Kisses From Katie

Two days ago as Arielle and I were wandering the aisles of Barnes and Noble, I spotted this book on a shelf. I recognized it from the blog Kisses From Katie that Sarah Briggs had shown me months ago. I picked it up and couldn't put it down. I had to get it. Two days later I've finished reading the story of Katie and her girls.

At the age of 16 Katie felt that God was calling her to do something big with her life. She first visited Uganda as a Senior for three weeks and then returned after graduation. With a few visits back to the States, Uganda has become her permanent home.

God has taken care of her and opened doors for her life as she went from teaching kindergarten to over 100 children, to starting a non-profit organization Amazima that sponsors children's school fees and feeds them daily, to moving her into a large house that she didn't know what to do with until God filled it with people; children and adults that come to her for medicine and food, hundreds of the kids that are sponsored through Amazima that come to eat and worship together, and her fourteen adopted daughters.

Yes. She is 21 years old and a mother to 14 girls. From different families and tribes they were chosen by Christ to become part of Katie's family.

I know. This sounds insane. But you've got to read this book. I love that this story is real. What Christ is doing for these people in villages and slums in Uganda is real. Katie doing all of this and saying "yes" to Christ because she knows that his unfailing love and grace and truth is real. You won't be able to put this book down. It will change your heart and the way you think about serving Christ where you are.

 "July 20, 2010 I am twenty years old and have fourteen children and four hundred more who all depend on me for their care. Who are all learning to love Jesus and be responsible adults and looking up to me. The reality of it all can be a bit overwhelming at times. However, it is always pure joy. There is a common misconception that I am courageous. I will be the first to tell you that this is actually not true. Most of the time, I am not brave. I just believe in a God who will use me even though I am not. Most mornings, before I even get out of bed, I am overwhelmed with His goodness, with His plan for my life; I stand in awe of the fact that he could entrust me with so much...


I don't always know where this life is going. I can't see the end of the road, but here is the great part. Courage is not about knowing the path. It is about taking the first step. It is about Peter getting out of the boat, stepping out onto the water with complete faith that Jesus will not let him drown." -Katie Davis

This is a book that you need to read.