Kisses from Katie

“Most days, though, bumping along these red dirt roads in my sixteen-passenger van full of singing (or screaming) children, neighbors, and occasionally our pet monkey, seems completely normal—so much so that I have a hard time writing about it. To me, there is nothing very spectacular about this everyday craziness; it is just the result of following Jesus into the impossible, doing the little I can and trusting Him to do the rest.” 

Katie gives God the credit for the life she’s leading. While others look at the circumstances of her life and wonder how she manages everything, she says that she takes the steps but it’s God who gives her the strength and courage. Others may look at her life and think it’s wild or extraordinary, but she believes that she is simply living God’s will—something she believes we are all called to do in one way or another. This idea of trusting in God amidst hardship is a constant theme throughout her story. 

“The truth is, I saw myself in those little faces. I looked at them and felt this love that was unimaginable and knew that this is the way God sees me.” 

When Katie first goes to Uganda during a high school missionary trip to volunteer in an orphanage, she sees and feels no distinction between herself and the children she’s come to help. Instead, she immediately loves them, and this feeling makes her understand God’s love in a deeper way. 

“And in that moment of sadness, I was blown away by the greatness of our Lord, by the fact that God in all His mighty plans had cared enough for this child, had cared enough for me, to put us together in that moment. The God who created the heavens and the earth knew that on a rainy day in Uganda a little boy would bump his head, and the pain would be deeper than just that bump.” 

Before this moment, Katie comforts a little boy named Derek who hurt his head. She feels grateful that God put them together in this moment, and that she was able to be there to comfort him in his pain—had she not been there, he would have presumably been alone with no one to comfort him. This is one of the first instances in which Katie fully realizes her responsibility and role within the community; She understands that God has put her there to love and care for the neediest children—to be a mother to the motherless.