July 22, 2025 • 16 mins
Katie Tootle was angry and closed off to Christianity. Learn what happens when “The Sunrise Crew” enters her life with the love of Jesus.
Discover how God calling her a friend in John 15 changed her life. Katie's testimony unveils her transformative journey from bitterness to a profound personal relationship with Christ and the consistent joy she now finds in Jesus.
Katie is a OneWay intern and every part of today's show was done by OneWay interns.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Katie Tootle (00:00):
They were with so much love and so much joy.
They wore it like a glow ontheir faces and I wanted that so
bad.
Brystol Beatley (00:07):
This is Bristol Beatley, welcoming you to the
180 Intern Show.
Every part of the show was doneby the one-way interns.
Katie Toodle was living anangry and bitter life.
Enter the Sunrise Crew, a groupof radiant young adults who led
Katie to the God who calls herfriend.
Welcome to Katie's 180.
Katie Tootle (00:31):
Hi, my name is Katie.
So I grew up in southernMississippi and then, when I was
about eight, we moved toHouston, texas, a suburb of it.
I grew up with one olderbrother, both parents in the
house, awesome people.
I was in the South so everybodyknew the gospel and everybody
(00:53):
professed Christianity.
So I grew up with both myparents professing Christianity.
We went to church most of thetime, but I never really knew
what the gospel was.
I kind of knew what it was on atextbook.
I knew that Jesus had died andthat he had conquered it, but I
didn't know why, and so Ibelieved it, but I didn't really
(01:14):
see the importance of believingit.
I didn't see God as someone toknow or as his own person.
I didn't see the church as.
So in the South there will bethis high and mighty nature of I
don't steal.
I would never steal because I'ma Christian, but I will go
gossip about this person forhours on end and tear them down
on social media and do all thesethings because they did this
(01:36):
wrong.
You know she tossed my hair thewrong way and I'm mad about it,
but it's just kind of a pickand choose faith.
There was just a lot of cracksin the little faith I had, and
the faith I had was less in Godand more so in culture.
I went into middle school and myBible stayed on the shelf all
throughout, and when you'reentering your teenhood, that's
(01:59):
when you really start to seesuffering for what it is, which
is suffering.
I think when you're a kid it'seasy to see tragic things and
then always expect a happy twistto go to them, and that's just
not the reality.
In a broken world, sometimesthere's just hurt and you can't
look at it and say this was thecause or this is the way we're
going to get around it.
And that crushed me because Ihad seen life as well.
(02:23):
We're all Christians and thisGod is good, so where is he?
Like I could look at globalproblems and say, well, what's
going on?
Where's God now?
So I began to get reallyfrustrated with the concept of
suffering and my Bible stayed onthe shelf while I did.
I didn't know why it matteredand I didn't really care to
learn because I was angry.
(02:43):
So I continued on throughoutmiddle school and I started to
really care to learn because Iwas angry.
So I continued on throughoutmiddle school and I started to
get to know some of theChristians at my church and they
were kids and kids are learningand they were mean and they
made some really awful jokes andmistakes and I was picked on
and I picked on other kids Likeit was just pain.
(03:04):
You know, a world with pain isgoing to have it.
But I saw them asrepresentatives of Christ and I
did not like the way they wererepresenting it.
So I got really bitter to Godand I decided, well, if this is
God's people, then this must bewhat God's like.
And where is God in all of thesuffering?
I don't know.
So why do I want anything to dowith it?
(03:26):
I was kind of living a doublelife openly, where I'd say I'm a
Christian but I'd also supportall the wrong things and I would
treat people the wrong way.
I wouldn't love myself theright way.
I was just living in all theworst things and I was unhappy
all of the time.
Brystol Beatley (03:40):
What causes unhappiness?
Next, I asked Katie to share anexample.
Katie Tootle (03:46):
Sometimes there were family members that we no
longer got to speak to or therewere friends that we had to take
distance from or friends.
I had a friend move across thecountry without saying anything
because of a sudden emergency inher family and that was awful
because she was my childhoodbest friend and I've not heard
of her since.
So that led into early highschool where I just continued, I
(04:07):
continued to be bitter, sin.
You just spiral into.
You know it kind of tangles youI think of.
Oh where is it?
Ephesians 4, 26 to 27, whichsays in your anger, do not sin,
do not let the sun go down whileyou are still angry, do not
give the devil a foothold.
So a foothold is like kind of aclosing brick when you're
(04:31):
trying to close the door, whenyou're really frustrated and
you're trying to close the doorand they stick their foot in and
you can't get it done all theway.
And that's what I had let sinand anger do.
I had let the sun go down on myanger at God many times and I
had let sin creep into my lifemany times.
What turned from a foothold wasjust like an open door of anger
and bitterness.
(04:52):
So I entered ninth grade veryfrustrated and very far from the
Lord and not really eager toknow Him.
I kind of wanted to sit in myanger, in my self-righteousness.
So it might be good to add thatthroughout all of this process
of getting to know God andChristianity, I had continued to
believe the gospel was true.
I just didn't want to minglewith it because I didn't see the
(05:12):
gospel as something saving fromsin.
I saw it as kind of like amoral scale of what's good,
what's wrong.
Here are the commandments, whatyou do, what you don't, and you
know.
The whole reason we have thegospel is because we're not
perfect people.
But I didn't know that, Ididn't know the meaning.
So we had the gospel and I waslike, well, why aren't we acting
accordingly?
(05:32):
So I didn't see God as likethis holy figure who loved me.
I saw him as kind of like amoral commander or a boss.
And it can be really easy toresent your boss when you're in
the wrong, because you can justget bitter.
So that's what happened to me.
But, yeah, in my second semesterof ninth grade so I've been in
(05:52):
high school for maybe six monthsCOVID hit and COVID really
stranded me.
But my brother I have a brother, his name's Gabe, he's three
years older had known the gospeland he had community around him
that wanted to share it.
And I did not want to hear it,but my brother wants to tell it
to you all the time.
(06:12):
And so COVID hit and I wasgrumpy and I started being mean
and I was losing friends and Ididn't really care and I was
tossing most of my life away.
I dropped swimming, which was asport I did.
I quit playing piano.
I was depressed, I wasn'ttaking joy in all the things I
had before.
But the Lord can still grab youwhen you're sad.
(06:33):
I think he does it a lot.
So, yeah, my brother said, comehang out with me and my friends
.
Brystol Beatley (06:42):
Katie cynically dubbed this group of people the
Sunrise Crew.
See how they helped change herview of God.
Katie Tootle (06:51):
I called them the Sunrise Crew because they would
all go and watch the sunrise andjust talk about God for two
hours before church every Sunday.
It was the craziest thing I hadever seen, because I didn't
talk to people that loved God.
I didn't see what there was tolove, I didn't see how awesome
he was.
So, yeah, these kids, they'dget together, they'd watch the
(07:14):
sunrise and they'd say what theyhad been reading in the Word
and what conversations they hadhad with people and the
conversations they were havingwith God and a worship song they
like, and sometimes we'd singand other times we'd pray and
other times we'd just sit silentand like, study the Word
individually, and it was just sobeautiful to see.
And I was not happy to see thebeauty, I was mad and I told my
(07:37):
brother off and there were days,so many days, where he would
physically drag me.
I can remember him grabbing myhand and yanking me into the car
and saying you need to gobecause you've not left the
house all week.
So at least just come here,talk to people in this huge
circle on a parking garage andhear about God.
And the Lord stirred somethingin my heart and I did it.
(07:59):
Um, so I kept doing it andeventually I noticed that these
people weren't ignorant and theyhad something that I was
missing and they could view Godwith something that I hadn't
seen before.
It makes me think of Psalm 34.
It says I sought the Lord, andhe answered me and delivered me
(08:20):
from all my fears.
Those who look to him areradiant and their faces shall
never be ashamed.
That Psalm really struck me atthe beginning of knowing Christ,
because these kids who I hadtalked to were changing my
perspective of Jesus Becausethey wore their love for God on
their faces.
These people, I could tell themmy deepest pains, I could sit
(08:42):
there and call them awful namesand say awful things, which I
did, and they were still kindand they were still gracious and
they still shared the samegospel.
Their gospel never changed,their identity never changed,
their honesty never changed.
They were with so much love andso much joy.
They wore it like a glow ontheir faces and I wanted that so
(09:03):
bad.
So, yeah, my brother dragged meto hang out with the Sunrise
crew and then I asked them.
I said why are you so happy allthe time?
Because I'm not happy and myworld was in shambles.
And I began this exploration ofasking them all individually,
and all of them individually.
Their first answer was Christ.
Brystol Beatley (09:26):
We're about to approach Katie's coming to Jesus
.
Instead of it taking place in asingle moment, like many
testimonies, we're about toexperience her transformation as
a gradual process.
Listen in.
Katie Tootle (09:42):
They said that they had loved him and that he
had loved them first.
And they just, yeah, they justmade him sound so attractive and
so lovely and so filling.
So I started to spend time inthe Word and I started to hang
out with them and not just callthem names.
I started to get to know themand the more that I got to know
them, the more I got to knowJesus.
(10:03):
And the more I got to knowJesus, the more I was fascinated
with Him and I just needed toknow more and more.
It was like eating afterstarving for years.
You know, you just can't getenough and every bite is just as
good.
So, yeah, I was drowning in theword, I was drowning in
community and it was like hejust bathed me in blessings that
(10:26):
I didn't ask for and I thinkthat's such true, deep love and
compassion from a father thatknows us.
I had a father that knew me andhe met my needs.
When I denied him, he continuedto.
So, yeah, I got to know him andthere wasn't really a big point
where I was like I'm all out,christian, I'm for it.
Um, it was more of like makinga friend, where one day he was
(10:52):
someone I didn't really know andnow I can sit here and say he's
my best friend and we talkevery morning and every night
and between each meal, andthere's not a moment where I'm
not thinking about him or lovinghim.
And when I'm not loving him, heforgives me and teaches me to
do it again, because he's a goodleader and a good friend.
But I think something that sumsthat well just a passage that's
(11:12):
been really a point to me inthis past walk of life is John
15, 12.
It reads this is my commandmentthat you love one another as I
have loved you.
Greater love has no one thanthis that someone lay down his
life for his friends.
You are my friends if you dowhat I command you.
No longer do I call youservants, for the servant does
(11:33):
not know what his master isdoing, but I have called you
friends, for all that I haveheard from my father, I have
made known to you you did notchoose me, but I chose you and
appointed you that you should goand bear fruit, that your fruit
should abide, so that, whateveryou ask the Father in my name,
he may give it to you.
These things I command to youso that you will love one
another.
I love that piece of text.
(11:56):
So that really stood out to meat the start of my faith for
many reasons.
But I think the big thing isthat God called me a friend and
I just continued to really soakup the word.
After this I worked my waythrough all the Gospels.
So some people turn around andit's like whapow, I'm a new
person, or total turn of a car.
(12:17):
But other people, god kind ofmoves your soul like a door
slowly opening, and I think withme he really moved it like a
door slowly opening.
So it's hard to look at anypoint in my faith and say, ah,
that was my big moment where itall became real and it all set
in.
I distinctly remember one daywhere it was like 4 am, I think
(12:38):
the morning of Easter, and Iknew I had to go in the Word and
I got up and I just startedreading through the book of
Matthew and I didn't end until Iwas done.
So I was really focused on thefour Gospels at the start of my
faith.
I just kept rereading thoseover and over and, yeah, I got a
lot more serious about my faith.
Brystol Beatley (12:57):
Here, Katie talks about her new life in
Christ with their small groupand their trip to Israel.
Katie Tootle (13:04):
And so at the end of my life group so I went for
the final trip, which was a tripto Israel, and that was just
transformational for my faith.
But going and seeing that Icould step the same ground that
Christ himself did was shockingand vastly amazing.
I was baptized in the Jordan,so that was really cool and I
(13:25):
think there a lot of my faithreally came to life.
I could see my faith in thistruth that had been stored in a
book for me.
So after Israel I came back andI went to Moody where I was
pushed to read the Old Testament, which I hadn't done before.
I didn't see it as relevant tomy faith.
Now that I have taken classeson it and read through it, it is
(13:47):
very, very relevant.
It is the root of our faith.
But yes, I think it wasdefinitely starting in the
Gospels and just eating them asfast as I could.
Brystol Beatley (14:00):
Next, Katie shares her new and improved view
of God after studying His Word.
Katie Tootle (14:06):
I had only seen him as this moral figure and I'd
only seen him as this creatorthat I was so angry at because
his creation was destroyed.
And now I can look and say,well, the creation was destroyed
when we denied him.
You know, creation wasdestroyed when we sinned and sin
is turning away from a holy God.
So it's just so fun to lookback and see that this whole
(14:26):
time God has looked at me as achild and said I, I called you,
I called you mine and I call youfriend, you know.
So not only am I child but I'mfriend, and that just, oh, it's
like looking into light, knowingthe gospel and going all into
the faith brought me many placesBefore I had really fallen into
(14:47):
the gospel and the church.
I had planned to go study atsome high Ivy League college and
make a lot of money and rub itin people's faces because I
thought, hey, that could be thepoint of life, just getting rich
and having fun.
And then you know, you meetChrist and you're like there's a
lot more to do in this world.
And I went to Moody and I madeeven more amazing friends, with
(15:08):
more people that were flawed andthey loved Jesus and I loved
them for it and it was just liketrue rich community.
You can't get enough of it.
These friends that I've madehave showed me so much of what
it is to know God's word and tolive it out.
So studying God's word haschanged the way that I know him
and that's changed my behavioras a person.
(15:31):
I used to be so angry and I usedto think things were pointless
and I'd want to give up fast.
And that's not true of me now.
I used to be mean to peoplejust to laugh, and that's not
true of me now.
And I don't say these things tosay that knowing the gospel has
made me a perfect person,because it's not.
And I will continue to besanctified until I'm gone.
But I am happy that I get tosay I am being sanctified, not
(15:53):
that I'm becoming a betterperson, but I'm becoming more
like Christ.
Life is beautiful, there's painand it's not all resolute, yet
I can still look to heaven andsay things will be so good there
there won't be a single tear.
So that's why I find itrelevant to the testimony just
(16:16):
because there's so much hope toknow that this world is so
broken, but God is so powerful,he can fix it.
Brystol Beatley (16:19):
For the last question, I simply asked Katie
if she was happy now.
Katie Tootle (16:32):
I am happy to know the God that I do, I'm happy to
know His church, I'm happy toknow that I get to be a
representative of this faith andof this love that we fostered
together.
I'm eager to see what the restof my life will look like,
because I'm young, I'm 20.
I hopefully have so many yearsahead and I want to see what God
does with all of them and I'mglad I can.
I'm glad that I know the end,that I know there will be a day
(16:55):
where tears shall be no more andthere will be a day where every
tribe and tongue and nation isgoing to come and worship this
God we all love, because howgood he is.
It's hard not to just walk withgladness and joy, even in the
worst of times, knowing that theGod that created all of this I
can look at and say you're myfriend and you're my friend
(17:16):
because you love me.
And I said yes, so I am glad.
Brystol Beatley (17:24):
Thanks for listening.
We hope you enjoyed today'sshow.
To learn more about the One WayIntern program and the amazing
experiences you could be a partof, check out our show notes.
They were with so much love and so much joy.
They wore it like a glow ontheir faces and I wanted that so
bad.
Brystol Beatley (00:07):
This is Bristol Beatley, welcoming you to the
180 Intern Show.
Every part of the show was doneby the one-way interns.
Katie Toodle was living anangry and bitter life.
Enter the Sunrise Crew, a groupof radiant young adults who led
Katie to the God who calls herfriend.
Welcome to Katie's 180.
Katie Tootle (00:31):
Hi, my name is Katie.
So I grew up in southernMississippi and then, when I was
about eight, we moved toHouston, texas, a suburb of it.
I grew up with one olderbrother, both parents in the
house, awesome people.
I was in the South so everybodyknew the gospel and everybody
(00:53):
professed Christianity.
So I grew up with both myparents professing Christianity.
We went to church most of thetime, but I never really knew
what the gospel was.
I kind of knew what it was on atextbook.
I knew that Jesus had died andthat he had conquered it, but I
didn't know why, and so Ibelieved it, but I didn't really
(01:14):
see the importance of believingit.
I didn't see God as someone toknow or as his own person.
I didn't see the church as.
So in the South there will bethis high and mighty nature of I
don't steal.
I would never steal because I'ma Christian, but I will go
gossip about this person forhours on end and tear them down
on social media and do all thesethings because they did this
(01:36):
wrong.
You know she tossed my hair thewrong way and I'm mad about it,
but it's just kind of a pickand choose faith.
There was just a lot of cracksin the little faith I had, and
the faith I had was less in Godand more so in culture.
I went into middle school and myBible stayed on the shelf all
throughout, and when you'reentering your teenhood, that's
(01:59):
when you really start to seesuffering for what it is, which
is suffering.
I think when you're a kid it'seasy to see tragic things and
then always expect a happy twistto go to them, and that's just
not the reality.
In a broken world, sometimesthere's just hurt and you can't
look at it and say this was thecause or this is the way we're
going to get around it.
And that crushed me because Ihad seen life as well.
(02:23):
We're all Christians and thisGod is good, so where is he?
Like I could look at globalproblems and say, well, what's
going on?
Where's God now?
So I began to get reallyfrustrated with the concept of
suffering and my Bible stayed onthe shelf while I did.
I didn't know why it matteredand I didn't really care to
learn because I was angry.
(02:43):
So I continued on throughoutmiddle school and I started to
really care to learn because Iwas angry.
So I continued on throughoutmiddle school and I started to
get to know some of theChristians at my church and they
were kids and kids are learningand they were mean and they
made some really awful jokes andmistakes and I was picked on
and I picked on other kids Likeit was just pain.
(03:04):
You know, a world with pain isgoing to have it.
But I saw them asrepresentatives of Christ and I
did not like the way they wererepresenting it.
So I got really bitter to Godand I decided, well, if this is
God's people, then this must bewhat God's like.
And where is God in all of thesuffering?
I don't know.
So why do I want anything to dowith it?
(03:26):
I was kind of living a doublelife openly, where I'd say I'm a
Christian but I'd also supportall the wrong things and I would
treat people the wrong way.
I wouldn't love myself theright way.
I was just living in all theworst things and I was unhappy
all of the time.
Brystol Beatley (03:40):
What causes unhappiness?
Next, I asked Katie to share anexample.
Katie Tootle (03:46):
Sometimes there were family members that we no
longer got to speak to or therewere friends that we had to take
distance from or friends.
I had a friend move across thecountry without saying anything
because of a sudden emergency inher family and that was awful
because she was my childhoodbest friend and I've not heard
of her since.
So that led into early highschool where I just continued, I
(04:07):
continued to be bitter, sin.
You just spiral into.
You know it kind of tangles youI think of.
Oh where is it?
Ephesians 4, 26 to 27, whichsays in your anger, do not sin,
do not let the sun go down whileyou are still angry, do not
give the devil a foothold.
So a foothold is like kind of aclosing brick when you're
(04:31):
trying to close the door, whenyou're really frustrated and
you're trying to close the doorand they stick their foot in and
you can't get it done all theway.
And that's what I had let sinand anger do.
I had let the sun go down on myanger at God many times and I
had let sin creep into my lifemany times.
What turned from a foothold wasjust like an open door of anger
and bitterness.
(04:52):
So I entered ninth grade veryfrustrated and very far from the
Lord and not really eager toknow Him.
I kind of wanted to sit in myanger, in my self-righteousness.
So it might be good to add thatthroughout all of this process
of getting to know God andChristianity, I had continued to
believe the gospel was true.
I just didn't want to minglewith it because I didn't see the
(05:12):
gospel as something saving fromsin.
I saw it as kind of like amoral scale of what's good,
what's wrong.
Here are the commandments, whatyou do, what you don't, and you
know.
The whole reason we have thegospel is because we're not
perfect people.
But I didn't know that, Ididn't know the meaning.
So we had the gospel and I waslike, well, why aren't we acting
accordingly?
(05:32):
So I didn't see God as likethis holy figure who loved me.
I saw him as kind of like amoral commander or a boss.
And it can be really easy toresent your boss when you're in
the wrong, because you can justget bitter.
So that's what happened to me.
But, yeah, in my second semesterof ninth grade so I've been in
(05:52):
high school for maybe six monthsCOVID hit and COVID really
stranded me.
But my brother I have a brother, his name's Gabe, he's three
years older had known the gospeland he had community around him
that wanted to share it.
And I did not want to hear it,but my brother wants to tell it
to you all the time.
(06:12):
And so COVID hit and I wasgrumpy and I started being mean
and I was losing friends and Ididn't really care and I was
tossing most of my life away.
I dropped swimming, which was asport I did.
I quit playing piano.
I was depressed, I wasn'ttaking joy in all the things I
had before.
But the Lord can still grab youwhen you're sad.
(06:33):
I think he does it a lot.
So, yeah, my brother said, comehang out with me and my friends
.
Brystol Beatley (06:42):
Katie cynically dubbed this group of people the
Sunrise Crew.
See how they helped change herview of God.
Katie Tootle (06:51):
I called them the Sunrise Crew because they would
all go and watch the sunrise andjust talk about God for two
hours before church every Sunday.
It was the craziest thing I hadever seen, because I didn't
talk to people that loved God.
I didn't see what there was tolove, I didn't see how awesome
he was.
So, yeah, these kids, they'dget together, they'd watch the
(07:14):
sunrise and they'd say what theyhad been reading in the Word
and what conversations they hadhad with people and the
conversations they were havingwith God and a worship song they
like, and sometimes we'd singand other times we'd pray and
other times we'd just sit silentand like, study the Word
individually, and it was just sobeautiful to see.
And I was not happy to see thebeauty, I was mad and I told my
(07:37):
brother off and there were days,so many days, where he would
physically drag me.
I can remember him grabbing myhand and yanking me into the car
and saying you need to gobecause you've not left the
house all week.
So at least just come here,talk to people in this huge
circle on a parking garage andhear about God.
And the Lord stirred somethingin my heart and I did it.
(07:59):
Um, so I kept doing it andeventually I noticed that these
people weren't ignorant and theyhad something that I was
missing and they could view Godwith something that I hadn't
seen before.
It makes me think of Psalm 34.
It says I sought the Lord, andhe answered me and delivered me
(08:20):
from all my fears.
Those who look to him areradiant and their faces shall
never be ashamed.
That Psalm really struck me atthe beginning of knowing Christ,
because these kids who I hadtalked to were changing my
perspective of Jesus Becausethey wore their love for God on
their faces.
These people, I could tell themmy deepest pains, I could sit
(08:42):
there and call them awful namesand say awful things, which I
did, and they were still kindand they were still gracious and
they still shared the samegospel.
Their gospel never changed,their identity never changed,
their honesty never changed.
They were with so much love andso much joy.
They wore it like a glow ontheir faces and I wanted that so
(09:03):
bad.
So, yeah, my brother dragged meto hang out with the Sunrise
crew and then I asked them.
I said why are you so happy allthe time?
Because I'm not happy and myworld was in shambles.
And I began this exploration ofasking them all individually,
and all of them individually.
Their first answer was Christ.
Brystol Beatley (09:26):
We're about to approach Katie's coming to Jesus
.
Instead of it taking place in asingle moment, like many
testimonies, we're about toexperience her transformation as
a gradual process.
Listen in.
Katie Tootle (09:42):
They said that they had loved him and that he
had loved them first.
And they just, yeah, they justmade him sound so attractive and
so lovely and so filling.
So I started to spend time inthe Word and I started to hang
out with them and not just callthem names.
I started to get to know themand the more that I got to know
them, the more I got to knowJesus.
(10:03):
And the more I got to knowJesus, the more I was fascinated
with Him and I just needed toknow more and more.
It was like eating afterstarving for years.
You know, you just can't getenough and every bite is just as
good.
So, yeah, I was drowning in theword, I was drowning in
community and it was like hejust bathed me in blessings that
(10:26):
I didn't ask for and I thinkthat's such true, deep love and
compassion from a father thatknows us.
I had a father that knew me andhe met my needs.
When I denied him, he continuedto.
So, yeah, I got to know him andthere wasn't really a big point
where I was like I'm all out,christian, I'm for it.
Um, it was more of like makinga friend, where one day he was
(10:52):
someone I didn't really know andnow I can sit here and say he's
my best friend and we talkevery morning and every night
and between each meal, andthere's not a moment where I'm
not thinking about him or lovinghim.
And when I'm not loving him, heforgives me and teaches me to
do it again, because he's a goodleader and a good friend.
But I think something that sumsthat well just a passage that's
(11:12):
been really a point to me inthis past walk of life is John
15, 12.
It reads this is my commandmentthat you love one another as I
have loved you.
Greater love has no one thanthis that someone lay down his
life for his friends.
You are my friends if you dowhat I command you.
No longer do I call youservants, for the servant does
(11:33):
not know what his master isdoing, but I have called you
friends, for all that I haveheard from my father, I have
made known to you you did notchoose me, but I chose you and
appointed you that you should goand bear fruit, that your fruit
should abide, so that, whateveryou ask the Father in my name,
he may give it to you.
These things I command to youso that you will love one
another.
I love that piece of text.
(11:56):
So that really stood out to meat the start of my faith for
many reasons.
But I think the big thing isthat God called me a friend and
I just continued to really soakup the word.
After this I worked my waythrough all the Gospels.
So some people turn around andit's like whapow, I'm a new
person, or total turn of a car.
(12:17):
But other people, god kind ofmoves your soul like a door
slowly opening, and I think withme he really moved it like a
door slowly opening.
So it's hard to look at anypoint in my faith and say, ah,
that was my big moment where itall became real and it all set
in.
I distinctly remember one daywhere it was like 4 am, I think
(12:38):
the morning of Easter, and Iknew I had to go in the Word and
I got up and I just startedreading through the book of
Matthew and I didn't end until Iwas done.
So I was really focused on thefour Gospels at the start of my
faith.
I just kept rereading thoseover and over and, yeah, I got a
lot more serious about my faith.
Brystol Beatley (12:57):
Here, Katie talks about her new life in
Christ with their small groupand their trip to Israel.
Katie Tootle (13:04):
And so at the end of my life group so I went for
the final trip, which was a tripto Israel, and that was just
transformational for my faith.
But going and seeing that Icould step the same ground that
Christ himself did was shockingand vastly amazing.
I was baptized in the Jordan,so that was really cool and I
(13:25):
think there a lot of my faithreally came to life.
I could see my faith in thistruth that had been stored in a
book for me.
So after Israel I came back andI went to Moody where I was
pushed to read the Old Testament, which I hadn't done before.
I didn't see it as relevant tomy faith.
Now that I have taken classeson it and read through it, it is
(13:47):
very, very relevant.
It is the root of our faith.
But yes, I think it wasdefinitely starting in the
Gospels and just eating them asfast as I could.
Brystol Beatley (14:00):
Next, Katie shares her new and improved view
of God after studying His Word.
Katie Tootle (14:06):
I had only seen him as this moral figure and I'd
only seen him as this creatorthat I was so angry at because
his creation was destroyed.
And now I can look and say,well, the creation was destroyed
when we denied him.
You know, creation wasdestroyed when we sinned and sin
is turning away from a holy God.
So it's just so fun to lookback and see that this whole
(14:26):
time God has looked at me as achild and said I, I called you,
I called you mine and I call youfriend, you know.
So not only am I child but I'mfriend, and that just, oh, it's
like looking into light, knowingthe gospel and going all into
the faith brought me many placesBefore I had really fallen into
(14:47):
the gospel and the church.
I had planned to go study atsome high Ivy League college and
make a lot of money and rub itin people's faces because I
thought, hey, that could be thepoint of life, just getting rich
and having fun.
And then you know, you meetChrist and you're like there's a
lot more to do in this world.
And I went to Moody and I madeeven more amazing friends, with
(15:08):
more people that were flawed andthey loved Jesus and I loved
them for it and it was just liketrue rich community.
You can't get enough of it.
These friends that I've madehave showed me so much of what
it is to know God's word and tolive it out.
So studying God's word haschanged the way that I know him
and that's changed my behavioras a person.
(15:31):
I used to be so angry and I usedto think things were pointless
and I'd want to give up fast.
And that's not true of me now.
I used to be mean to peoplejust to laugh, and that's not
true of me now.
And I don't say these things tosay that knowing the gospel has
made me a perfect person,because it's not.
And I will continue to besanctified until I'm gone.
But I am happy that I get tosay I am being sanctified, not
(15:53):
that I'm becoming a betterperson, but I'm becoming more
like Christ.
Life is beautiful, there's painand it's not all resolute, yet
I can still look to heaven andsay things will be so good there
there won't be a single tear.
So that's why I find itrelevant to the testimony just
(16:16):
because there's so much hope toknow that this world is so
broken, but God is so powerful,he can fix it.
Brystol Beatley (16:19):
For the last question, I simply asked Katie
if she was happy now.
Katie Tootle (16:32):
I am happy to know the God that I do, I'm happy to
know His church, I'm happy toknow that I get to be a
representative of this faith andof this love that we fostered
together.
I'm eager to see what the restof my life will look like,
because I'm young, I'm 20.
I hopefully have so many yearsahead and I want to see what God
does with all of them and I'mglad I can.
I'm glad that I know the end,that I know there will be a day
(16:55):
where tears shall be no more andthere will be a day where every
tribe and tongue and nation isgoing to come and worship this
God we all love, because howgood he is.
It's hard not to just walk withgladness and joy, even in the
worst of times, knowing that theGod that created all of this I
can look at and say you're myfriend and you're my friend
(17:16):
because you love me.
And I said yes, so I am glad.
Brystol Beatley (17:24):
Thanks for listening.
We hope you enjoyed today'sshow.
To learn more about the One WayIntern program and the amazing
experiences you could be a partof, check out our show notes.
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