Kisses from Katie

Raw.

Emotional.

Selfless.  To the core.

Relying completely on Him.

Living life with complete open hands. open heart. open mind.

Brave.

Determined.

Beautiful.

These are just a few of the words that come to mind after having just finished Kisses from Katie.

Emotionally and spiritually this is one of the hardest books I have read...ever.

There is a genuineness that Katie has toward others. An unmeasured amount of love she has to give to others.

Take one look, one glimpse at Katie's blog and you will realize the sheer selflessness she has.
You too will feel the same sense of urgency to help an innocent child that she did.

The amount of love she shows to strangers, innocent children because she feels we are all God's children.  

Every single one of us.

The child without clean clothes covered in dirt

The child left orphaned who hasn't eaten in days

The child who's house is a cardboard box he shares with his 6 siblings and elderly grandmother

The child who is infected with scabies, and is HIV positive

While we are all worried about what is happening on the newest episode of our favorite tv show, or what dress we are going to wear out Friday night there is suffering going on all around the world.

We can make a difference. 

We take for granted our everyday gifts of living in a first world country.

Electricity, clean and warm running water, knowing where our next meal is coming from, medical treatment, etc.

What if it was your 2 year old little girl who was aimlessly wandering around with a distended stomach because her insides are so consumed with worms and weighed just 10 pounds.

What if your 4 year old was walking around naked begging for money or food to feed his family?

What if you were the mother whose only resort was to give your child home made alcohol every night so they wouldn't be reminded of the hunger pains while they slept in piles of maggots?

These are the everyday condition these children live with.

Instead we worry about earthly objects: tv, cell phones, clothes, hair, makeup, having a bigger house, gathering more and more materialistic items so that we have them to show off to whoever is watching. "we cling so tightly to what we have because we are afraid of what would happen if we didn't have these things anymore."

Did you notice that I called them earthly objects?

That's because you can't take your million dollar house with you when you're gone.

You can't take your brand new sports car, or Louie Vuitton Purse, or Milano Blaniks when you leave this place.

Not everyone lives this way-focused on material items like we do. We all need to realize this.

I'm guilty of this. 

 I need to realize this.  

I'll be the first one to stand up and say it too.  

One of the most profound things Katie says in this book that really sticks out to me is....

"This world is not overpopulated."  

If we all came together and made a genuine effort then there wouldn't be so many starving, alone, disease infected children in this world.  

Don't think that you have to help everybody at once because that can be an overwhelming thought. 

All you have to help is one person at a time.

That is making a difference.  

One person at a time.

Now, I am not saying sell your home, your car, all of your clothes, possessions, empty your bank account and move out on the street.  

But what I am saying is...

What if we all lived a simpler life...so others could have more?

Or what if instead of saving that extra $50 for a "rainy day" what if we gave it away to somebody who really really needed it? 

What if we put the money we paid for our cable bill towards sponsoring a child in a third world country?

Would you be able to go without that fancy new dress to donate money to a local charity?

Would you be willing to become a one car family in order to make sure an entire family of 6 children had enough money for food, clothes, school, and medical treatment for the rest of their lives?

Open hands. Open heart. Open minds.

What are you willing to do without to make a difference in the life of one person?