what I took away

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis. It is quite the journey of Faith for a young woman, for sure; and it definitely made me think about my own relationship with God and how I try my best to listen to Him and follow His plan for me instead of my own.

Katie has a lot of powerful, true and interesting views and points about being a Christian and how she can always do better. We can all do better, though, right?!

I took a lot away from this memoir/journal/story; my favorite quotes:

"There were many moments when the only way I could keep going was to try my best not to look back but to look only forward, relying on God's perfect plan." pg 20 This is something I work on every day; allowing Him to show me His plan for me instead of having me dwell on why My plan isn't working out like I thought/planned.

"God already knows that you will make a mess, but His plan for you is great." pg 41

"I have learned that something happens when one makes herself available to God: He starts moving in ways no one could imagine." pg43

"I wondered how God had chosen me to be born into such luxury when this little girl had been born into such hopelessness." pg 69

"Disease is certainly not a sin. And poverty is not a sin; it is a condition, a circumstance that allows God's work to be displayed." pg 70

"I'd been hurt and scarred and banged around a bit in the past year, but God was using all those things to help me become more real. My stuffing was coming out because I'd been loved to tatters. I was coming to understand that what it means to be real is to love and be loved until there is nothing left. And when there's nothing left, and we feel we're all in pieces, God begins to make us whole. He makes us real, His love sets us free and transforms us." pg 86

"People are people. They all need food and water and medicine, but mostly they need love and truth and Jesus. I can do that. We can do that. We can give people food, water, medicine, love, truth and Jesus. The same God created all of us for a purpose, which is to serve Him and to love and care for His people. It is universal. We can't do it in our own strength or out of our own resources, but as we follow God to wherever He is leading us, He makes the impossible happen." pg 95

"I believe that God totally, absolutely, intentionally gives us more than we can handle. Because this is when we surrender to Him and He takes over, proving Himself by doing the impossible in our lives" pg 135 I really resonated with this because like Katie, I always hear "God will never give you more than you can handle" which I believe but I can definitely see the truth in how she now believes the opposite. He may give us more so that we are forced to raise our hands up and pray for his strength and guidance. I really like this perspective.

"I believe in miracles and mostly I believe in love, God's love-big, extravagant, unconditional. His love moves mountains and changes the world, love that is freely given, that we may also freely give it to others" pg 160

"That suffering is not alone, but is with Him, and oh, what a privilege it is just to be able to be in His presence, to share that with my sweet Savior. That is what it means when I say I do it for Jesus. He loved me first, I love Him back. And sometimes it hurts, but even then it is pure joy to even be considered worthy to share in His suffering. That is the promise; not that He is sorry that it hurts, but that He sees; that He knows; that He is here with us" pg 205

"We aren't really called to save the world, not even to save one person; Jesus does that. We are just called to love with abandon. We are called to enter into our neighbors' sufferings and love them right there." pg 214

"I do not know my five-year plan; even tomorrow will probably not go as I have planned. I am thrilled and I am terrified, in a good way. Some call it courage, some call it foolish;I call it faith. I choose to get out of the boat. Sometimes I walk straight into His arms. More often, I get scared and look down and stumble. Sometimes I almost completely drown. And through it all, He never lets go o f my hand." pg247

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Has anyone else read this book? What did you think?