Copyright 2019 by Katie Brown, Inc.
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First Edition: September 2019
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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (MSG) are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
ISBNs: 978-1-5460-3575-6 (hardcover), 978-1-5460-1730-1 (hardcover, special signed edition), 978-1-5460-1731-8 (hardcover, special signed edition), 978-1-5460-3574-9 (ebook)
E3-20190806-JV-NF-ORI
To Meredith Hyatt Corbin, who was born from my heart after much prayer You, my love, are truly heaven sent
I have been blessed.
When I feel lonely, I look to God.
When I feel happy, I look to God.
When I am ashamed, I look to God.
When I feel overwhelmed, I look to God.
When I am bursting with joy, I look to God.
When I am all choked up because I feel so warm and fuzzy and full of light, I look to God.
I have been blessed with an intimate walk with God from a young age.
We are partners and collaborators, He and I.
He leads. I walk.
He says jump. I leap.
I turn away.
He jumps in my path and pulls me forward.
I was and still am amazed by the unconditional love and acceptance and celebration I feel shining on me from on high.
No matter what my condition:
Middle child
Struggling teen
Newcomer
Champion
Lover
Mother
TV personality
Loser
Loner
Sister
Wife
I get my walking papers, and find my way by following His beam.
He meets me where I am over and over again.
How?
How, you ask?
How do I know?
Because God is BIGGER than I am.
Deeper than I am.
Better than I am.
He is constant and relentless.
And He always knows best.
My God whispers, He yells, He shines, He cajoles, He pleads, He giggles.
I find Him in the most unexpected places, the most hysterical of situations, in many somber moments.
In Dare to See, I want to share with you some of the points in my life where I have been blessed with Gods grace,
in obvious ways,
in subtle ways,
and always in definitive ways.
These moments have shaped my character, my heart, my lifes path, and my souls journey. They have touched my being in ways unimaginable.
Sometimes His road map has been in plain sight.
Other times I have run from it.
Sometimes it has been a joy to receive.
Other times it has been revealed through heartbreaking moments.
Whether I am hiding from it or seeking it, it always finds me in a place I have come to know as the space between.
It is my hope that through sharing these tales, I can help you learn how to develop that muscle of recognition. You can improve your talent of dancing closer with faith, by opening up and into His care and love and direction and conversations with you in the simplest, everyday details.
I have been blessed.
I am a cook, a crafter, a life stylist, a professional homemaker. I have spent twenty years teaching domestic how-to that attempts to improve peoples everyday home life.
Today I hope that through the art of storytelling I can reveal another layer of how to improve your everyday life by walking closer as you experience Gods grace in your own space between.
I hope that you may be able to hear my voice as you read.
I hope that you might feel my heart as you read.
I hope that you might know my desperate need for you to understand God better as you read.
It is my prayer that these stories will move you to understand you are never alone.
It is my prayer that these stories will inspire you to be on the lookout for your blessings.
It is my prayer that you will gain insight into how to recognize His message created just for you and with you.
God has a how-to plan for you that is bigger, better, and more fulfilling than you or I could ever imagine.
His step-by-step instructions are right there, waiting for you.
You just have to seek, and you shall find.
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
I SAIAH 30:21 ESV
I had given myself a tight deadline to come up with the title and subtitle for this book. For some reason, I really believed a title would shape the direction, the substance, the way I would hug the narrative as I wrote. I felt, if I could nail the title, I would know how to proceed or even to proceed with the lofty goal of trying to highlight my lifes powerful moments with God by writing simple essays and turning them into a book. I prayed. I cried. I thought I had it. I did not. I would write words on a big white board, hoping to find a combo that would stick.
I would stop mid conversation, turn to my husband, and blurt out a title. I went to bed thinking about it. I woke up daydreaming about it. How could these collections of mismatched stories have a through-line, a theme, that would be universal enough to fit under one title, or for that matter, universal enough to mean anything to anyone else other than to me.