Footprints

The footprints of Katie’s life began on a cold blustery night because well, I made my debut upon the planet in Oregon and it was always cold and blustery.  When I was nine years old those footprints were traced to Taiwan.  

I believe God works in the hearts of our children despite all we do to raise them up in faith. Missionary kids could often be hired to play with Taiwanese kids, speaking English to them so they picked up on language quickly. As a nine-year-old, I remember thinking how right and noble it would be if I had a job. You see, the only way for me to pay tithe was if I had an income to tithe on. So, I prayed to the Lord that he would help me find a job so I could contribute my 10% to the Lord’s work.

God must have agreed, because he answered my prayer. I do not remember whether I tithed, but I distinctly remember thinking “There is somebody listening!”

She Prayed Without Ceasing

Soon, as a pre-teen, my footprints led to an orphanage on the northern end of the island. Aunt Bev, the director’s wife, trained me to care for the babies. She was a formidable part of my growth in my own faith, I have never heard anyone since pray like she did.   She transitioned in and out of prayer speaking to God as if he were with us. She prayed without ceasing (1Thessalonians 5:17). I grew up hearing many times when she wasn’t sure if there was going to be food to feed her family (or the children they had taken into their care) She laid out an example for me of what it meant to be a living sacrifice.

My footprints went into the watery grave of baptism when I was eleven years old, but I remember feeling obligated and not convicted, my heart wasn’t there yet.  In my teenage years, my path took a dark turn.  I felt desperately lonely. I was friends with a few of the kids at the orphanage, but loneliness has a way of isolating its victim so that they can be surrounded by compassionate friends and yet feel completely alone.

For about two years, I seriously contemplated cutting my path short. The only thing that kept me from committing suicide was that I was afraid I might only succeed in hurting myself and then I would have to tell someone why I tried to kill myself, I was terrified of admitting that I was not OK.

When I was sixteen, my footprints returned to the States. I was in a much better spiritual environment, and peer group. When I was seventeen I decided, I needed to truly repent and was re-baptized.  

I am grateful for the challenges my family faced in Ukraine, and how many times God showed me “There was somebody on the other end of my prayers”. God has shown himself to me as clearly as that first time that little nine-year-old girl prayed for a job in Taiwan. He listens to every cry for comfort, ever agonizing scream, every temper tantrum and every dull ache. He is on “The other end” listening and walking with you.

If you ever feel like God has deserted you, map out your life and notice the footprints in the sand. Sometimes you might feel like there were many times in your life that there were one set of footprints, but they weren’t yours they were Jesus’, and he carried you.