I have introduced you to some amazing gals in this series. I consider myself extremely lucky to count these Kingdom-building, stepping-out-in-faith, inspirational ladies as friends.

Today, as we wrap up this blog tour, I am honored to share the story of my dear friend, Cat. She is the real deal. You guys, she is this huge burst of light. Even when walking through the dark and the hard, her light did not waver. My faith has grown stronger because of her.  Her friendship is a gift. {And, random and completely unnecessary side note: she is so little — God packed all of this passion and spirit into a ridiculously adorable, petite person. Which, makes me feel like a gigantic mammoth when I’m standing next to her. Hopefully that helps paint the whole picture for you. You’re welcome}. Now, read her words and be blessed.

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My name is Cat Besk. I am a native Californian. I live on the central coast, and I think 80 degrees is too hot. We have very mild weather here, and we like it. Our winters, are not winters, our summers, are not summers. It’s just always nice here. I like to be comfortable. Not too hot, not too cold. We were so comfortable. We had our 2 cute little girls. We were living in a little beach house, and life was just sweet and easy. Then, in January 2010, a horrendous earthquake happened in Haiti. We Californians can relate to earthquakes, but this was on another level. There was mass destruction. I sat on my living room floor while the girls were napping and I watched a CNN report on the orphan crisis in Haiti. I knelt there and wept. The devastation. The injustice of it all. I was crying out to God, and asking why and what are we to do?! When Kenny got home from work I showed him the clip, and bawled my eyes out again. We sat on the floor together and prayed about how we should respond. We knew this was different. We were being called to not just feel bad about it, we were being called to ACTION.

We were being called to adopt. This was not part of our plan. We had literally never discussed this as being an option before. We just knew that we knew that God was telling us to break out of our comfortable, safe little plan. This was uncomfortable. Scary. Overwhelming. Completely new. We said yes, and took a baby step forward. There were orphans all over the world. Literally millions of them. Now that we had started the conversation, we couldn’t stop. The only way I knew to face the daily unknowns of this new journey was to pray myself through each day. We signed our first piece of paperwork with our adoption agency on May 22, 2010. It was a 9-12 month process, after turning in all of your paperwork. We figured that sounded great, our child will be home by Christmas 2011, Maizie will be 5, and Lucy will be 2 1/2…….sounds, perfect…..right?

Christmas 2010, 2011, 2012, came and went. There was a hole in our family. We ached and longed to see our child’s face. We clung to Jesus. God told us over and over to keep living life, and try our best to be present and thankful. We had so much more to learn. In the Spring of 2012, we attended Orphan Summit in Southern California. We went to learn more about orphan care, prevention, and for fellowship with fellow adoptive families. We got way more than we bargained for.

We attended a session about human trafficking. The weeks leading up to Orphan Summit, my husband had been praying, “Lord, break our hearts for what breaks yours.” A woman, named Carol Hart, got up and shared about the organization she and her husband had founded, ZOE International in Thailand. She shared about children being bought and sold into sex slavery. I wanted to run from the room and cover my ears. Kenny started crying and wrote me a note that said, “This is what breaks God’s heart. This is why I am in law enforcement.” Our eyes had now been opened to another part of the orphan crisis. The children that are not being adopted, are at risk of being SOLD. Little girls being raped multiple times a day. All we had to do was put our daughters’ faces into the picture and that was it. We knew it was time for action. God was calling us out of comfort, and into obedience. We were in the middle of our adoption, so we knew we couldn’t move…yet. After visiting the children’s home in Thailand, we fell even more in love with the children, and our passion was fueled to fight child trafficking. No child should endure such horror and hardship. Find out more about the work ZOE is doing in Thailand at www.gozoe.org.

Joy came in the form of a phone call in August of 2013. A 2 year-old boy, that we now called son. Our referral call had finally come. You can read more about that incredible day HERE.  He was very sick, but had overcome so much and fought so hard. We were completely head over heels in love. We named him Cruz. It was a time of celebration and rejoicing. I was just giddy. A son! Our sweet boy went into the hospital with pneumonia and never came home. His body couldn’t recover this time. He went home to be with Jesus. Forget comfort. Comfort was a long time ago. We were heartbroken. Distraught. Confused. We went to Ethiopia to lay our son to rest and say goodbye before we ever even held him in our arms. You can read more from my husband’s perspective HERE.

We came home and we were changed. We were never going back to comfort. What was that all about? I don’t want to live with my eyes closed. I don’t want to live each day in the safety of routine. I want to dive in the deep end where God has called me. Though the waters are rough and sometimes they try and take me down, the Lord will not let me drown.

We received our second referral call in October of 2013, a 3 1/2 month old baby boy. Matthew, our “gift from God,” came home to us forever on May 2, 2014. He is full of life and personality. We don’t know what we would do without him. We just put up our Christmas tree, and all 5 of us put our hands on Cruz’s ornament and placed it on the tree together. Now, the time has come. It’s time for us to join the fight against child trafficking.

We are selling what we own, and moving to Thailand. In fact, I just sold our bed frame today, and I’m sitting on a mattress on our living room floor because our table, chairs and couch have been sold. In a few weeks we are moving in with my parents to save money until we move at the end of June. You can join the fight with us. You can fight child trafficking from anywhere. You can join our team and support the efforts of ZOE. ZOE needs monthly supporters, one-time donations, and lots of prayer. Here is the link to the missionary page.

Prayer requests: 
~ That we would cling to Jesus and study God’s Word each day.
~ Safety and health
~ For our transition, especially for our children
~ Complete healing for Lucy’s asthma
~ Great communication in our marriage, that God would just bond us closer each day.
~ Fundraising
~ That all we do would be for God’s glory

This is our story of how God called us out of comfort, into the deep waters, and we are never going back. I blog over at Because of Love. Sign up for our newsletter to watch me as I sweat my guts out in one of the most humid places on earth. hahahahaha!

What is God calling you to do? Are you ready to take the leap?

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Y’all tomorrow is #GivingTuesday. I know Cat’s family would be extremely grateful for your generosity if you choose to support her family as they take this huge leap of faith.

WHAT IS #GIVINGTUESDAY?

We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, December 2, 2014, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.

It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Join us and be a part of a global celebration of a new tradition of generosity.  from #GivingTuesday

*You can catch up on this series by reading the other posts:  HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.