Growing Our Faith Through Hard Times: Karen Ehman & Kristina Kotlus

Though times of pain and difficulty are hard to weather, they are often the seasons of life that bring the greatest spiritual reward, because it is often when we are desperate for healing and relief that we cry out to God, and those are the times that we can see great improvement by clinging to Him. Throughout her marriage, author and speaker Karen Ehman has been surprised by the difference in expectations and reality, and she’s learned that by looking for God in the little moments and continuing to show up in prayer, you can tackle any problem with your spouse. Kristina Kotlus had laid out a specific prayer to God: “Let me see you working.” She never imagined that her encounter with Him would come in the form of two cancer diagnoses, but she’s been amazed at how God took that opportunity to show her just what He was capable of. 

 

Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:

Jesus Calling Podcast

Jesus Calling

Past interview: Dawn Barton

Upcoming interview: Tim Storey

 

Karen Ehman

Proverbs 31 Ministries

Make Their Day

https://www.karenehman.com

 

Kristina Kotlus

I Quit: Facing Cancer with Faith, Family, & Friends

College of the Holy Cross

George Mason

Philippians 4:7

kristinakotlus.com

 

Interview Quotes:

“It brings this little level of excitement when you watch God work while you two are forming a team and working together.” - Karen Ehman

“So often the way that we show love is not the way our spouse receives love.” - Karen Ehman

“I think that's just a real crucial way that we can keep showing up is to use our words to speak to God about our marriages and to speak to God about our own behavior.” - Karen Ehman

“I can look back in my life and see those exact difficulties, those problems, those pains, they were kind of the fertilizer for my faith. They’re when my faith grew the most.” - Karen Ehman

“It really wasn't until I was diagnosed that I really understood an actual really scary thing, and I actually saw God's ability to step into that huge void where I couldn't carry the load and I couldn't change my circumstances—but He could.” - Kristina Kotlus, on her cancer diagnosis

“I let myself have the emotions I was going to have, but I put a time limit on it. So I would literally set an egg timer or a timer on my cell phone and give myself fifteen minutes. I would have all of the negative thoughts. I would have all of the fears. I would just have them all and cry it out. And when my timer went off, I would literally out loud say, ‘Okay, you have been heard.’” - Kristina Kotlus

“I don't think that God gave me cancer, I don't think that He shot down a lightning bolt from heaven and put the tumor inside of my head, but I do think that He used that experience as an answer to that prayer for me to see Him.” - Kristina Kotlus

“I am choosing joy and I am deciding that I am going to go forward with confidence because I know my God has this.” - Kristina Kotlus

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