S3 Episode #26- Katie Newberg
THE ONE WITH KATIE NEWBERG
Today we are so excited to welcome photographer and blogger Katie Newberg to the show! Katie has walked through many struggles in her life, and today she shares her powerful testimony of the goodness and kindness of God in the big and small ways throughout every step of the journey. She reminds us that God is the only one who truly knows our needs and He alone has the resources to meet them!
Katie is a wedding photographer and blogger over at her site Bungalows & Olives! Her hope is to “add a little bit of happiness to your day and inspire you to live enchantingly simple and genuine life!” She says, “There is only one you so embrace your quirks, personality, and enjoy every moment! Both the good and the hard!”
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Katie has a rare health condition that inhibits her from absorbing nutrients from the food she eats. Growing up, it was a constant struggle. Her body does not give her the things that she needs to function on a daily basis.
Katie shared that she wakes up everyday with a lack of the basics she needs to survive. You either have the option to stay in the low place, or you can look to the Lord and say:
“Lord, you have every resource I need. I may not understand why you haven’t given it to me today, but YOU can supply my every need according to your glorious riches with exactly what I do actually need.”
It’s not always all the things we would want to receive, but it’s always what we need.
In some situations you can choose to trust the Lord, or you can try it on our own with your own earthly resources. However, in other situations you have no other choice except to trust God. You are out on a limb with nothing left. You are out of options and God is all you have left.
God is so kind and so good throughout each situation. The moments of joy and laughter in the midst of intense struggle can only come from God.
God has begun to bring radical healing to her life! The doctors have no explanations. After a lifetime of being so low and in constant pain, she now walks around constantly in awe of the life that she now gets to live.
God’s faithfulness is no joke! EVEN IF the miracles hadn’t happened, God’s faithfulness is still true. We experience it in the depths of sorrow. To have God so near and so kind in the pain is what amplifies the joy when things are good.
Your faith doesn’t hinge on, “Well, he made me better, so I can trust Him.” But rather, “He got me through the worst of it, and so I know that anything He has from this point on– whether it’s getting better or it’s getting worse– HE is truly the only thing I need because I cannot provide what I need for myself. He knows what I need and He has it for me.”
IN THE DEPTHS
No matter what pain you are walking though, it is a heavy burden to bear. You must take the need somewhere, or it will crush you. Christ is near to the broken-hearted. He not only feels our pain, but He feels it more deeply than us because he knows true healing and knows what our life was supposed to be before sin.
We can imagine good scenarios, but Jesus knows the TRUE scenario of how things were intended to be before sin entered the picture. His heart breaks even more deeply than ours even could over the pain that we carry.
We must change God from being a distant God to one that is near and personal. He longs to sooth us. He longs for us to be honest with him. Katie shares that a turning point came in her life when she allowed herself to lament and tell God how angry she was.
In the Psalms, David laments and then says, “But God…”.
Katie started every day saying, “Lord, this hurts. Bad. I don’t want to walk through this anymore. I’m sick of…”
Put a voice to the pain you feel, believing that God bends His ear to listen. Believing that He is for you, His heart breaks for you. In the moments when we are truly empty, God will fill you with His grace and kindness.
His heart grieves with me. He is the safest place that I can take my sorrows
THE CHARACTER OF GOD
There is always a new characteristic of God to discover! It’s like a treasure hunt!
Every character trait is in line with all of the other character traits. He is not powerful without also being good. He is not just without also being merciful. He cannot contradict himself. Any trait that is currently confusing to us, we can still trust because it is in line with everything else we already know,
He is near. He is funny. He knows your sense of humor. He is personal. He cares.
ENNEAGRAM
Through her study of the Enneagram, God took Katie to a place of recognizing her lack and her need in a way that allowed HIM to then become her supply and fulfillment.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Set aside time to be with God everyday. The Creator of the universe, who knows you better than you know yourself, gave you a book of things He wants to say to you. The Word will not return void. It is living and active. If you feel lost, ask Him for direction. His Word was designed for us. He knows our hearts, He knows what we need.
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The Collected Podcast is produced by Jes Biondo and edited by Jacob Early. Cover art designed by Ben Biondo.