Today is Sunday which means its church day. Ugh, I didn't want to get up and do anything! I didn't want to shower, get dressed, OR go to church. I was tired of being jolly, tired of celebrating, tired of going, tired of doing. Bah Humbug. But today wasn't just any Sunday. Today was a special Sunday where we would be worshiping at a different church for a different occasion. Today wasn't about me or my pajamas, today was about Katie and Josh. Today was bittersweet. Today was hard. Today was important.
I don't typically talk about my family (directly) on this blog. After all, they deserve privacy, but I don't think Katie nor Josh would mind me sharing a little bit of their story. Katie is my "little" cousin. We grew up in the country as each other's only neighbors. Our moms are sisters and had 5 kids in 5 years. Katie and I were the only girls. We grew up doing pretty much everything together while still remaining individuals. We spent a lot of time together.
Katie met Josh in high school. They've been together ever since. It hasn't always been easy, but they've always remained by each other's sides. After graduating college, they got married in 2011. Josh began pastoring at Waynesburg Christian Church, where he grew up. We were pregnant at the same time and our boys were born exactly one month apart. The last year has been an incredibly difficult one for Katie and Josh. Very quickly after finding out Katie was pregnant with their second child, she got a kidney stone. This is not abnormal for Kate because she gets kidney stones like the average person gets headaches. However, Katie wasn't able to pass this kidney stone and her pregnancy further complicated treatment. A nephrostomy tube was placed in Kate's back to drain her kidney. All was great, until it got infected. Katie got sepsis - an infection in the blood stream and landed in the ICU. I know its impossible to understand through words, but we were VERY close to losing her. Miraculously, she never lost her baby. Katie continued to battle kidney stones throughout her pregnancy, she continued to get infections, she continued to be sick. She also had a toddler and prayerfully began a new journey with Josh, church planting. A very health baby boy was born in October and we all hoped that Katie's kidney problems would end with her pregnancy. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. She has continued to be sick and struggle with infection and pain since October. Throughout all of her medical journey, they have pursued church planting and will be leaving to do a church planting residency next week. They'll move to another state for 18 months and learn how to be church planters.
This has been an amazing journey for them. They've had to raise 18 months salary and recently had a 30K in 30 days campaign. I'm anxiously awaiting the results of that, but I am just sure they made it. You can learn more about their journey here and how you can be a part of it. I strongly encourage you to keep up with what they are doing. Great things are in store for them.
Katie has always been an inspiration to me. She is a woman of intense faith, an amazing wife, mom, and friend. She is selfless. She doesn't complain. She is amazing. Josh is a lucky man to have her as his wife. I'm going to miss her tremendously.
Today was about celebrating them, sending them off, and wishing them well. Today was bittersweet. Today was hard, but today was important.
Matthew 28:19-20(ESV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
