When my dear friend Katrina died after a 5-year battle with breast cancer, I was beyond angry at God.
After a couple of weeks of avoiding God altogether, I sat down one afternoon and told him how angry I was at him for taking Kate instead of healing her body. During the course of that one-sided conversation, I felt asked to simply trust him. And in that moment, I knew I had to make a choice between holding onto anger or trusting God.
I surrendered my anger, acknowledged that I hoped his plans were better than mine, and asked that he show me Katrina’s legacy, even through her death. Wouldn’t you know, that very week I had the opportunity to share Katrina’s story with someone? I found myself sharing about Katrina on a very regular basis at least once a week for months and years afterward. The Lord repeatedly put me in situations and allowed me to share about Kate. I knew each of those conversations was an answer to my prayer because each of those conversations was a sharing of her legacy.
While I don’t have that opportunity nearly as often anymore, I still find myself telling Katrina’s story on a periodic basis, and I am always reminded of how God answered and continues to answer that desperate, angry prayer.
It was Kate who introduced me to Bridging the Gap all those years ago. And it was so fitting that, as the 10th anniversary of her death drew near, her story was shared from the stage of the Thrive Conference and her name was on the lips of Jennie Allen. Kate’s legacy lives on, and her faithfulness continues to inspire women who have never met her. Hearing Kate’s name spoken on that stage was a perfectly answered prayer from God to me, showing his immense faithfulness even when I couldn’t see how good his plan was in the moment and even 10 years later.
So much of who I am as a Christian ties, in some way, directly back to Kate and her decision one Sunday morning to invite me, the new girl sitting by herself, to sit next to her. To know her was to love her. Thank you to Bridging the Gap and the Thrive Conference for honoring her legacy.
To see Katrina’s legacy, as told by her mom and sisters, go here.
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