A Glimpse of Heaven

We know these times when they happen, possibly because they’re so rare – everything falls into place; everything works as intended; things go well. Your life seems to hum with purpose. Every day is a welcome adventure.

Katie Davis is back “home,” home being her village in Uganda. She and her parents have agreed that she belongs where her heart is. She returns to find her family growing, new children arriving, the program expanding and new needs to be met.

She rolls with everything. This is what she’s meant to do and where she’s meant to be. There is an assurance in her heart that is like a song – and much of this chapter in Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption sounds like a song, or perhaps a psalm.

I can look back at my own life and see times when everything seemed to go wonderfully, and times when things didn’t seem to go at all. I had a great junior year in high school – and a not-so-great senior year until the very end. There were times when great things happened at work, and times when they didn’t. There have been a lot of mountaintop experiences, and a lot of valley experiences.

Even in the good times, there were conflicts, challenges, problems, and upsets. And you know these times when they’re happening.

You are where you’re supposed to be.

You’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing.

And things are happening; you see the effects and the results.

But you need the other times, the difficult and unhappy times, as a reference point, but also more than that. Success can be blinding, and a trap, for organizations, people, governments and nations.

You think because things work well they will always work well. And you learn from failure more than you do from success. Success can teach a false independence, while failure can teach the right kind of dependence on God and other people.

All of these times together comprise a life.

For Katie Davis, at this point in early 2009, it’s a time when she seems firing on all cylinders. It’s a good feeling and a good time. She’ll remember it – she’ll need to remember it – when the serious challenges arrive.

Led by Jason Stasyzen and Sarah Salter, we’ve been discussing Kisses from Katie. To see more posts on this chapter, “A Glimpse of Heaven,” please visit Jason at Connecting to Impact.