Retreat to Peace
Retreat to Peace
Single Motherhood and Faith: Katie Orocho's Story of Overcoming
What if you could transform your deepest traumas into powerful testimonies of faith and resilience? Join us as we welcome Katie Orocho, a dedicated coach who helps women navigate their traumas toward healing and hope. Katie's journey from being an adopted child, knowing Jesus from a young age, to facing relentless bullying and self-doubt, offers a profound story of overcoming life's adversities through faith. Discover how her unique perspective on adoption—as being chosen for love rather than abandoned—shaped her into the resilient, faith-driven woman she is today.
Ever wondered how single parenthood can be navigated through the lens of faith? Katie opens up about the tough decisions and emotional battles she faced while raising her son, Zachary, amidst societal pressures and family expectations. With a strong conviction that marriage should be rooted in more than just a piece of paper, Katie chose to raise Zachary as a single mother. Listen as we discuss her experiences of cohabiting with Zachary's father, the eventual breakup, and the significant transition from New Jersey to South Carolina—all while embracing God's guidance and experiencing the blessings that followed.
Imagine finding peace and direction in your life through trust and faith, even in the most challenging circumstances. In this episode, Katie shares her personal battles with bullying, depression, and the transformative power of understanding her identity in Christ. Learn about the profound struggles faced by those in war-torn countries and individuals feeling lost and fearful. Katie's story underscores the importance of spreading love and blessings, recognizing our lives as gifts, and speaking truth over one another. Join us for an inspiring conversation that highlights the power of using personal trials to guide others toward their own promised land.
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Welcome to Retreat to Peace. I'm so glad you found us. My name is Catherine Daniels, and one thing we know is nothing is permanent except our souls, and as we travel through one another's countries and we create a bridge as one people living in this one world, I invite you to listen to our signature talk today and hear all about the special, unique possibilities that you may have as you journey through your own life. We welcome you to go to https:// c atherinedaniels. com to learn, get comfortable and cozy up as we dive in to our signature talk today. Hi everyone, and welcome back to Retreat to Peace. This is Catherine Daniels, and I have a very special guest today, my dear friend Katie. Katie Orocho, how are you today.
Katie Orcho:I'm so good. Thank you so much for having me on today.
Catherine Daniels:I'm so excited to have you on, and we actually both are in the United States, and I am excited because we're winding down out of summer, going into fall, and winter and winter. We don't want to talk about winter, but we are going to appreciate these long sunny days that God's given us and just take it for all it's worth. So, everyone around the world that's listening, I have this beautiful soul that I want to introduce you to. So, katie, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Katie Orcho:Sure, so I am so excited to be able to be here today. I am a mom of two. I have a 14 year old and a two year old. I used to be a massage therapist and now I feel called into coaching specifically women and walking them through the traumas or the storms of their lives and really focusing them towards what God is calling them into their promised land.
Catherine Daniels:That's really incredible and I am in love with everything that you're doing because I feel like there's so many people that need this and obviously you and I are very much aligned, you know, as far as this work that we're doing, because we're both passionate about helping people and getting them aligned. Katie, as far as your personal story, can you share a little bit about what led you to what it is that you're doing today?
Katie Orcho:Have always grown. I grew up knowing Jesus. I was adopted at six weeks old and I knew from my first memory that I was adopted, but not adopted from abandonment but really adopted into love. Being adopted was never a bad thing. It was just, you know, my biological parents couldn't raise me and so they chose to give me a life with parents who could and who wanted children but couldn't have biological.
Katie Orcho:And so through that and being raised in a Christian church, I always knew God and a Christian school always knew him, but he didn't. Really it wasn't a close relationship with God. I knew he was, I knew God was God, but he it wasn't personal to me and so not having a close walk with him. Through elementary school and middle and high school I was bullied a lot and just went through a lot in my own life and my own walk and making not the best choices, heartbreak or each bad decision that although this is bad, somehow, some way I'm going to use this to help somebody in the future and I feel like that's where. That's where I am. That is why God is calling me to step up and use my testimony to help women walk through their trials.
Catherine Daniels:You talked about when you were young that you were bullied, and how old were you when that started?
Katie Orcho:Elementary school is really when it started, and I think that was a way for lies to come in about who I am and who I'm not Not understanding. Who God created me to be and who he says I am is really where that foothold was created to convince me that I'm stupid or that I'm ugly, or that I don't have a purpose, or that I was a mistake or unwanted and all of that is lies. Life is a blessing. Every person's life is intentional and I think that is a really important thing to remember.
Catherine Daniels:I think that is a really important thing to remember. I know when I was a little girl, I was bullied as well. One of the things that I experienced is people not understanding my circumstances because I was living with my grandparents. I was living with my grandparents, so it made me an outlier, because you don't have parents like where's your mom and dad and you know why are you living with your grandparents, and it literally separated me from other people in school and, unknowingly, I really didn't understand what would be attached to it, like the shame that I would feel or the rejection that I would feel, the loneliness that I would feel, and there were so many other hurdles that I was experiencing in my own life that it made it very difficult for me just to go to school and feel like I was safe, like I was okay, and I wondered is that something that you felt as well when you were going through your experience in school?
Katie Orcho:Oh, absolutely Luckily, my experience of being bullied was only verbal and not physical in school, but there very much was this dread. Every morning I would sit in front of the door crying, begging my mom to let me go to the public school or to homeschool me or to let me have a mental health day just to avoid or to go late to make the day shorter.
Catherine Daniels:And it's difficult for a parent that has a child in that situation, because part of them would like to keep their child home or make the necessary arrangements, but then it's at the compromise of the education you know for the child and then also the other things that go along with it, because now you're actually creating another situation where the parent is helping to make a greater divide. If you were to go back to that point in time in your life and tell your little girl a piece of advice, what would that advice be?
Katie Orcho:Honestly, I don't think it would be specifically advice as much as really needing and knowing that I would have thrived or survived a little bit better, knowing scripture of what scripture says, who scripture says I am as a daughter of God, and really being able to speak truth over the lies and really solidifying my identity and who I was created to be, and being able to hold on to something, something so steadfast as opposed to really being able to say you know it's going to get better or because those, those messages are good. But I think with scripture it's so unshakable that being able to have known Bible verses that I could hold on to that would have carried me a little bit steadier. Carried me a little bit steadier.
Catherine Daniels:And as far as the scripture piece of it, is there a particular scripture that you gravitated to? Because what's coming to me right now is that someone's listening to the show and they've lost their foothold in their faith, right, or maybe they didn't have their faith or found their faith, but they're seeking for something and they're looking for peace, but they just haven't found it yet. So is there something that intuitively, as a little girl like you, would have gravitated to, that really gave you that reassurance that all of the lies that were being told to you, to jump that hurdle of feeling all of those things, to being in a place where you felt safe, and you felt safe with the Lord?
Katie Orcho:So my life verse is the one in Jeremiah 29, where I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord plans to prosper you and give you hope for a better future. And it's knowing in the bad, knowing at rock bottom, that God maybe didn't, he didn't put me there, but that he has a plan for me from rock bottom to then prosper me and to give me hope for a better future. I think just knowing, even as a little girl, that God has a plan for a better future for everyone, that that would have really, that would have given me hope and that would have really helped me maybe understand that it will get better, it can get better, it can get better.
Catherine Daniels:I think right now we live in a world that is in spiritual warfare. We live in a world that it seems like 2020 came in and kind of like, put this great, big spotlight on the entire globe and said, okay, I see you people running. You're running from yourself, you're running from the internal darkness that you're experiencing and you're using this way of trying to escape and fill in the blank of what this way would be for each individual. But I said this before on other shows I think the incredible blessing of 2020 and all of that global pandemic environment was really the blossoming of acceptance that it's okay to be not okay right, because everyone was grieving. Everyone was grieving something, whether it was loss of life, loss of relationships, friendships.
Catherine Daniels:People have moved to different places. People have had their entire life turned upside down from what they knew prior to the pandemic. And it looks in all kinds of ways and I know, since I've been doing this show, in all kinds of ways, and I know, since I've been doing this show, addiction's gone up, suicide's gone up. The amount of hardship that people are experiencing in the world has just become so big that it's even hard to conceptualize and put your arms around it. But this is where I feel like this conversation is more important than it's ever ever been, that we are living in a time where we are in spiritual warfare of the basic things that people know, with the inner knowing that they've been given to be true, and kind of like what you were saying, katie, about knowing who I am and knowing who I am not and submitting to the lives.
Katie Orcho:Mm-hmm.
Catherine Daniels:So I feel like it's really important to ask yourself everyone who's listening what lie am I believing right now, whether it's about myself, a child, the environment I'm living in or anything else that is profoundly important to your life. What lie is it that I'm believing right now To really go back into a space of where's that coming from, and how do we know if it's a lie? How do we know if it's truth? So, Katie, you had said a couple of times you've made some bad decisions and you didn't make the best choices. So let's, let's go into it a little bit. Give us an example of how you made a bad decision or didn't make a good choice, and let's kind of walk through this together.
Katie Orcho:Sure. So, as I, as I told you, I was born and raised in a Christian school, christian family, christian church. Um, knew God, knew the rules, knew what to do, what not to do, what I was not supposed to do. Um, and as I said in the beginning, I have a 14 year year old and I became pregnant with him after dating his father for seven months. I knew from the first time that I was intimate with anybody, that if I were to ever get pregnant, that I wanted that baby, I wanted to raise my baby, and so I knew, when I found out that I was pregnant outside of being married, that my parents wouldn't be happy, but that they would, that I was blessed, um, that they would support me and I know not everybody, even closely, can relate sometimes to that, but I was.
Katie Orcho:I was blessed knowing that my parents would support me and support me as far as pushing me to be a good mother, not really raising my child for me, but really helping to make sure that I was able to make the right choices and be self-sufficient and work hard to raise him, you know as as his mom, and so knowing that having having sex and getting pregnant outside of marriage wasn't the right choice or wasn't the best thing.
Katie Orcho:Making the decision to raise my son was, and also knowing that jumping into getting married to his father just because I was pregnant also took took a lot of fighting, because that's a lot of times. That's what parents want for you is to have that firm marital support. But our relationship wasn't, wasn't based on Christ and was not, did not have a biblical foundation, and I knew that my son deserved better and different, and he deserved to be raised, even if it was by one parent, to know Jesus, and so that was probably one of the harder decisions that I made, but I know, even to this day, that it was the best decision that I made the best decision that I made.
Catherine Daniels:I appreciate that. Did you ever really feel convicted about what you experienced? I mean, there's people, there's people that ask kinds you know these kinds of questions about like, what does that feel like and how do I know that that's what I'm experiencing and how do I move through it. So I'm just arbitrarily asking you these questions just to help people who haven't, you know, found a direction for peace to really understand, like, what it feels like and what we go through.
Katie Orcho:Yeah. So when I found out I was pregnant, I gave his father the choice to either be 100% in or 100% out, but that I had made the decision to raise not just keep the baby, but raise the baby. It wasn't something that we had planned, and so I gave him time to decide and he decided he wanted to be all in and so we moved in together because I wanted to try and give my son, or the baby because we didn't know he was a boy at the time I wanted to try to give him as normal of a, of a foundation, with a mom and a dad in the same household, raising him as I could, while still learning who my boyfriend was and learning if he was really up up to the job at that point to support me and to support our son and to be the right kind of man that he now needed to be for us and throughout, throughout our relationship. We broke up when Zachary, right before Zachary, turned one, and it was extremely difficult because a lot of people a lot of um, a lot of people that I respected, a lot of friends, told me to have an abortion.
Katie Orcho:I had aunts and uncles and cousins and people in the church who are pushing me to get married, the church who are pushing me to get married, and I, really I, I just somehow knew deep deep within me that if I were to get married just for my, just because I was pregnant, that that's not what marriage is is about. Yes, I made the choice to have sex and, yes, spiritually we were married, but we weren't legally married and marriage to me was more than just a paper and I really wanted to make sure that, making that commitment I'd be able to hopefully keep for the rest of my life. And I wasn't sure if his father was marriage material, if his father was marriage material.
Catherine Daniels:So I waited and then we ended up breaking up when Zachary was one. That's a hard, hard thing to do with a baby. I mean I can't even imagine what you went through with that kind of turmoil, because when we have that attachment with a couple and then you have a baby, I mean there's this invisible string, soul ties, that connects us all together and that's really, really hard. How is your son doing today? He said he's 14. Is he doing well?
Katie Orcho:Yeah, yes, so my son recently.
Katie Orcho:Yeah, so we raised him in New Jersey and then we recently got called down to South Carolina.
Katie Orcho:God moved us down. After God called us down, me and my husband my now husband moved down here and I did not at that time have custody of Zachary, and so I had to surrender Zachary to God and trust God, because he was the one telling me to move. And so I surrendered Zachary, allowed him to stay in New Jersey while I moved to South Carolina, and God honored that obedience and in October, so we moved in July and in October, um, his father signed over custody to me, so Zachary was then able to move. So it's been a transition for him because you know, he was separated from family and he was raised for well now that 12 years with his dad right down the road, and so it has been an adjustment, but it truly, it truly has been such a blessing, with everything that Zachary has is now able to do. I'm now able to homeschool him and there's just been a huge transition and it wouldn't have been able to take place without that separation and that moving from New Jersey now to South Carolina.
Catherine Daniels:Wow. Now what I heard you say is that God had moved you. So what happened that you were led to South Carolina? Like, how did God work through you to move you there?
Katie Orcho:to move you there. So my husband and I have been married for three years and we knew when we got engaged I knew that I wanted to move to North Carolina to be closer to a ministry that I work with. But I didn't know timing and it was almost as if the night that my husband proposed to me that very next day, I knew that in my heart, I knew that New Jersey was not home anymore and I knew that God was beginning to uproot us to then prepare us for the place that he had, that he's preparing for us. We did not know we were going to move to South Carolina. We just knew that we wanted to be closer to the ministry in North Carolina and began looking for housing.
Katie Orcho:And this was during the pandemic, and so the housing market was just on fire. You know there was. You could place the house on the market and within 12 hours it would be sold. So we prayed and we asked God that if we we put an offer on a house, that if it was the house that God had for us, that it would go through. And we ended up in South Carolina from the ministry yeah, that's incredible.
Catherine Daniels:We always hear about these God stories and how they open up doors for people and lead people to places that they never in their wildest dreams would imagine that they would go. So it's really a beautiful testimony of how he works through us and what he does with us to continue his work through us for the greater good of the people of our communities. And all of you know mankind really, because everything that, everything that we're doing to put ourselves out there on his behalf, is for the greater good. So it's really beautiful to hear your testimony and, and I wonder, so I wonder, as far as your, your journey in life and this transition that you've made.
Catherine Daniels:I've interviewed people that have moved state to state, country to country. You know these long distances and someone who doesn't live in the US may not understand that New Jersey to South Carolina is actually on the same coast and it's probably I don't know a 10 hour car ride, roughly speaking, give or take traffic and whatever else. But generally speaking, the climate is a little bit different. You've got a different environment, with, you know, the climate being warmer. You don't get the snow in the winter, you don't have the four seasons that you would have in New Jersey. So it looks and feels a little bit different. But with that move, how has it been as far as your transition? Do you have family there? Is there anybody there that you know Like how is, how is all this gone for you?
Katie Orcho:So my biggest transition was that, that piece of surrender, that piece of knowing God called me, but also knowing that if I had brought Zachary with me when I moved, I would have gone to jail for kidnapping, because I did not. You cannot move a child from state to state without the other parent's permission. Call to surrender was probably the biggest and the most the scariest decision that I've ever had to make, because I didn't know. I knew that God had given me my son as a gift, but I also knew that God was asking me to give him back to him, and so that was the biggest transition for me, and of course I fought for him.
Katie Orcho:Of course, you know that was I wasn't just giving him and then running away, but I knew God had said I will be your lawyer, I will tell you how to fight this battle, but you are to surrender him to me, not to the world, not to his father, but to me, and you are to move if you want to, because it's always an invitation with God. God never forces us to do anything. And so I said, yes, god, I want to be obedient. And so I moved down, as I said, and I ended up getting custody of my son and then a couple months later my parents moved down to North Carolina. So we're about an hour away, but you know, from living in New Jersey, an hour really isn't. It's a day trip, so very doable, and I feel like that's part of the blessing that came from the obedience.
Catherine Daniels:It's really beautiful how you've described this, and I think it's one of the things that prevents people from really tuning in and following what God has put on their heart, because we've got this fear factor, and the fear factor is very, very real. It's very real. We've got a lot of anxiety that goes along with fear, because we're looking at something in the future. We don't know what it's going to look like or how it's shape out to be, and people might call you absolutely nuts, for just you know listening to God and doing this I mean, I'm sure you've experienced that too.
Katie Orcho:Oh yeah, I went to two separate lawyers and they both told me that I was a very irresponsible parent, that I might as well kiss my son goodbye because I would never, ever receive custody of him, that no court would ever favor me moving him out of a state where he was born and raised and away from family, and that I could pretty much sign up, like sign out a mortgage, for how much it would cost for me to fight a losing battle?
Catherine Daniels:Isn't that interesting?
Katie Orcho:Yeah Two two separate lawyers. So then I'll be your lawyer.
Catherine Daniels:Right, right. So is this the only time that this has happened in your life, or has this happened before? That it's given you confidence to make such a big decision to surrender?
Katie Orcho:This is the first time. This was the. This was the first time having to let go, that God was calling me to let go of my son, you know, bringing him to school and my son has special needs and so really trusting that the teachers are going to take good care of him and to to teach him and to help him navigate and really problem solve. Bullying situations Like that's one thing and that's a small piece of surrender. But especially being bullied and kind of knowing that struggle, just really trusting the school, but never, never on this scale.
Catherine Daniels:So if we could, just for a moment, let's walk through it a little bit, like when did you make that decision to surrender? Because I have a feeling that there was a moment in time where you were just like okay, like you took that, that gasp of air, and it was like okay, just like the air in my lungs. I don't see it, but I trust it. I know it's in there. It allows me to live and survive and breathe. Something happened, what happened?
Katie Orcho:Um, I think I think the pivotal moment really was the call of of God.
Katie Orcho:It was almost like God was inviting me to serve him or to serve him in ministry and to work in ministry or to have like a normal job.
Katie Orcho:I was a massage therapist and I had a really successful business and I loved, loved all my clients, loved working with them and on them, and so I felt like it was a fork in the road and an invitation of God saying I will continue to bless your massage business or we can take this journey and this new chapter of ministry if you're willing. And I felt like it was that decision. It wasn't a trick, it wasn't a you know, if you choose massage then it's going to burn and you're not going to be obedient. It was more or less. Do you want to trust me and to surrender and die to everything and follow me into ministry, or would you like to live comfortably in, in what you know? And honestly, looking back, it was a really obvious decision that I made quickly. But now, looking back, I'm like I made that. It was very pivotal and very, very shifting and I don't know if, what I know now, if I would have made the same choice, but I am glad that I, that I said yes to God.
Catherine Daniels:So, by saying yes to God, how has it enriched your life?
Katie Orcho:enriched your life. I feel like I live in a completely different world. So, from from New Jersey and running my own massage business and being a single mom to now a wife with two kids and being able to homeschool my son, which has been a dream my entire life, god has blessed me with the opportunity to have a coaching business coaching women through faith and still allows me to do massage here and there. And so I think I think, by saying yes, that deeper level of trusting in God and especially in like the world that we live in today whether it's scrolling through social media and seeing one of those doomsday reels that suck you in and then make you feel like the banks will collapse or there's going to be a war or somebody's going to kick down your front door and just change your life that deeper trust and it's almost like that whisper of peace of God saying just trust me.
Catherine Daniels:I love that you're able to articulate it that way, because I feel like the world is experiencing some of that. I mean, we right now, as we're having this conversation, we have people overseas that are in war torn countries. We have people that are really, really struggling in a very profound way and really not sure of a direction to turn, and I think that's one of the things that is pivotal about where we are today is it's really rooted in where do you find your peace? How do you find your peace? Somebody is listening to us right now having this conversation, and they have so much doubt or fear or they're saying, well, that's for you, that's not for me, or I've heard about things like that, but that would never happen to me. You know, there's just all this doubt that happens for someone who is in a space that hears your story but doesn't think that it's for them. What are your words for them?
Katie Orcho:So, whether it's surrendering a child or surrendering a piece of yourself, or stepping out of your comfort zone, if God is calling you to do it, there's a safety net. He's the safety net that's going to catch you. He's not going to let you fail. He's not going to fail you. He's not. Things don't work out always how we expect them to, but there's a deeper sense of accomplishment or success in what he provides, in that gets taken away that that God intended to give us, but he also promises to redeem and restore things in for his glory, and so it's not always how we hope or want, but what God has for us is so much bigger and so much better than what we could ever hope or imagine.
Catherine Daniels:And I always think that when we go through our circumstances, how often it is really not even about us, but it is to serve a greater good. And I look at your situation and I think, wow, like you made such a drastic move, changing your life and doing what you did, but it is for a greater good. Is there any other situations in your life that you can pull upon that may also outline that to someone who is lacking in their faith?
Katie Orcho:um, yeah, there's a lot, um, I think. I think the biggest one would be right out of high school, um, in in high school I was bullied but I also had a huge blessing of um modeling and that kind of helped me escape into another world. But that never really satiated that yearning of not knowing myself, of not wanting to be alone or be in a quiet room with myself. I either had the radio on or had a movie playing in the background because I didn't want to be alone with my own thoughts, because the tapes of the lies would continue to play. I mean being paid to take pictures because you look a certain way, because you're quote, unquote, pretty, but then not wanting to look in the mirror.
Katie Orcho:I think that really understanding, understanding who I was in Christ, is really what saved my life. Because in those moments, those those long nights by yourself, the darkness seems like it's all consuming. But all it really takes is, like that lit match, that one little spark of Jesus, that one little spark of truth, to speak. And then all of a sudden the night is over and the sun is rising and you have another day and you have a little bit of hope. And, yes, depression follows you into the daytime, but you're almost able to see truth clearer when you have a scripture verse that you can hold on to that you can hold on to For someone who is in that darkness, what would be a recommendation to help them with that, bringing the light in?
Katie Orcho:I think, just speaking the name of Jesus, I think just speaking the name of Jesus, I think speaking his name, and then remembering that you're not alone and Jesus is still a living and desires more than ever to have an intimate, close relationship with us, because he knows us and he wants so badly for us to know him. And so, just calling out his name, he will meet you in ways that you can't even imagine.
Catherine Daniels:For someone who's listening right now and doesn't have a relationship with Jesus, but feels like he is there or present or trying to guide. You know, because we know that Continuously there's a seeking out that happens Right. Continuously there's a seeking out that happens right. So did you feel that in your life, like there was this continual knock on the door, like I'm here for you, katie, like did you feel that throughout your life, or something that you made a conscious decision to seek out yourself?
Katie Orcho:decision to seek out yourself. I think, for me, I knew who Jesus was, but I still had this huge empty void in my soul, even even though, you know, I remember when I was little, going to Sunday school and asking Jesus to live in my heart. So I knew I was saved, but I still had this void in my heart and then in my life of it really was like just this huge darkness that I felt carried me or came with me, and because of that, that void, I felt dark too. I felt like I was dark. I felt like that's why I was rejected. I felt like that's why I was bullied, because I have this darkness and everybody could see it, and it was at the point of being so desperate to not feel this darkness looming over me.
Katie Orcho:Where I I heard, I heard a sermon, and it was that God is always pursuing us and God is always pursuing us, but that we are created to yearn for Jesus until we have a relationship with him. And so the only way to fill a void is to fill it with what fits in it, and the only way to fill the void in our hearts is with Jesus, and so, whether that is drugs or sexual addictions or hating yourself, that, that hate or that anger, or the drugs or substances. That's what we're trying to jam into that huge hole and that huge void that only Jesus fits and fills. And so it was. Once I heard that I was, I was so desperate, honestly, that I was like all right, jesus, if this is the hole you're supposed to fit, please fill it, because I can't continue with this darkness, with this dark cloud over me day and day and night, because I felt exposed to the world and it was slow, it was not, I did not have this, you know, huge explosion of like.
Katie Orcho:Jesus just showed up in my room. It was slow. The next day I felt a little bit better and I was like all right, I don't, I don't want to die today. All right, I don't want to die today, I'm able to get out of bed. Jesus filled a hole and it was that slow invitation of Jesus is a gentleman and he doesn't force anything. And so, inviting him into that void and slowly him showing me. Okay, I was filling it with just playing on the radio instead of reading my Bible or listening to worship music and wanting to hear and learn who Jesus is, and filling voids with, with other things and just really him showing all the things that I was doing instead of spending time and abiding in him. So it was this slow progression of him, almost like reintroducing himself to me and wooing me into that relationship. It was, it was gentle into that relationship.
Catherine Daniels:It was, it was gentle, yeah, and I know for myself. I have a similar experience. It's nothing is you know, coming crashing down and here you go, and. But I think the important part of it is understanding that the voice that you're hearing is not your own and that it is from him, and recognizing and differentiating the voice, but also trusting it and just fully surrendering to it and knowing that, as you stated, you're safe, you're okay, like he's's always there, he's always going to be. That safety net for you and I think that's something that people really are in hardship with today is just trusting.
Catherine Daniels:There's it's, it's almost like it's almost like there is this want for being saved, but your savior can't save you if he's not your lord right. So it's like you have to surrender and allow that to happen and then build the relationship and, as you stated, there's numerous ways to do that. You can do it through prayer, listening to worship music, reading the bible. There's so many different ways, but I think they. The thing about the relationship is so important because you need to have a relationship and deepen your faith to really feel the peace. Yeah, yeah, and as we were talking offline before we started, I was sharing that for some people, they feel like having that relationship requires a brick and mortar building, but it's's not true. It's it's not true at all, like it's just about your soul, your spirit, having a walk with your Lord. That's what it's about, not the building. It's about the relationship, which doesn't require a building, by the way.
Katie Orcho:And it's just how that works right at the New Testament and see where Jesus spent most of his time with his disciples and where they learned the most from him was while they were walking on the road going to their next brick and mortar synagogue to learn and to watch him teach, or to the next town where he would heal people and just really spending time with him in there every day. And there's, there's opportunity and blessing in the brick and mortar, but there needs to be that understanding that we're going there to meet with Jesus and that anytime there's people involved, people are not Jesus. People are imperfect and we do our best to be like Jesus, but we always fail, we always fall short. And so just keeping that open heart and understanding that that people will fail us but Jesus never will, and that the intention is, is good but we can't be perfect I think that that is a reminder and to allow Jesus to meet you while you're doing the dishes or washing washing your feet or brushing your hair that that that's.
Catherine Daniels:Those are that's the kind of relationship Jesus wants those everyday, boring tasks of just sitting and chatting with us and there's something that's be said about just being still and finding your stillness, and what I mean by that is that a lot of times, when you get messages from the Holy Spirit, it will come when you're still. So for some people that will come during the night, when they're sleeping, maybe even in their twilight, as they're starting to wake up to wake up sometimes right before they go off into sleep, you know, as they're getting restful and just relaxing their body. But for other people it could come through being still with journaling Sometimes just journaling the Holy Spirit will come to you and give you a message that is intended for you to receive. Or maybe it's intended for somebody you know, maybe there's something that someone you know needs to hear, and I know that's happened for several people that I'm acquainted with and they've come to me and they said I have a message for you, and I'm always intrigued by that because I think how incredible that is. But the stillness is important and in my own personal life I've actually have prayed on what I can do to be more still and I've actually decided I'm going to create a garden. So I'm in the process of putting together a garden just to be, and it'll be like its own little nature room with a beautiful bench and all the flowers and butterfly bushes and all the things, just to provide a little bit of nature in my yard and provide stillness and quiet and remind me you know, the presence of God is is there with me as well.
Catherine Daniels:So that's something I'm doing for myself, because what I've always found enjoyment with is feeding the birds, because the the menagerie of music that the birds give in abundance reminds you of the beautiful testimony of God and his creatures. But the interesting thing that people forget is that those birds are frequenting you, so they know your routine, they know you, they're familiar with you and they'll have generations of birds coming to the same place. So it's important to acknowledge how we all interact with each other and how we all help each other. And of course, the Bible says you don't have to feed the birds. I'm aware of that, so don't give me any hate mail or anything. But I still enjoy having the birds come to my my yard and enjoy them.
Catherine Daniels:And as I, as I talk about stillness, it's in the stillness that I'm reminded that that's when we're fully surrendered. That's when we're fully surrendered and able to live in such a way that we can undo the worldly world that we're living in that is pulling us away from being with the Holy Spirit and being in a biblical sense of living your life with peace. Being in a biblical sense of living your life with peace, because this man-made world that has undone that peace is what's creating the void, and that's the part that people need to see, is that that void really doesn't have to be there. And, as you beautifully stated, katie, fill the void. Fill that void, give away and surrender the things that are creating that hardship for you anxiety, depression, whatever it may be, fear. Get rid of the enemy's lies and undo it. So with that, I have one last question to ask, katie. If I were to pick up your earth angel feather off the ground and you had a message for the world, what would it be?
Katie Orcho:I think my message would be to remember that when first, life is a blessing and so you were created intentionally, and that your life is a gift, but then also to remember that we're all here and we all have the opportunity to bless each other or to hurt each other, and to really be able to remember to speak truth and love over each other, because, I mean, the whole point of of of being here is to be able to love each other like Christ loved us.
Catherine Daniels:That's a beautiful message and it's definitely necessary and needed in this moment of time. So, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, my friend, I appreciate you, I appreciate you coming on to the show and just so grateful, and God bless you with all of your ministry and everything that you're doing, you and your family.
Katie Orcho:Thank you so much. It was such a blessing to be here and I appreciate the time that you've given me.
Catherine Daniels:Absolutely and for all of my listeners, this is Catherine Daniels with Retreat, to Peace, inviting you to live your authentic life.
Katie Orcho:thank you.