Book Review: Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis

A Sermon I Needed to Hear.

Katie Davis; your typical American teenager, from a small town in Tennessee, ready to head to college, to pick a career and to marry her high school sweetheart. Yet, she was willing to leave all of that behind to go to Uganda, to a third-worl country to love the unloved and become a mother to the 14 orphans. Such beauty is found in the willingness to follow Him wherever He is leading.

Erwin McManus once said, "oh what God can do with a man whose willingness to act is limitless".

She's 21, I'm 21. She loves God, I love God. She loves the nations, I love the nations. But at the end of the day, I wrestle with my willingness to follow Him some times.

It took me probably about 3-4 sittings to finish this book, which is a fast pace for my busy schedule. But I couldn't stop reading and I couldn't stop crying. Deep down inside, there was something in me longing to be so willing and so ready to sacrifice. Her life was a sermon that my ears needed to hear.

Gospel Authenticity.

"I began to realize huge flaws and gaps in my faith, a wide chasm between what I proclaimed and how I was actually living." (page 3o)

My words exactly. I find this to be something that I wrestle with often. I just want there to be an authentic connection between what I confess to believe in and how I actually live.

I want to connect the life I'm living with the image of how Jesus lived His life. I deeply want there to be a similarity. Something that she said really gave insight into how Jesus lived. She said, "God was opening my eyes to a whole new world and way of living and most importantly to a whole new way of living out the Gospel. Even though I realize I cannot always mend or meet, I can enter in. I can enter into someone's pain and sit with them and know. This is Jesus. Not that He apologizes for the hard and the hurt, but that He enters in, He comes with us to the hard places. And so I continue to enter in." (page 23)

Because He continues to enter in, I want to learn how to enter in. I don't want to fear those hard situations or those complexities but I want to be a presence to other people. Where there is confusion, I want to bring peace. Where there is hurt, I want to bring compassion and empathy. oh God, teach me how to enter in like You do.

I'm reminded of one of my favorite prayers prayed by Saint Patrick. It's such an immense desire of mine that I actually keep a copy of this inside of my Bible.

"Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, 
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, 
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me."


Moving On From Here.
In hindsight, I realize now how timely this read was for me. It was in my longing that the Lord met me and spoke to me. A lot of what the Lord spoke to me about moving to Thailand was through this book. I'm thankful that her story was told.

Let's just face it. Katie lives a pretty convicting life. Not many people can say that about themselves. I was challenged to look at my life as I read through different ways that she responded or how she treated a person. It made me look to Jesus and that's a beautiful thing.

Here are some of the main lessons that I took away from this book:

1. Love your neighbor well.


Beth Clark writes this in the introduction, "I've noticed something about people who make a difference in the world: they hold the unshakeable conviction that individuals are extremely important, that every life matters."

Who is my neighbor?
I continuously have to ask myself this question.

I have to fight the urge to categorize people. Thinking some are my neighbors and some are not, I'm convinced, is some form of hatred. It's certainly not love nor compassion. God, help me to see everyone as my neighbor. 


Reading the different scenarios that Katie found herself in challenged me to break these false ideas of who my neighbor really is. It's the crazy, alcoholic man that everyone rejects in town; it's the almost dead orphan; it's someone who is hard to love.

God longs to redefine who my neighbor is.


2. Take action.

It's easy to feel compassion for a situation or to feel guilty for not doing something. Emotions comes easily for us. But a great missionary once said, "Sympathy is no substitute for action." God, I plead to never do such a thing. Yes, be guilty of caring but also be moved to action!

Katie herself said this, "Sometimes working in a Third World country makes me feel like I am emptying the ocean with an eyedropper." (page 2 of Introduction)

It's never easy to DO the things that God is calling us to do, but may we always be found DOING them regardless.

"Help me to hurt, not just a little, but the way You hurt when Your children are overlooked and perishing. Help me to never be too busy or too comfortable to remember the people who suffer. Help me to never stop desiring to do something about it. Lord, help us to remember that as the body of Christ, this is our responsibility. Thank You for loving us, even when we forget. I never, never want to forget again." (prayer from Katie's journal, page 224)


3. He Dreams Too.

While I was reading this book, someone reminded me of an old-school Christian song by a named Avalon. The song's chorus corresponded so well to a common theme woven within the pages of Kisses from Katie.

"The dreams I dream for you
Are deeper than the ones you're clinging to
More precious than the 
finest things you knew
And truer than the
treasures you pursue
Let the old dreams die
Like stars that fade from view"
                              "Dreams I Dream for You", Avalon

Something that I was forced to constantly reconsider as I read this book was the dreams that I dreamed for myself. Yes, I know that God has plans for me but I so easily forget that His dreams don't compete with me dreams. Something has to happen in order for His plans to prevail.

It's in the laying down of the dreams that I have for my life that I find what I was truly made for. Truly, His ways are so much higher than my ways and His thoughts so much higher than my thoughts!

Katie proclaims, "the fact that I loved Jesus was beginning to interfere with the plans I once had for my life and certainly with this plans others had for me. My heart had been apprehended by a great love, a love that compelled me to live differently. I actually wanted to do what Jesus said to do. So I quit my life. I no longer have all the things the world says are important. But I have everything I know is important. Jesus wrecked my life, shattered it to pieces, and put it back together more beautifully." (page 1,2 of Introduction)

Praise God for His intervention in our lives. Even when He interferes with our dreams and life as we know it!





At the end of the day, I've found myself putting this book into other people's hands already! It's a great read & full of stories from an inspiring woman of God. It's challenging, heart-wrenching and Christ exalting!

Find an evening or two and sit down to hear for yourself what God has done through someone who was willing to be used by Him to love on His people. It won't disappoint you, that's for sure!

Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption

Katie Davis with Beth Clark

Howard Publishing

264 Pages

Purchase Kisses from Katie here.

Find out more about Katie's Ministry in Uganda here.

Read more from Katie at her inspiring blog. 

Book Review: Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist

A Long Way from Cold Tangerines.

I was first told about Shauna's work from a few different friend's referencing her first book, Cold Tangerines. I trusted their advice enough to get a copy and read it last year. After finishing the last page, I decided that I had enjoyed reading the book but that it wasn't a book that I had fallen in love with. The author's style of writing and ability to tell her story, on the other hand, became something that I loved. That is why I found it easy to buy, read and even enjoy it's sequel, Bittersweet.

But there is something that should be noted about the two books. Cold Tangerines, like I said, was a good book that I liked but for more than one reason, I didn't care for it enough to fall in love with it. But Bittersweet evoked an entirely different response out of me. I l-o-v-e-d it! Why such varying results from the same author? Why was one book so much more gripping than the other?

Sincerely, I'd like to credit the trials that Shauna went through. It was in those hard times that I can sense greater maturity and deeper perspective was forged. We all despise the hard times, but we can't help but love what it creates in us.

So I'm thankful for the journey that the author's personal life took since she wrote her first book. She's come a long way and it's evident in her work. She has weathered some heavy storms and through them some solid truths found a home on the pages of Bittersweet.

Simplicity Meets Authenticity.

I'm not the first to say this by any means, but Shauna's ability to tell a story by causing simple words to dance upon a page is nothing short of magical. As a reader, I really enjoyed the simple yet difficult craftsmanship of her stories. Surely my own stories don't come out the way her's do, but then again, all along I felt like I was sitting with a friend and catching up on her life.

If you take a look at my bookshelves, you will find a variety of types of literature ranging from commentary to fiction. But I found that Bittersweet was neither of those types. Many spiritual books that you read about today are saturated with knowledge, which is a good thing, but sometimes they can be so weighty with facts that it's hard to take anything away from them because your mind is overwhelmed. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you find that the fiction novels can be so unrealistic that you can't apply them to your life.

I, myself, found this book to be a relief from some of the other books that I read. All the facts and knowledge can help but at some point, you just need real life. That's what I felt that Shauna offered me as a reader.

Heartache Sealed With Hope.

In real life, trials come, issues arise and for some of us, our hearts are broken. This is what I find to be true in my life and as I read books to help my walk with Christ, I find myself most thankful when an author actually involves truth with reality. This is where I think Shauna is strongest as an author.

She faced trials, issues did arise and her heart did ache with brokenness but she didn't fail to bring truth into those very real reailties. The fact that her story didn't end with a 'happy ending' per se, but still ended with hope, filled my heart with joy and expectancy.

Because of her authenticity, there were moments when I could connect my pain with hers. But her authenticity left a lasting impression when she introduced real truth for my real heart that was aching with real pain.

I'm thankful for the moments when she reminded me like on page 16 that "the heart of the story [is] the part where life always comes from death." That, the concept of resurrection and beauty from ashes, she proclaims is the central message of Christianity. And to that, I heartedly agree.

More Than Just Tears.

On a way less serious note, I really appreciated her way of adding food into most, if not every story. She seemed to always be cooking, eating or trying something new. I enjoyed this about her because it made the author into a normal human being. It made her the neighbor next door and a friend that I'd probably share life with.

Also, another thing that I was thankful for was the insight into her life that she gave. Yes, again, the whole authenticity thing. She shared the simple parts of her life as a believer, a friend, a wife, a mother, an author, etc. Those are all things that I aspire to be and some that I currently am, so I always appreciate little tid-bits of advice from those who are living it now. It's always refreshing to hear the 'how-to's' and the 'what-not-to-do's'. Don't you agree?

What Will Remain.

From all of her countless stories, I think these three things will leave an impact within me, at least for a while, from this book.

1. The bitter can be sweet.

2. The little things count.

3. Telling your story matters.

I could expound upon each of these with so many words, but I think excerpts from Shauna herself will hopefully explain them best.

1. Listen closely. Hear the truth behind these words convincing you that even the bitter moments in your life can produce something sweet and worthwhile if you choose to grow from them.

"The question is not, will my life be easy or will my heart break? but rather, when my heart breaks, will I choose to grow? Sometimes in the moments of the most searing pain, we think we don't have a choice. But we do. It's in those moments that we make the most important choice: grow or give up." (page 233)

"This is what I know: God can make something beautiful out of anything, out of darkness and trash and broken bones. He can shine light into even the blackest night, and He leaves glimpses of hope all around us." (page 234)

2. I very easily overlook the little things in life that matter. I do this all the time but I am learning that He doesn't overlook them, not even once. I have to trust that He's at work, even actively at work, in the little things in my life whether that be relationships or the unnoticeable in creation. For me, I'm continuing to find God in many small things these days. They really do matter. They tell me that the big God Almighty of the Universe is actually intricately involved in my tiny life and He proves it by showing me meaningful signs by using little, otherwise unimportant, objects or moments.

Shauna does a great job of pointing us back to the importance of close friendships in our lives. That's an area that I seem to easily forget sometimes, but it's a little (perhaps big) place that He reveals Himself to us. Secretly, I'm always thankful towards anything and anyone that encourages me to fight for the meaningful relationships in my life.

"Because there really is nothing like good friends, like the sounds of their laughter and the tones of their voices and the things they teach us in the quietest, smallest moments." (page 66)

"(in referencing how things began to become easier in her life) It wasn't all one thing, but a thousand big and little things, and for every single one of them, I'm thankful." (page 211)

3. I'm a story-telling type of girl. I think that every good story has great characters and that the details matter. You don't have to convince me that stories are great but sometimes, I do need help believing that my story is worth telling.

"You tell what you know, what you've earned, what you've learned the hard way." (page 237)

"They (really, we) stopped believing that their story was enough, and they started saying all the phrases and quoting all the verses we've all heard a thousand times, turning them from sacred songs into platitudes and cliché's." (page 239, addition by me)

"We dilute the beauty of the Gospel story when we divorce it from our lives, our worlds, the words and images that God is writing right now on our souls." (page 239)

"And when we tell the truth about our lives--the broken parts, the secret parts, the beautiful parts-- then the Gospel comes to life, an actual story about redemption, instead of abstraction and theory and things you learn in Sunday school." (page 240)

"Only I can tell my story." (page 241)

"When Christ walked among us, He entrusted the Gospel to plain old regular people who were absolutely not religious professionals." (page 241)

"Your story must be told." (Page 241)

Only Good if You Share.

If I could recommend this book to anyone I would say that it's for the faint of heart, the weary soul and the perplexed mind. That pretty much sums up most of us, yet maybe not all of us.

To condense my review of this book, I'd say that it is just enough simplicity to remind the spiritually mature of where our maturity comes from and just enough experience to convince the naive to cling to Jesus when, not if, those troubled times come and to trust that something sweet can come out of the bitter times.

So I suggest for you to find yourself a copy and to join Shauna as she shares her story, even if you only take it one small chapter at a time. Her story is worth hearing and the truth that she imparts is something that we could all use.

Bittersweet: thoughts on change, grace, and learning the hard way

Shauna Niequist

Zondervan Publishing

249 Pages

Purchase Bittersweet here.

Purchase her first book, Cold Tangerines, here.

Find out more about Shauna Niequist here.