A LOVE NEVER LOST

It all started with a song, but somewhere between the notes, I found poetry. Seventh grade, middle school—where voices cracked, friendships shifted, and identities took shape. But for me, it was the moment a brown number two pencil met the blank page… and something inside me awakened.

When I was happy—I wrote. Bored—I wrote. But my most beautiful pieces were born from loving with a broken heart.

I was in love...

Year after year, I hid behind filling pages, binders, and folders. It was the only thing that kept me sane. Writing became my constant, my escape, and my truth. But by 11th grade, my worst fear found me. I gave up. The words stopped flowing. The passion I once had faded, swallowed by a world that felt colder, where everything I seemed to love was stolen from me. The more I gave, the less I received. I lost my love for writing and the sustainability it had given me.

I missed it...

I missed the rush of expression, the freedom it gave me, and the sense that I mattered. It wasn’t just about words; it was about feeling alive, having faith that those words fulfilled something deep within, and feeling hope being restored.

17 YEARS LATER...

After my world came crashing down, someone spoke into my spirit. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach—a spark that could not be quenched. And in that silence, I realized that the one thing I had been searching for wasn’t gone—it had just been buried.

I looked at the world around me—at everything I had endured, everything I fought for—and I knew that SUSTAIN was my calling. It wasn’t just a name; it was His promise. A promise to sustain what could never be stolen. A love suddenly, but never truly gone—My purpose. My destiny.

He gave me beauty for ashes...

SUSTAIN Designs by Ayla was born from an identity that screamed "defeated". From the ashes of pain, brokenness, and lost passion. But God reminded me that even in the most broken places, there’s still beauty to be created. And so, I write again—not because I have to, but because I realized GOD sustained the very thing He created in me. He sustained my purpose and resurrected my passion.

My love for this journey wasn’t stolen; it was only waiting for me to come back.

BECAUSE GOD SUSTAINED ME.

~ Ayla McGhee ~