Stop right there. Just go pre-order the book (click on the picture above). THEN come back and read all the reasons why. No, seriously…it’s THAT good. And I do not dole out compliments on books often. But this is one you just NEED to get. You can thank me later.

When I signed up to be a part of the launch team for this book, I had a feeling that this was going to be a tool God wanted to use to speak to my heart in a very particular way…but I really had no idea HOW meaningful it would be to my heart.

But, as I cracked it open for the first time earlier this week, and began to read, I couldn’t help but just shake my head and look heavenward. How did you know, God? HOW do you DO this?? How do you have someone on the other side of the world write a book that is SO…so…for ME?

As I sat and read this book, it was as if a dear friend was sitting beside me, speaking words straight from the Lord to MY heart. I could hardly bring myself to finish the last few chapters because I just didn’t want it to ever end. Someone understood. Someone who really, truly knows the Lord, in the truest sense of the word. Someone who had real truth to share with my heart, birthed out of having walked through the fire with the Lord, and having come out on the other side seeing His faithfulness. And it was like the sweetest fellowship you could ever hope for from the most kindred of hearts.

I could scarcely put the book down, and chapter after chapter, the tears tumbled down my cheeks.

Katie’s story is so raw. So heart-wrenchingly beautiful. So full of the reality that this life God has called us to is just not easy — nor was it meant to be easy…but He is WITH US. And He uses all of the brokenness of this world, and our own brokenness and wrestlings to draw us near. So close to His heart.

As she shared how she has found herself actually longing for the times of darkness and difficulty because she has found such a special closeness with the Lord through the midst of them, several memories of my own life flashed through my mind…and I had to nod, “Amen, Amen!” For I, too, have found this to be true. In fact, some of the MOST heart-wrenching circumstances of my life have become the greatest blessings, as they caused me to cling to Jesus with a fierce tenacity. And I would not trade the lessons He taught my heart as I walked through the midst of them, for being able to go back and have things work out differently.

“The invitation to experience sorrow and doubt and all those long nights WITH Him — THAT is favor.”

What do you do when your prayers have gone unanswered (ar at least, not answered in the ways you were hoping for)? What do you do when there is death instead of healing, heartache instead of comfort, and so, so much brokenness in this world that continually surrounds us?

Katie shares some of the bitter trials she has walked through since she wrote “Kisses from Katie”. She shares her wrestlings with the Lord — and perhaps you will see yourself in some of her struggles to hope…to trust…to understand why there is such heartache and pain in this world — and her triumphs, coming forth as she casts herself before the Lord, washing His feet with her tears poured out before Him day after day (and night after night), when the brokenness of the world around her was just too much to bear. Every bit of truth she shares in this book is tested by a life truly lived in the midst of the brokenness of this world — these are no trite quips written by a person sitting in their armchair by the fire in their multi-million dollar private mansion. These are truths birthed from pain, and springing forth from a life that is laid down for the sake of bringing Hope and life to those who are destitute.

From the depths of Katie’s weakness, the Lord showed HIS strength….and this book is SUCH a beautiful memorial to His faithfulness and power in spite of our weakness and wrestlings — our brokenness and scars. As she says so well:

 “All those cracks and holes and ruptures, they would be the places in my life where His glory would shine through.”

The resounding theme of this book is this: Those who hope in the Lord will never be disappointed (from Isaiah 49:23, Psalm 25:3)! We can cast all of the pain, and all of our weakness and burdens and fears upon Him…and know that He WILL come through. We can trust Him. We can HOPE in Him!

“When I hunger always for Him, even the hard satisfies. Even the grief gives way to joy. Even the bitter is sweet. Even in the dark, I can see His face. Because when we are looking for Him, we will always see Him. I have tasted of His goodness, and now I hunger for it.”

If you would like to pre-order this book (DO IT), watch the book trailer, or get more info on it, go to: https://amazima.org/daringtohope/

(Also, there is a special gift for those who pre-order this month!!)

And last, an excellent passage of scripture which sums up the book SO well:

Isaiah 49:13-16a

Where does joy come from?

Something that gets whole groups of Christians spinning in circles is the question of happiness.  I have friends who get weird looks and comments from strangers in public because they’re just “too happy.”  It often comes up in many churches that Christians should be the happiest people around because of Jesus.  At the same time other Christians are finally starting to admit that they struggle with depression and anxiety in spite of living with a pasted on smile because they’ve always been told they should be happy.  It often happens that both sides get angry with each other.  Outside of the church, some believe that happy Christians really are just a facade, trying to sell their “perfect” lifestyle, while others even think that happiness can never be as real as other emotions, because real life is never that kind.

But what about joy?  Joy and happiness are often synonymous, but Noah Webster also says that joy is excitement and pleasure that comes from a confidence in something, while happiness is more a pleasure by chance.  In short, joy is often seen as being more long-lasting than happiness.

So if we often find happiness to be unattainable, how can we possibly get joy?  Joy isn’t just for happy people, or for times when things seem to be going right.  Joy isn’t just something you can force across your face, straight into your heart because you want it there.  Joy is for the depressed, the mourning, the troubled, and the broken.  If you have a concordance (or access to the internet), try reading the verses that have to do with joy.  Many of them are promises.  Here are just a few.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
~Galatians 5:22, 23

Joy is a result of the presence of the Holy Spirit, and confidence in God.  If the Holy Spirit is in us, we will grow in joy, and in the rest of these.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your fellows.
~Psalm 45:7

The closer we grow to the Lord, the more we will see things as He sees them.  The more wickedness will break our hearts, and the more we will delight in the beauty and virtue He has created.  Joy will become like a mark of royalty, showing everyone whose child you are!

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
~James 1:2-4

We could never force it, but the presence of the Holy Spirit gives us such confidence in the love and power of God, that we can view every hardship and setback as a joy the more we abide in Him.

Perhaps you haven’t known this joy, or perhaps it all seems to be in the past.  It’s easy to write about all of these things, but how do you actually get joy?  Maybe you’ve tried doing everything everyone has told you, but the darkness always calls louder.  Jesus knows.  This is what the Lord said of the Israelites in a similar situation:

For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water.
~Jeremiah 2:13

He speaks harshly because it absolutely breaks His heart to see us hurting ourselves by leaving Him.  “Living water” refers to water that flows naturally, down from the mountains or out of the ground like a spring.  The Lord is that mountain spring to our hearts.  Everything we need to be filled is always flowing from His presence.  Every thirst we have is quenched, the needs of all of the desert animals are met, trees spring up, fruit comes forth; in the midst of exhaustion, we can cool off, and it’s hard to resist splashing that refreshing joy on every tired heart we meet!

A cistern is a kind of dry well that can be dug in dry climates.  No water comes into it naturally, but buckets can be used to fill it so you might have water for later.  In this case, the cistern has a leak in it.  We can be so desperate for a drop of happiness.  We take our buckets out and try to fill our dry well with friends, adventures, food, music, clothes, television, toys, relationships, and novels.  But the water all leaks away, and we’re left again with nothing.  Sometimes we go so far as to try to fill it with drugs, bullying, violence, sex, or self-harm.  It may seem impossible to come to the fountain of joy from there, but Jesus is always listening.  Maybe you did know His joy in the past, and you think He won’t come back for you again, but nothing could be further from the truth!  The fountain has not run dry, and His mercies are new every morning!

When King David finally repented after living for months in sin, this is what he wrote:

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
~Psalm 51:10-12

The first joys of salvation can be restored.  You heart can be cleansed of every sin, and healed of every wound.  In spite of every single pain and abuse you have faced, your mourning can be turned to dancing!  It may not be something your heart knows how to want, but Jesus will come to you.  Just be willing to ask, trust Him when He tells you what to do, and flee to Him when you feel the darkness pressing in.  If you ask and believe, your confidence and joy in the Lord will be your strength!

But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.
~John 4:14

by Stephanie