AutoBiography: K*sses From Katie

Last week I finished reading the book, K*sses from Katie, by Katie Davis.  (I changed the title to hopefully stop receiving loads of spam to this post.  The book, and her blog both, have an "i" where the * has replaced it here.)  She's the author of the blog of the same name as her book.  If you don't know her story, you should check it out.

Instead of going to college, she moved to Uganda after high school.  And adopted 14 orphans.  And began a non-profit organization to help orphans go to school and poor communities find work and lost people to meet Jesus.  She's only 22.  It's pretty amazing: what God has done in her and through her.

I'll tell you what: she's one obedient woman.  I think it's easy to read her book or blog (or both) and begin to think that you're not doing the right thing with your life.  I haven't moved to Africa.  (Oh wait...yes I did.)  I'm not raising 13 orphans all by myself.  But God hasn't called me to do that either.  I would so...not be good at that.  I don't think He'd get any glory out of me trying to do what He's called Katie to do.

I am living where He called me to live, doing the work He's called me to do.  She'd probably fall apart here in Marseille just like I'd fall apart there in Uganda.  Master Yoda...he read the book and I had to say the same thing to him: he's being equally obedient as she is by affecting people's lives for the better as a physical therapist.  Let each one of us run the race marked out for us.

But with all that said: I want to be sold-out obedient as this young woman is.  I want my heart to beat for the poor and to be willing to give up all, as she did, if or when God calls me to do so.  I want to be so obedient that I would take 14 children into my home...or whatever the equivalent of that would be for my life.

The least I can do at this point is sponsoring my Compassion child.  It's been 2.5 years that I've been writing to her, praying for her, sending her money.  One day I hope to go to her country and meet her and hug her and see what it takes to make her laugh.  You may not be able to adopt 14 children into your home like Katie did, but you can make such a difference in one child's life through Compassion.  It'll make a difference in yours too!

The thing I got most out of Katie's book was obedience.  She seeks the Lord's will.  She listens for His voice.  She does what He tells her to do.  I'm still growing in those areas...but I appreciated her challenge in it.  I want people to look at my life and say, like I do of her, "Man, she's obedient."