Good morning! As you know, I was deeply moved by the story of Katie Davis, author of Kisses from Katie.
To give you a brief outline of her life, Katie went to Uganda on a short term missions trip over Christmas break when she was 17, and she fell in love with the country and its people. Over the next few years she reoriented her entire life to her mission in Uganda, started a non-profit, began sponsoring children to go to school in her village, and regularly feeds thousands of indigenous people. And she is still not even 25 years old.
Today my friends and I are going to share our thoughts on the book, and how it affected us.
Before we get into the book, here are some introductions:
My name is Anna C, I'm 32 years old, and the mother of 3. My husband is a youth pastor, and we are making our life together in Dallas, TX. I've been writing this blog, Lasso the Moon since right after Ethan was born, about 5 1/2 years. I'm so glad you're here!
My name is Amanda W. I am a stay at home mom of two beautiful kiddos, a
wife to a police officer, and a graphic designer. I enjoy reading,
writing and helping others.
(Amanda also has a blog, This, That and the Other, where she writes about what's on her mind and heart. Check it out!)
Abby is my baby sister, but more recently one of my closest friends. She has two adorable little girls and a husband, lives less than 10 minutes from my house, and is my sounding board for all kinds of crazy ideas. She doesn't have a blog (yet!) but later this month will start contributing here at Lasso the Moon!
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1. What did you think about the book? Did you like it?
This is one of those books that will wreck your life. But I mean that in the best possible way!
Absolutely.
I loved the book. It was a good lesson for me to learn that what one
person does with her life really does make a difference. I am also
amazed at her courage. I would have been terrified for my own safety but
she has complete trust that the Lord will keep her safe.
I haven't yet finished the book. I've read a third of it and I think
it's a great book. It's a very captivating story and I certainly plan to
finish it. Right away I started writing posts on my blog that were
inspired by this book!
2. What was your favorite story? Why?
I liked how she talked about the excitement of the children when they
had what was probably their first ever baths. It just resonated with me,
it's something I take so much for granted and dread doing with my own
children! Yet, it's such a blessing to have that opportunity.
Here is it, only question #2 and I'm already crying over Amanda's answer. To have a first ever bath! This is a reality that I just don't understand, being American born and raised. There are times when my family has been considered below the poverty level, yet we are filthy rich compared to so many in this world. I loved this story, too. I also love that, until they got a bigger facility, all the children in the sponsorship program would come over for Saturday worship, stay all day, eat filling meals, and end up sleeping on the floor of Katie's house, body-to-body. And when they leave, they walk home with big bags of food supplies for the rest of the week.
One
of my favorite stories is from one of her journal entries. In it she
talks about trying to teach her girls not to play with trash. She
realizes that their joy in things she views as trash is similar to how
God views us and our “treasures.” He loves us anyway. Our perfect
Heavenly Father loves us even though we are dirty & broken. He wants
for us to think and dwell on the Heavenly things of value but He
doesn’t withhold His love when we forget and focus on earthly ‘trash’
because that is our human nature. He comes to us where we are.
3. What emotions and feelings are brought up in you when you think about ...
...her impact on kids?
Makes me want to adopt my own.
No kidding! I love the emotions that Katie talks about every time God presents her with another little girl to add to her family. She's not a super hero. She does not portray herself as ultra-godly or even selfless. But what God has asked her to do, she believes He will equip her to do it. Do I have faith like that?
It
is amazing that she has had done so much to change the lives of so many
children. Not only the 13 girls she’s made her own but hundreds of
children in the villages around her. She is incredibly selfless; yet
even she struggles with feelings of selfishness and pride.
Abby, I love how Katie, over and over, uses her journal and blog to confess her pride and selfishness! That blows me away. My own selfishness manifests in inaction. Hers might too I guess, but on a much smaller level!
...Jane's story?
For those of you who have not gotten this far in the book, I'll fill you in. While Katie's adoptions are legal, they cannot be finalized until she is 25. And since Jane's adoption wasn't final, her birth mother was able to change her mind and come back to claim her as her own. This part of the story is heart breaking, and I honestly don't understand why God does some of the things He does, but you will love Katie's response to it. She mourns, she's angry, but she trusts that God is sovereign.
My
heart breaks for Katie and for Jane. When she lets Jane and her mother
stay in her house after Jane has been away for so long she is confronted
with feelings of jealousy and what could have been. It was incredibly
sad to know that had Jane stayed with her instead of being returned to
her birth-mother she would have been a completely different little girl.
...the impact that one person's life can make?
I
think that a lot of the time I feel that what I do on a daily basis
doesn’t matter because I’m only one person. But I learned that it does
matter – even if it only matters to my family.
I think God takes our small amount of faith and effort and puts in so
much more. He's the only one who can make that big of an impact, we are
just cooperating with Him to make it happen.
I think sometimes we see faith as believing that God can do "x", even though it seems impossible. What I see about the faith demonstrated in this book, is that Katie didn't put a label on "x". And I think that true faith is just taking that willing next step, not even caring about how far this could take you. This is a big fault of mine, as a daydreamer. I want to see a possible end result, and have faith in that. But usually my dreams are puny compared to the power of Mighty God! Instead of keeping my eyes on the earthly prize, I just need to keep my eyes on Him.
...the idea of total surrender to God?
It intimidates me and makes me nervous when I think of it on the
scale of moving across the world or doing something huge like that, or
even in some small ways. However, I realized through this book how God
leads us to do things sometimes. It's not like God said to Katie "Hey
pack up your bags, move to Uganda and never come back". He led her a
step at a time through the short term mission trip, the one year trip,
etc. He planted desires and motivation in her heart along the way to
lead her there. I found this to be encouraging. I'm glad God doesn't
show us the big picture, I'm not sure I would be as willing of a
participant.
I totally agree, Amanda. But hasn't He ever asked you to take that tiny next step, and even that seemed like too much? I know of actual instances when I saw God leading me to do something small--even starting a conversation with a stranger--and I've brushed it aside. I don't want to live like that. If we want to live in total surrender, we have to trust that God is good and loves us, first of all, and then we just have to step out--one little step at a time.
I
am inspired to live more in-tune with God’s will. I know that I don’t
have the same level of faith and trust that she has but I want to have
it.
Abby, me too!
..her life compared to yours?
Well, obviously it's very different. However, I saw many parallels in
the fact that she is a mom as well. She also pointed out that there are
many things she does that are just ordinary and simple. Things no one
else would call spectacular, just the every day stuff God has called her
to. That's where I am at right now. I can change the world through MY
children. I pray that I have her passion to care THAT much about
pleasing God and doing exactly what He wants me to do. Other emotions
that arise are feelings of guilt for having so much. Feelings of
confusion, what am I supposed to do with the fact that I have so much
and others have so little.
I
may not be changing the lives of 14 girls in Africa (plus hundreds
more) but I can change the lives of my own girls everyday if I learn to
live intentionally. I can also pour into the lives of others in my life –
mainly girls in the youth group. I can build relationships and change
lives if I let God use me the way He has planned.
I tried so hard not to compare my life to Katie's, but I found it impossible. I felt sluggish, lazy, indulgent, and selfish--to name just a few emotions! The guilt was keeping me up at night until I realized that guilt is never from the Lord. That was the Enemy trying to keep me distracted from what I was really supposed to learn here. And the truth is, the life God has asked of me is wildly different from the life Katie is leading. I have a husband and have to follow his lead for our life's direction. He has a vibrant ministry here, that I'm obviously supposed to be part of and support. On the other hand, where might God have led me if I'd freely and trustingly said yes to all the little tasks He's already asked of me? I don't know! Maybe Uganda! And that makes me not want to miss out on anymore opportunities and little "missions" He puts in front of me. Her life is a beautiful example of what God might do with a person who merely answers "Yes, Lord."
4. What did you feel the Lord was trying to teach you about this book?
I
learned that I need to be intentional with my time. I am the first
example of Christ to my children and I want to draw them to Him. Also, I
want more than ever to foster or adopt. I don’t think that is in my
family’s immediate future but I believe the Lord will lead us down that
road in His time.
Multiple times I see this book reiterating that your calling may not be
to pack up and minister in another country. While there is much worse
poverty in Uganda there is also great poverty
here and many ways to help people. I don't have to move across the world
to be spreading God's word. I think I have sold myself short in the
impact I can have in the life of my children by just taking care of the
calling that God has given me as a mom and as a part time worker in
graphic design. I often feel guilty that I'm not doing more, but I don't
think that I should. Also, I think that I'm seeing how quick people are
to blame God for poverty, yet we aren't willing to help those people
ourselves.
It's funny how God can take the same book and teach three stay-at-home moms very different lessons! I felt like He was telling me to do more! Not in huge life-altering ways, but in tiny little ways that still require great amounts of trust in Him. Befriend the teachers at my kids' school, find out who and where the needy are in my community, expose my children to poverty, and train them to not be afraid of it. Get off the computer, out of books, out of my head, and into the world to do some good. This book got my spirit buzzing about what I could be doing--while still being an attentive mom and wife--and to stop being so scared of new people and situations.
5. How are you going to implement what you learned?
By praying to God in the mornings to ask how I can help Him that day. By
being open to simple things that can make a big impact on other people.
Also, I am considering many of the excess items I have in my home and
am planning to find the time to sort through some things that I can give
to the local Teen MOPS program. It's not fair that I have so much while
others have so little. I have felt this way for quite some time, but
this opportunity recently came up and it's something I can help with.
I love that! "Being open to simple things." I think I could say, "Being open!" I'm trying to listen to the voice of the Lord when I sense Him guiding me to do those simple things. I know He does this every day, and that a lot of times I just tune Him out. But on the occasions that I have actually followed this lead, I have been overwhelmed and astonished with where they have taken me. Where He has taken me. And I want more of that.
By
not wasting time. I need to take care of my own family first and then
give my time to those around me. My personality wants to go and save
people and change their lives but I have to be content in the role that
God has given me. He may use me to change people or he may just use me
to plant seeds and to be someone’s friend. I have to learn to be okay
with that.
Love it!
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Thanks so much to Abby and Amanda for talking some of this out with me. I love a book that gets under your skin, and this is one of them! If you are just joining us, and would like to get in on this conversation, please do so in the comments below. I'd love to hear what you have to say.
If you want to read more about how Amanda is living out what God's teaching her, check out This, That and the Other.
Order your own copy of Kisses from Katie here
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