be maybe even better than what I want or what I think I need.
He knows me and he knows the best things for me.
Taylor, I'm sure there are people that are wanting to hear a little bit more of your story to grab your books and connect with you.
(24:49):
Where is the easiest place for people to find you?
Yeah, my website is taylorlyall.us. And then at most of the social media platforms, I'm just at taylorlyall, Instagram, X, and TikTok, all the main ones.
Okay, I will put links in the show notes at bleedingdaylight.net so that people can find those links easily as well.
(25:15):
But Taylor, I just want to say thank you so much for sharing some of your story today and for being part of Bleeding Daylight.
Yeah, thanks for having me.
It was a pleasure.
Thank you for listening to Bleeding Daylight.
Please help us to shine more light into the darkness by sharing this episode with others.
For further details and more episodes, please visit bleedingdaylight.net
Wherever there are shadows, there are people ready to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight.
This is Bleeding Daylight with your host, Rodney Olsen.
Welcome and thanks for listening.
Do you want more people to hear inspirational stories of hope?
Please share Bleeding Daylight on social media and through word of mouth.
(00:29):
There are dozens of other episodes waiting for you at bleedingdaylight.net.
Please leave a five-star review for Bleeding Daylight on your preferred platform.
We live in an instant society that doesn't like waiting, but can waiting help shape us for the better?
Today's guest has written a book about the extended period of waiting that he and his family are still facing.
(01:03):
Taylor Lyall is a storyteller of faith, transformation and unexpected journeys who has navigated life's twists from teaching orphans in South Africa to selling pet insurance while serving as a church deacon.
Taylor has experienced the profound beauty of waiting on God's plan, which he candidly explores in his book, I Can't Wait, sharing deeply personal lessons about surrendering personal ambitions and embracing God's unexpected path.
(01:32):
He reminds us that following Christ isn't about grand achievements, but about cultivating a profound intimate relationship with God that transcends our own limited understanding.
I'm so pleased he's joining me today.
Taylor, welcome to Bleeding Daylight.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me.
Let's rewind your story just a little bit.
(01:52):
Let's go back to the days after Bible college.
You're serving as a youth pastor at the time.
When did you realize that God was actually calling you to move halfway around the world?
I think it's common with a lot of us.
You're out of college and you have your eyes set on the world, a change in the world, make a difference.
(02:13):
And I think the Lord leads us through some trials.
So I went to Washington State and I was a youth pastor and it was a great experience, but I experienced a lot of hardship and failure, not just in the failure, but in my time of working with youth, I realized why part of my failure was I didn't have a deep passion for it from the Lord.
(02:38):
I really had a heart for kids and little kids.
I like to be silly and make voices.
I learned eventually to juggle.
So I think I was more of a big personality and really just feeling my heart for kids, kids in need, especially.
I heard of the orphan crisis in South Africa and kids who grew up without parents.
(02:59):
And that really touched my heart and kind of gave me a heart for those kids.
I felt like I was going to advocate for kids my whole life.
And I really felt that if I was going to advocate for them, I should probably get to know them.
I heard someone tell a story that they would look for creative ways.
I think if your mom was struggling with alcoholism, you would find creative ways and passionate ways to help your mom in her struggles.
(03:28):
So creativity is bred from a place of love.
And so I wanted to be creative, to serve the orphan and be passionate about helping kids in general, kids in need.
I realized I need to come to love them, to know them.
And so that was one of my big reasons of wanting to go and serve kids, especially kids in South Africa, to put faces to these numbers, these statistics of the orphans in Africa.
(03:54):
I want to explore that journey to South Africa in a moment, but I'm wondering, do you know where that real heart for young children came from?
Where was that desire birthed to really help the smallest of those?
I think it just comes from a young age of being in the church.
(04:14):
And then just a little bit of time, usually in the church, when you're a little bit advanced, you're a little bit older, whether it's helping with my younger brother, or once I was in junior high, started serving the elementary school, kids started helping with VBS.
And so I just think it was just something that made my heart leap, serving kids, just that simple innocence, especially a baby.
(04:40):
It feels like they're straight from heaven.
I just felt a movement of the Holy Spirit, just felt God's touch on these kids.
It's just something that made me come alive.
When we go to a place that's in a different country, a different culture, there's nothing really that can prepare us fully for that.
And I'm sure that you did whatever preparations you could, but can you remember those early days and what were the major adjustments that you had to make when you first arrived there in South Africa?
(05:09):
I got sick really quickly, just adjusting to the different types of food and the time change.
I just remember being really sick.
There's lots of other things, whether it's calling a traffic light, we call it in America, a traffic light or a stoplight, and they call it a robot.
The funniest thing is I showed up thinking I would serve in the orphanage, baby's home, and they really needed a first grade teacher.
(05:38):
One day in my class, I argued with a first grader about the pronunciation of Z versus Z, because in the United States we call it Z and then a lot of other places call it Z.
So, I argued with a six-year-old and I lost, because she was right, because it's the context of where you are.
(05:59):
So, it was just a lot, a young American thinking everybody knows about America, and sometimes we like to think that we're right or everybody sees our movies and wants to come to America, but I had a lot to learn about the world and so many beautiful places who were different than me, but right in their context.
Tell me about those days, because you were there for what, a year in South Africa?
(06:23):
Yeah, I was there for a year.
Every day, I went into the local township, a beautiful township called Olivanot Bush, and I taught in their grade one class in their little preschool that they have there.
It was just different.
There's a lot of different nationalities and races and experiences, people from all different cultures.
(06:44):
I went into this township and it was probably 40,000 Black Africans and me, this six-foot-eight, two-meter-tall, white American guy just stuck out like a sore thumb.
Usually, I'm one who fits in and can kind of go along with the crowd.
Obviously, you stick out a little bit being tall even here, but just being one who everyone looked at and talked at and made to feel different.
(07:10):
It was just so amazing to meet people from a different culture, different context than I grew up, and they have such a beautiful heart for people.
They welcomed me in, made food for me.
My heart really changed.
I know I originally went over there to bless the orphans, learn to come to know the orphan, and that exactly what happened.
(07:31):
There was some kids who were there because they were abandoned on the side of the road or thrown out in the garbage and just some of these terrible situations, these terrible stories of these kids who were just kind of cast off and made not important by their parents.
I really just came to love the kids there and the people.
(07:54):
We've gone back several times, have a heart to move there one day.
That was kind of what my book has been about.
We had a dream and vision, and it's been about 13 years since we originally felt the call of God to move there.
It just hasn't come about yet.
There hasn't been an open door to walk through.
That has been our heart, and now we're kind of, well, maybe we didn't have everything right, or maybe there was a reason God wanted us to move there for some reason, and now He has other plans for us.
(08:23):
My book is dissecting some of those things of why we wait, what God does in our waiting.
It's not about some of this huge thing where we're going to do for God.
It's really just knowing Him and walking with Him and keeping our ear open to Him.
I'm wondering, how have you come to terms with the waiting?
Was it always a case of saying, well, this is the path we believe God has us on, and yet we're not there yet?
(08:48):
Or have there been some struggles along the way saying, Lord, we've put this in front of you.
We believe this is your will for us, and it's not happening.
What's going on?
I think mostly the latter.
A lot of crying out to the Lord, a lot of complaining, if I'm honest.
I think for a good, probably decade, we were living like it was just around the corner.
(09:14):
We really felt like it was always about six months, 12 months in advance.
Okay, it's just around here.
We needed to replace our car, but oh no, we should just fix our car, put a Band-Aid on it because we're not going to invest that much money into something if we're just going to leave shortly.
I've treated people like that at times where I didn't want to invest fully into relationships or maybe assignments I had here in Chicago because if I was going to bolt soon, if I was going to leave the country in six months, why invest that much here?
(09:52):
There was a lot of times where I would look at other people that I went to Bible college with, see them leading ministries or churches or doing things that I wanted to be doing, and there was a lot of complaining and jealousy and frustration.
That's one of the chapters in my books.
You can't compare your waiting.
(10:13):
We are different masterpieces.
You can't compare Starry Night with the Mona Lisa halfway finished.
We're all different.
God's masterpiece.
Each one of us, I just had different levels of completion.
There's been definitely times of being faithful and having hope.
Then there's also been times of frustration and just wondering if it's ever going to happen.
(10:38):
I think recently we've come into a place, we bought a house about two and a half years ago, and we really felt after a decade of me having a hard time waiting, complaining at times about waiting, we really felt God really leading us to buy a house, which means you're going to be here a while if you're purchasing property.
We really felt like this was a time where God was going to lead us into a place of putting down roots and staying and not just living like, it's just around the corner.
(11:09):
Go ahead and purchase the new car or invest in a big purchase or other things that will let everyone around you know that you're here.
Has that been a real struggle for you to put down those roots, to do some of those things that suggest permanence?
Does that feel to you like you're betraying that vision?
(11:29):
How do you deal with that?
At times it felt like either we were betraying that vision or I was foolish.
Did I get it wrong for a decade?
Did I hear God wrong?
Am I chasing after something that I should have been doing, going a different route and devoting my time and energy towards something else?
But I think when we've put roots down, it was actually more of a breath of fresh air where we're like, okay, we can settle.
(11:57):
We can invest in things.
We can invest in our community.
Once we bought this house, I really came to appreciate the city more.
I complained a lot about Chicago.
I'm from Southern California.
And now that we put down roots, I'm like, the city of Chicago is beautiful and there's so much to do and interesting people to know.
(12:17):
So I think this time of putting down roots and staying really took the weight that we're feeling to figure everything out or to make it happen and really just, all right, we are taking the weight off of us.
At times we feel like it was our responsibility for me to get a job or an opportunity to move to South Africa, that it was really, all right, we are setting down roots and just investing until God calls us to move.
(12:46):
You're in that period of waiting still, and that's what your book talks to.
During that time, have you encountered other people that are waiting in different ways that are waiting for God to act on their health or waiting for a different kind of experience of God?
Yeah.
Even talking to people who've read the book have just been blessed by it because I think we're all in some sort of waiting, whether it's waiting for a friend to come to know the Lord, or I've met a lot of people who are single and waiting for a spouse.
(13:21):
And I think a lot of us have a dream or vision that is yet to be fulfilled in the Lord, whether it's not wanting to do their job that is just paying the bills and they want to explore their passion a little bit.
So I have met people in a variety of different ways.
So I think all of us have some sort of waiting, whether it's really large, moving, or a little bit more financial freedom, or a lot of people obviously have the desire to get married.
(13:49):
So I've definitely encountered people along the way, and especially as the book is being read and the message is getting out there.
Where do you think the heart change came for you in going from that period of waiting, and it's just around the corner, and living almost a temporary life there in the US, to saying, no, no, we can put down roots, we can be here, and it's not betraying the vision.
(14:13):
We still are open to God moving us to South Africa.
Where did that heart change happen for you?
We had this time where we lived in an apartment for 11 and a half years.
It was time for us to also buy a new car.
So there was a time where we were forced to this decision, where we're going to live in Chicago, if we were going to buy a new car.
(14:43):
So I think there was a time where the Lord kind of made it easy for us to make some decisions because our apartment was sold and was gut rehabbed.
So they were going to tear it all apart and then build it again and charge three times the rent.
So obviously we could not live there anymore.
And the car that we were driving had to pass this emissions test.
(15:07):
We had to invest more into the car than what it was worth.
It was kind of a fork in the road that you really have to make a decision, either you're going to do this or you're going to do this.
So I feel like the Lord sometimes makes certain decisions easier than others.
And so that was a time where, all right, we had to put money into a new car.
(15:27):
We had to put money into either a new place to stay in Chicago, rent an apartment, or we really felt Him leading us to buy a house.
And so in that process, I really felt, it was even maybe a few weeks before that, where the Lord was really just instructing us and encouraging us to, all right, put roots down.
(15:51):
You don't have to look else.
You don't have to look at houses in South Africa.
You don't have to look for opportunities.
It's Chicago for now.
And the natural met the spiritual.
Obviously the Lord has His hand in so much in the natural things.
So I think in that natural, He wrapped that up in the spiritual.
So He taught me lessons and spoke to me in that time.
(16:14):
And obviously for 13 years, you can't spend every day with a suitcase in one hand and a passport in the other ready to go.
So what has occupied your time?
What have you been doing during that period?
We continue to serve faithfully at our church.
We're deacons at our church.
I've served at our kids' ministry for 14 years now, where I'm up there and juggling and doing Mickey voices and all sorts of things.
(16:41):
We have two daughters now.
My wife helps lead our food pantry at our church.
I actually sell insurance for dogs and cats.
I didn't know it was a thing, but the Lord has provided in that we homeschool our daughters.
So there's been a number of things, but I would say most active is through our church, Anthem Church here in Chicago.
(17:02):
I lead a men's group, a men's Bible study at our church.
So we keep quite busy serving our church and serving God's people.
I think even writing is a dream of mine.
This is my second book.
My first book, Humble Walk, came out in 2017.
I'm consistently staying busy.
Just a lot of different things.
(17:25):
We've mentioned a few times that book that you have recently released called I Can't Wait.
And I think that most of us have been in a waiting period, whether it's for a matter of months or in your case, a matter of years.
And for many people, it goes longer than that.
But what about that first book?
I was going to touch on that.
Tell me a little bit more about that book that came out, Humble Walk, back in 2017.
(17:50):
The subtitle is Lessons from a Simple Man Following Jesus.
There's a lot of just lessons that God has taught me.
One of the chapters is going to South Africa and Him leading me to that and just giving me a heart for justice.
I even get into waiting a little bit as a precursor in that book.
(18:11):
My wife and I, our first relationships were each other's first girlfriend, boyfriend.
We didn't have a relationship before then.
And just the whole story about that.
There's just a line from a youth musical that I did that goes into that where it says, He's got perfect timing.
He's never a moment too late.
(18:32):
He's got perfect timing, no matter how long you must wait.
I get into waiting a little bit in that book about being single until I was 25 years old and meeting my wife in South Africa.
So two Americans going to meet in South Africa.
That's one of the chapters of my book, how we ended up spending some time together.
(18:52):
And she went to a different part of South Africa and I never thought I would see her again.
And we ended up connecting and I flew to a different part of South Africa and got to date her.
And we eventually long-distance dated before I decided to move to Chicago years later.
So it's a lot of different stories about just different lessons that God taught me over the years.
(19:15):
Budgeting generosity, a lesson that my wife has taught me.
Encountering different people, experiencing God's goodness through different people I met at different jobs.
So it was just a lot of different lessons with no one main focus.
Like I can't wait, but it's just different lessons that I learned.
The main message from Humble Walk comes from Micah 6.8, where he has shown you, oh man, what is good.
(19:41):
What does the Lord require you?
But to seek justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God.
We look throughout scripture and it's absolutely right that we should dig down into chapters and verses, but sometimes we forget that there are just so many stories throughout scripture and they speak to us powerfully.
And I know that storytelling is a big part of what you do, certainly in Humble Walk, especially those stories that are there.
(20:08):
Talk to me about the power of storytelling and what that means for you.
I love story, especially teaching kids ministry.
This incredibly big God created the world and yet also walked on earth amongst us and he lived a sinless life, a perfect life and demonstrated for us how to live.
(20:32):
And so trying to explain to these five through 11 year olds, how these huge, big concepts of the Bible can relate to them.
I love making stories simple.
I just taught in Sunday school last week about the walls of Jericho and walking around each day for six days and then walking around seven times.
(20:56):
And how does that relate to a seven year old?
Kind of went through how sometimes God asks us to do things that might seem a little bit silly.
Do you think that seemed a little bit silly that they just blew trumpets and shouted and then the walls fell down?
I showed them that sometimes God will call you to do something silly, whether it's praying for somebody, standing there and praying for them if somebody has pain or if they're sick at school or going to sit with somebody at their lunch table who's sitting by themselves and you have to sit with them and that might seem a little bit silly.
(21:33):
So taking these huge concepts of the Bible of this huge God who created the world and make it simple and understandable to a seven year old can be challenging, but I find such a joy in life in it.
And really Jesus was the greatest storyteller when he can just walk along with his disciples and say, look at the lilies of the field.
(21:56):
I take care of them.
And you just like walking along and pointing stuff out and make it into a story just for his simple-minded disciples, just as we are simple-minded people who need ways to connect with the living, breathing God.
And story is such a good accompaniment to have scripture made into story.
(22:17):
And so kind of having a good balance of that, not neglecting scripture, but also told in a powerful, understandable way.
We mentioned earlier that there are various kinds of waiting.
It's the person waiting for a life partner.
It's the person waiting for a change in health.
(22:38):
It's the person waiting for a job to come up or so many other different things.
If someone's listening now and they're in their own time of waiting, what would your words be to them?
I think look for ways that God is at work.
Look for ways that he is building you up into what he has for you.
(23:01):
The friendships you have right now are teaching you how to be a good spouse one day, or the small chores or tasks at work are training you up to do something that he has for you later.
I don't know if you've seen The Karate Kid.
It's one of my favorite movies, actually came out the year I was born.
So I didn't see it in theaters.
(23:22):
Mr. Miyagi had Daniel wax on, wax off.
He waxed the cars, painted the fence, sanded the floor.
And Mr. Miyagi was training Daniel's muscles to have muscle memory that was later used for fighting karate.
I think God does things like that.
It's like, God, where are you?
What are you doing?
(23:42):
And he's given us tasks and muscle memory and teaching us to start small, work for the small things, because he has greater things for us.
And so many times in my life, and I'm sure so many out there, they look back at what has led them to this point, like, oh, okay.
Okay, God, there you were.
(24:03):
That's what you were doing, God.
So I would say, look for the things that God is doing, because he is at work.
He is preparing a way for you, whether it's exactly what you want
and exactly what you're waiting for, or he has something different for you that is going to be
better for you, because he knows, even though we have our own desires, you know, maybe we'll never
(24:28):
get to South Africa, but I know following him and he's preparing something for me that is going to
be maybe even better than what I want or what I think I need.
He knows me and he knows the best things for me.
Taylor, I'm sure there are people that are wanting to hear a little bit more of your story to grab your books and connect with you.
(24:49):
Where is the easiest place for people to find you?
Yeah, my website is taylorlyall.us. And then at most of the social media platforms, I'm just at taylorlyall, Instagram, X, and TikTok, all the main ones.
Okay, I will put links in the show notes at bleedingdaylight.net so that people can find those links easily as well.
(25:15):
But Taylor, I just want to say thank you so much for sharing some of your story today and for being part of Bleeding Daylight.
Yeah, thanks for having me.
It was a pleasure.
Thank you for listening to Bleeding Daylight.
Please help us to shine more light into the darkness by sharing this episode with others.
For further details and more episodes, please visit bleedingdaylight.net
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