So were you expecting a little “Mid-Week Inspiration” today?
Sike! or Syke! or…how do you spell that word we used back in the day when we were all, “Hey, gimme five!” And then yanked our hand away all cool like. Yeah…
Moving on…
Since today is the 12th of the month, that means it’s Booking It 2012 day!
So even though this isn’t your typical “Mid-Week Inspiration” post, it definitely qualifies as “mid-week” and I think the book we read this month was very inspirational. So – booyah…there you go.
For Booking It 2012 this month, we read Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption
Y’all.
This book was SO GOOD!
I told you a teensy bit about the story when I was talking about asking God to do big things.
God planted within Katie’s heart a passion to follow Him and for the people of Uganda.
I love that when God told Katie to “go,” she went!
In her words – she quit her life.
Fresh out of high school, leaving her family, her boyfriend, the comforts of the American life behind she moved to the other side of the world. She took up residence in “unpleasant” circumstances. We’re talking rats and bugs and mosquito netting. We’re talking loving on people with diseases and bugs and Aids.
I love that Katie chose to go where God had called her. And she loves being in His will!
The story is beautiful, because you KNOW that the circumstances are hard. You KNOW it can’t be easy. But by God’s grace Katie finds joy and fulfillment and contentment in following Him.
In loving.
In giving.
In bathing kids who have never had a bath.
In raising funds to pay for children’s education {when it looks impossible!}.
In feed lots of hungry mouths!
In going to the “least” in the culture and reaching out and ministering.
Wow!
Watching her obey God was pretty incredible. And such an encouragement to me.
As a single woman at the age of 23, she has now adopted 14 young girls. Can you imagine??
But oh….the grace as God meets their needs.
She’d be the first to say that it’s not easy. I know she would. But God is great. And He does big things! And He answers big prayers!
Okay…here are just a few quotes from the book…
Jesus wrecked my life, shattered it to pieces, and put it back together more beautifully.
Adoption is a redemptive response to tragedy that happens in this broken world.
She came back to the States to complete a semester of college to honor her parents…
But what has been the biggest shock to my system, the huge disconnect, is that I have stepped out of my reliance on God to meet my needs. I “miss” Jesus. He hasn’t disappeared, of course, but I feel so far from Him because my life is actually functioning without Him.
Ouch…Do I allow my life to function without Him because I don’t “need” to rely on Him to meet my needs?
When I decided not to complete my college degree, some people said I wasn’t going to “finish my education.” They were terribly mistaken. Maybe I didn’t sit in lecture halls and listen to people with lots of initials after their names talk about their areas of expertise, but one thing I learned quickly was that following God is an education of its own.
{Emphasis mine}
So there’s just a taste. I hope you enjoyed.
Following God. Following God. That is the place to live. No matter where it leads you {or doesn’t lead you – geographically}. Following God is the only life to live.
Also read….
This was kind of a fun story of “Chasing the Mona Lisa” when she had been hidden from the Nazis in WWII and the chase was on between the Nazis and the French towards the end of the war.
Don’t Sing at the Table: Life Lessons from My Grandmothers by Adriana Trigiani
A fun peek into the past as Trigiani shares about her two Italian grandmothers.
was it psych? hee hee