Thanksgiving and Christmas in the Summer

Katie Tucker
Feb 4, 2018
5 min read

I will first talk about what we did as a class during this time in Perth (Nov. 18- Dec. 30) and later I wanted to be honest and share some personal struggles I faced during that time.

PERTH: We dived right into the “second lecture phase” of this school; complications in pregnancy. This included: Managing prolonged and obstructed labor, managing eclampsia, managing hemorrhage, and managing puerperal sepsis. For practical skills we learned how to suture, draw blood, put in IV lines, and insert foley catheters. These were all quite heavy topics to be talking about all the time, but it was beautiful to pray and seek God’s heart on these matters and see what He has to say about them. We took time to ask God for a word from Him for each topic that we can come back to in the moments we are dealing with these complications in hospitals. God never intended for these things to happen to His daughters all over the world and it grieves His heart to see them suffer. It is such an honor that He would choose us to labor along side mums facing these things and be there to comfort them and proclaim God’s peace and love over them.

PERSONALLY: If things were never hard, I would never have reason to trust God and have faith. If I were never weak, I would have no reason to depend on God’s strength. So therefore, I Praise God for the hard times. I praise God that I am weak so that His strength can be seen!

Almost everyday in the first few weeks we were back in Perth after the Philippines I wanted to give up and go home. When I was younger I used to tell God “God, I will go be a missionary anywhere you want me to be, but please don’t let miss Christmas with my family.” This was my second Christmas away from home and honestly it was one of the hardest things for me to face. I would find myself purposefully not getting on facebook because it was painful to see everyone’s posts and pictures about Christmas at home with their families. I had a broken rib (constant pain), I was sick, I was exhausted, we were learning about complications in pregnancy, I would have to miss Christmas, the days were packed, other girls in the school got to see their fiancées most of December, I did not want to go back to India, and so many other things just seemed to pile on me and I was looking at flights to go home for good… But, God had spoken multiple times to do this school. God had also spoken in the Philippines that He would tell me what I am to do after this school during my time in Perth. The revelation I got with my broken rib was that this was a time to wrestle with God, so that is what I did. I wrestled with God and just like Jacob did in the Bible, I said I wouldn’t stop; I wouldn’t let go until He fulfilled His promise of revelation. I was at my lowest and weakest point thus far in this school, I knew if I could just make it through this time holding on tightly to God and focusing on His faithfulness that things would start getting better…

God does not stop being good or faithful in times like that. He doesn’t ever take us through storms to “punish us”. He doesn’t do it to manipulate us or to “put us in our place”. He simply asks us to trust Him, to put all our hope in Him, to press into Him, His word, and His promises. His whole heart is hoping that we will choose Him in those times so in the end we can see deeper levels of His love for us. We can see more ways in which He can beautifully redeem any and all situations. He will never let us down if we put our hope in Him, I can attest to that time and time again.

God came through in that time I wrestled with Him. He revealed to me so many details of what He is calling me to venture into after this school, so many things that didn’t make sense before He was bringing together before my eyes and showing me the bigger picture. (I will share more about this in a later newsletter after seeking him more.) He also spoke promises to me regarding the nations and my life. I had made it to the top of the mountain, the midway point of this school, and He was showing me the view from on top of what I am to going down to. It brought me to my knees in praise to Him and His faithfulness! How sweet it is to trust Him!

At the end of my time in Perth, after praying many hours over India God changed my heart and I was actually excited to go and looking forward to what God has for my team and I! Also, even though it was hard, choosing gratefulness in this time was one of my strongest weapons against the enemies shouts of disappointments. Christmas day I had so much deep deep peace and happiness in my spirit and really did have a nice day with this new “family” of 23 amazing women! A few days before leaving I was walking with God in a park and I felt His presence so strongly around me and I heard Him say “thank you my daughter for giving me this time. I know it was so hard for you but my heart is bursting with joy that you chose me.”. I stood there with God and just sobbed at the thickness of His sweet presence and at His joy over me. My mind brought up everything I had sacrificed to be where He called me; a nursing job back home, missing time with my family, missing my brothers wedding, missing watching my nephews grow up, missing friends weddings, missing being with Justin, giving up time alone, giving up comfort and security, giving up my time and money, and so much more. But I always come back to this simple truth: He is worthy of it ALL. He gave me all those things in the first place and I consider it a joy to lay them all down again and again everyday dying to myself so that His name may be glorified! It is in no way easy and there are many days I forget to choose gratefulness and I grumble and complain and don’t want to continue on, but IT IS SO WORTH IT TO GIVE IT ALL AWAY!

One of the biggest gifts God gave me in this time was on December 10th. After talking to my dad, Justin facetimed me and asked me to marry him and I said yes! He has always been so encouraging and patient with me in this year apart. I am so blessed to have this amazing man in my life, he truly resembles Christ’s love in the way he treats others and me. We are looking forward to finally getting to live life together and serving God as a couple.

If you ever have any questions or would like to hear more you can always feel free to contact me!

Blessings to you,

-Katie