A few years back, my sister was constantly talking about this book called Kisses from Katie. It’s about a girl like you and me called from a comfortable life in the U.S. to the rugged life in Uganda, adopting fourteen kids on her own as a single mom and serving the community around her.
I remember thinking how crazy that sounded. Like, good for her, but no thank you!
In the New Year, God began chipping away at my idolatry of comfort and security. He put in me the desire to have a trust in Him so strong that I would follow Him anywhere on the earth without hesitation. I’m not adventurous by nature–in fact, I’m very much a homebody. For the sake of the Gospel, for the salvation of lost people’s souls, I know this needs to change. I need to trust Him and follow Him anywhere.
Looking for conviction and inspiration, I grabbed Kisses from Katie from my sister’s bookshelf and immediately got sucked in.
the heart behind the book
If there’s one word I could use to describe Katie, it’s selfless–the kind of sacrificial, compassionate, all-in selflessness only made possible by the Holy Spirit. Katie pours her life into others. She serves in horrible conditions. She loves the abandoned. She stops to care for the sick and lonely. Her love for Jesus overflows like a river into the lives of people around her.
Her dependence on God through joy, sweat, tears, heartbreak, sickness, tragedy, discomfort, and fear blows me away.
Katie says that she’s nobody special. She’s just following Jesus. The command to love God and others is right there in the Bible for all of us.
Katie wrote her heart through each and every word. Every chapter is fueled with real joy and real hardship, raw emotions, the steadfast anchor of God’s truth through each storm she faced, and a deep, Christ-centered love.
Her writing style is conversational, like a friend. She honestly relives the dark moments, sharing snippets of her journal which relays her emotions and struggles from the moment.
I cried several times reading this book, hit with the reality many of us are tuned out of. Her heart for the nations–by loving and serving others, and sharing the good news of the Gospel–broke through my ignorance and security, through her fire to care for the lost, the hungry, the hopeless, the sick, the orphaned, and the abandoned.
She shares Jesus by showing everyone she knows what love looks like by caring for their emotional, physical, medical, and material needs (James 2:14-17) and pointing to the source of that love: Jesus Christ.
why you should read it
I’m not a “natural reader” by nature, but I know it’s important to intentionally set aside time to read Christ-centered, true stories and biblical books to cultivate growth in my pursuit of Jesus. I get so sucked into my little world of Instagram and my social life and what things I “need,” and I’m guessing you relate in some way, too.
Some of us will be senders by supporting missionaries, and some of us will be goers, called to faraway places–we must be one or the other. Whatever our calling is now and whatever it will be, it’s vital we push ourselves out of our comfort zones and into the world where people have not yet heard the Gospel–who not only need hope and love and physical care, but JESUS.
I hope you’ll set down your phone and pick up Kisses from Katie. Not only is it a joy to read, but life-changing.
You can check out Katie’s ministry, Amazima, here. Make sure you grab a copy of her book, too!
The more I strive to live in the center of God’s will, the more He asks me to give up, the more uncomfortable I become…
But I am learning to remember, before I even get there, that eventually this will be what is best for me, and more important, what is best for His glory.
Kisses from Katie, pg. 227
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