Kathryn Whitaker stops by the studio to discuss her new book, “Live Big, Love Bigger: Getting Real with Barbecue, Sweet Tea, and A Whole Lotta Jesus.”
The inspiration for Kathryn’s book came from how God acted in her life during a particularly difficult time for her family.
Kathryn recounts the birth of her fifth child, Luke, who was born premature, “He was only three pounds at birth,” she explains. “On day nine in the NICU, he developed a disease that ate away at his bowels, and when that happens they don’t grow back. At this point, he was less than three pounds. He stopped breathing and we had to resuscitate him. He went into surgery with a two in 10 chance of surviving. He survived, but we went through the ringer with him.”
Luke’s harrowing birth experience impacted the entire family. “It almost devastated our marriage,” she says. ”It put us in marriage counseling. When Luke was about 4, my middle children started displaying signs of PTSD. The reverberations of Luke’s birth were not over after the 44 days in the NICU. We had a lot to deal with in the aftermath.”
Kathryn turned to prayer, and the difficult moments that followed taught her about trusting God, accepting help from others, and rethinking her priorities.
“When you’re sitting at the bedside begging God to give you a miracle, that’s when you finally get it. I’m not in control here and I’m going to have to surrender it all to God … He sent us beautiful people in our lives like Dominican sisters, friends from church and our neighborhood to help. Being the recipients of all that grace then allowed us to do the same for others further down the road.” Original Air 9-27-19
