Tonight I can’t sleep as I slept too much yesterday. I was just reading through many of your comments and emails again and suddenly had a new thought… hmm, the internet is an amazing thing! I can’t believe how many people have been forwarded the email updates that Joe has sent out and now how many people (some of you that I don’t even know) are reading this blog and are praying for both of us.
It’s kind of a cool concept to me that the internet allows news to travel so quickly! Seriously, think about it, if I was sick 100 or so years ago I might be perfectly healed by the time the news reached most of you. But in today’s day and age it’s pretty sweet… you all get to participate in praying for us and see God working in Joe’s and my life on a minute by minute basis (if I was crazy/well enough to post that often!)
See, I know (and continually fight to remember) that this trial, just like all other situations, is in the perfectly sovereign plan of God. He will work good in Joe’s and my life, he will bring himself glory, and he will magnify the beauty of the gospel through this trial. Just think… if this happened to us with the technology of 100 years ago… how many of those “little” evidences of God’s grace being displayed here might be missed or overlooked. But in God’s mercy he’s allowing all of us, not just Joe and I, to watch God unfold his merciful plan and how his grace is working out in our lives. He knew that having the resources we have now would make his grace known in a much bigger way then in any other season.
God’s grace is completely amazing to me… I am such a sinner. In this trial alone I have battled with fear, doubt, anger, anxiety, self-pity, self-righteousness, and I could go on and on. BUT… because Jesus has died for ALL of my sin there is NO wrath toward me but ONLY forgiveness, mercy, and love. Yep, it’s true… my greatest need has been taken care of. I have been saved from my sin and as a result also saved from the righteous wrath of God. So, although I have no fleshly desire to do this, I could be sick for the rest of my life and be perfectly content and happy. You know why? As C.J would say, I’m still better then I deserve. I am a sinner, an unwell sinner… but a sinner who stands before the throne of God and is seen through the lens of my Savior’s blood and has the hope of eternal life!!!
So with all this snazzy technology where people I don’t even know can get updates and continue to pray for Joe and I (my that’s a humbling thought!) this is what I pray that each of you walks away with; that you would see clearly that because of the gospel, God’s grace is reining in our lives and it IS sufficient for us in this trial.
Thank you for praying. Thank you for caring. And yeah, thanks for enjoying this snazzy piece of grace we all know as “internet”. You all are such a direct gift from the Father to this new Catoe Family. Thanks!
8 comments:
I love you, my friend. Thank you for seeking to honor God with every breath...I am praying for you. Next time you all come down for a Disney trip, what will Joe's shirt say? ;o)
Kristen
Thank you for your post on Ian's blog. It led me to yours and your story which is so shocking yet full of grace. I can only imagine as you walk through this with Joe that you wish life were normal again. I would like to think that I will read your blog a lot, but I find that reading about other people's suffering is just too sad when there is suffering in my own life. But I am so glad that you are encouraged by our blog- the fact that you are encouraged by what I write is just God's mercy and his working through my words. My heart is so deceitful that any truth coming out of my mouth is not on my own doing:)
i'm so glad that you have joe to walk through this with you and i'm sure that you have an awesome support group through the church. i hope that you got to meet ian when you were working on melville. he's an unforgettable person:)
take care!
larissa
Kristen,
We've been following your story for about a week now and are praying for you. I love seeing the pictures of you and Joe (also saw your wedding pics on Kristen Snyder's blog)... it seems like a loooong time ago that you sat behind me in the old SG conferencing suite. Dave and I were courting, and you... gosh, I think you were only 16 then! And now you're married, and your maturity and godliness are shining so clearly through this trial, even as you see all of the dross coming to the surface. Thanks for sharing your lives with all of us, and for your example.
Much love,
Cara Wilcox
Dear Kristen,
We are away in Williamsburg with the Catoes and Jackie sent me to your blog. Thanks so much for your transparency as you seek to glorify God through this challenge.The kids and I have been praying for you each morning during our devotions...we will continue lifting you up before the throne of grace. Keep blogging....I have found that posting on our family blog has been an anchor for my soul as I have paused long enough to see the many evidences of His grace at work around me.It has also helped me because I am purposing my heart to stand on what I know is truth rather than what my emotions would sway my wayward heart to believe. God is at work in your midst and He is being glorified in and through you. Praying for healing and for His abundant grace to sustain you!!
With love,
Kathi for the Baillie clan
You're amazing. And it truly is a testimony of God's grace at work in your life (and Joe's!) that you are able to post something like that. Thank you for directing US all to the gospel...those of us who aren't even suffering physically the way you are. That truly is a humbling thing to read. So, thank you for being faithful, and thank you for trusting in your Savior who truly does have the best for you...and as He has taken care of your greatest need, He will also take care of all others.
I'm praying for you, friend!
Hey Kristen!
Just popped in to read and encourage you, but in turn I came here and was refreshed by your faith in this trial! What an amazing of Picture of God's grace in your life! I love that God shines through such a lovely picture of courage and faith!
May you continue to be refreshed daily in His love and care!
We love you deary and continue to pray for you!
Karen K
thinking of you today.
sending our friends ...
elisabeth elliot & amy carmichael
your way.
praying for you.
love, tracey campbell
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Moonless Trust
Some of you are perhaps feeling that you are voyaging just now on a moonless sea.
Uncertainty surrounds you.
There seems to be no signs to follow.
Perhaps you feel about to be engulfed by loneliness. There is no one to whom you can speak of your need.
Amy Carmichael wrote of such a feeling when as a missionary of twenty-six, she had to leave Japan because of poor health, then travel to China for recuperation,
but then realize God was telling her to go to Ceylon. (All this preceded her going to India, where she stayed for fifty-three years.)
I have on my desk her original handwritten letter of August 25, 1894, as she was en route to Colombo.
“All along. Let us remember, we are not asked to understand, but to simply to obey ...
On July 28, Saturday, I sailed.
We had to come aboard on Friday night, and just as the tender (a small boat) where were the dear friends, who had come to say goodbye moving off, and the chill of loneliness shivered through me, like a warm love-clasp came the long-loved lines –
‘And only Heaven is better than to walk with Christ at midnight, over moonless seas.’
I couldn’t feel frightened then.
Praise Him for the moonless seas –
all the better the opportunity for proving Him to be indeed the El Shaddai,
‘the God who is Enough.’
Let me add my own word of witness to hers and to that of the tens of thousands who have learned that His is indeed Enough.
He is not all we would Ask for (if we were honest), but it is precisely when we do not have what we would ask for, and only then, that we can clearly perceive His all-sufficiency.
It is when the sea is moonless that ...
the Lord has become my Light.
- elisabeth elliot
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I'll be praying for you! Also, to Joe, I miss you buddy and I like your hat.
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