June 4, 2025 • 57 mins
What if you could transform your deepest traumas into powerful testimonies of faith and resilience? Join us as we welcome Katie Orocho, a dedicated coach who helps women navigate their traumas toward healing and hope. Katie's journey from being an adopted child, knowing Jesus from a young age, to facing relentless bullying and self-doubt, offers a profound story of overcoming life's adversities through faith. Discover how her unique perspective on adoption—as being chosen for love rather than abandoned—shaped her into the resilient, faith-driven woman she is today.
Ever wondered how single parenthood can be navigated through the lens of faith? Katie opens up about the tough decisions and emotional battles she faced while raising her son, Zachary, amidst societal pressures and family expectations. With a strong conviction that marriage should be rooted in more than just a piece of paper, Katie chose to raise Zachary as a single mother. Listen as we discuss her experiences of cohabiting with Zachary's father, the eventual breakup, and the significant transition from New Jersey to South Carolina—all while embracing God's guidance and experiencing the blessings that followed.
Imagine finding peace and direction in your life through trust and faith, even in the most challenging circumstances. In this episode, Katie shares her personal battles with bullying, depression, and the transformative power of understanding her identity in Christ. Learn about the profound struggles faced by those in war-torn countries and individuals feeling lost and fearful. Katie's story underscores the importance of spreading love and blessings, recognizing our lives as gifts, and speaking truth over one another. Join us for an inspiring conversation that highlights the power of using personal trials to guide others toward their own promised land.
Please visit us at: http://retreattopeace.com to find out more about the shows you love to listen to, the upcoming retreats we have planned and your favorite merchandise to help support those in need. Also, send us your testimonial of how the show or Catherine has helped you. We would love to share your story on the air.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Catherine Daniels (00:10):
Welcome to Retreat to Peace.
I'm so glad you found us.
My name is Catherine Daniels,and one thing we know is nothing
is permanent except our souls,and as we travel through one
another's countries and wecreate a bridge as one people
living in this one world, Iinvite you to listen to our
(00:34):
signature talk today and hearall about the special, unique
possibilities that you may haveas you journey through your own
life.
We welcome you to go tohttps:// c atherinedaniels.
(01:03):
com to learn, get comfortableand cozy up as we dive in to our
signature talk today.
Hi everyone, and welcome backto Retreat to Peace.
(01:27):
This is Catherine Daniels, andI have a very special guest
today, my dear friend Katie.
Katie Orocho, how are you today.
Katie Orcho (01:37):
I'm so good.
Thank you so much for having meon today.
Catherine Daniels (01:41):
I'm so excited to have you on, and we
actually both are in the UnitedStates, and I am excited because
we're winding down out ofsummer, going into fall, and
winter and winter.
We don't want to talk aboutwinter, but we are going to
appreciate these long sunny daysthat God's given us and just
(02:03):
take it for all it's worth.
So, everyone around the worldthat's listening, I have this
beautiful soul that I want tointroduce you to.
So, katie, can you tell us alittle bit about yourself?
Katie Orcho (02:15):
Sure, so I am so excited to be able to be here
today.
I am a mom of two.
I have a 14 year old and a twoyear old.
I used to be a massagetherapist and now I feel called
(02:36):
into coaching specifically womenand walking them through the
traumas or the storms of theirlives and really focusing them
towards what God is calling theminto their promised land.
Catherine Daniels (02:54):
That's really incredible and I am in love
with everything that you'redoing because I feel like
there's so many people that needthis and obviously you and I
are very much aligned, you know,as far as this work that we're
doing, because we're bothpassionate about helping people
(03:14):
and getting them aligned.
Katie, as far as your personalstory, can you share a little
bit about what led you to whatit is that you're doing today?
Katie Orcho (03:26):
Have always grown.
I grew up knowing Jesus.
I was adopted at six weeks oldand I knew from my first memory
that I was adopted, but notadopted from abandonment but
really adopted into love.
Being adopted was never a badthing.
(03:47):
It was just, you know, mybiological parents couldn't
raise me and so they chose togive me a life with parents who
could and who wanted childrenbut couldn't have biological.
And so through that and beingraised in a Christian church, I
always knew God and a Christianschool always knew him, but he
(04:11):
didn't.
Really it wasn't a closerelationship with God.
I knew he was, I knew God wasGod, but he it wasn't personal
to me and so not having a closewalk with him.
Through elementary school andmiddle and high school I was
bullied a lot and just wentthrough a lot in my own life and
(04:33):
my own walk and making not thebest choices, heartbreak or each
bad decision that although thisis bad, somehow, some way I'm
going to use this to helpsomebody in the future and I
(04:53):
feel like that's where.
That's where I am.
That is why God is calling meto step up and use my testimony
to help women walk through theirtrials.
Catherine Daniels (05:06):
You talked about when you were young that
you were bullied, and how oldwere you when that started?
Katie Orcho (05:15):
Elementary school is really when it started, and I
think that was a way for liesto come in about who I am and
who I'm not Not understanding.
Who God created me to be andwho he says I am is really where
that foothold was created toconvince me that I'm stupid or
(05:41):
that I'm ugly, or that I don'thave a purpose, or that I was a
mistake or unwanted and all ofthat is lies.
Life is a blessing.
Every person's life isintentional and I think that is
a really important thing toremember.
Catherine Daniels (06:06):
I think that is a really important thing to
remember.
I know when I was a little girl, I was bullied as well.
One of the things that Iexperienced is people not
understanding my circumstancesbecause I was living with my
grandparents.
I was living with mygrandparents, so it made me an
(06:30):
outlier, because you don't haveparents like where's your mom
and dad and you know why are youliving with your grandparents,
and it literally separated mefrom other people in school and,
unknowingly, I really didn'tunderstand what would be
attached to it, like the shamethat I would feel or the
(06:50):
rejection that I would feel, theloneliness that I would feel,
and there were so many otherhurdles that I was experiencing
in my own life that it made itvery difficult for me just to go
to school and feel like I wassafe, like I was okay, and I
(07:10):
wondered is that something thatyou felt as well when you were
going through your experience inschool?
Katie Orcho (07:19):
Oh, absolutely Luckily, my experience of being
bullied was only verbal and notphysical in school, but there
very much was this dread.
Every morning I would sit infront of the door crying,
begging my mom to let me go tothe public school or to
(07:42):
homeschool me or to let me havea mental health day just to
avoid or to go late to make theday shorter.
Catherine Daniels (07:50):
And it's difficult for a parent that has
a child in that situation,because part of them would like
to keep their child home or makethe necessary arrangements, but
then it's at the compromise ofthe education you know for the
child and then also the otherthings that go along with it,
(08:13):
because now you're actuallycreating another situation where
the parent is helping to make agreater divide.
If you were to go back to thatpoint in time in your life and
tell your little girl a piece ofadvice, what would that advice
be?
Katie Orcho (08:33):
Honestly, I don't think it would be specifically
advice as much as really needingand knowing that I would have
thrived or survived a little bitbetter, knowing scripture of
what scripture says, whoscripture says I am as a
(08:55):
daughter of God, and reallybeing able to speak truth over
the lies and really solidifyingmy identity and who I was
created to be, and being able tohold on to something, something
so steadfast as opposed toreally being able to say you
(09:21):
know it's going to get better orbecause those, those messages
are good.
But I think with scripture it'sso unshakable that being able
to have known Bible verses thatI could hold on to that would
have carried me a little bitsteadier.
Carried me a little bitsteadier.
Catherine Daniels (09:45):
And as far as the scripture piece of it, is
there a particular scripturethat you gravitated to?
Because what's coming to meright now is that someone's
listening to the show andthey've lost their foothold in
their faith, right, or maybethey didn't have their faith or
(10:09):
found their faith, but they'reseeking for something and
they're looking for peace, butthey just haven't found it yet.
So is there something thatintuitively, as a little girl
like you, would have gravitatedto, that really gave you that
(10:31):
reassurance that all of the liesthat were being told to you, to
jump that hurdle of feeling allof those things, to being in a
place where you felt safe, andyou felt safe with the Lord?
Katie Orcho (10:54):
So my life verse is the one in Jeremiah 29, where I
know the plans I have for you,declares the Lord plans to
prosper you and give you hopefor a better future.
And it's knowing in the bad,knowing at rock bottom, that God
(11:20):
maybe didn't, he didn't put methere, but that he has a plan
for me from rock bottom to thenprosper me and to give me hope
for a better future.
I think just knowing, even as alittle girl, that God has a
(11:41):
plan for a better future foreveryone, that that would have
really, that would have given mehope and that would have really
helped me maybe understand thatit will get better, it can get
(12:04):
better, it can get better.
Catherine Daniels (12:07):
I think right now we live in a world that is
in spiritual warfare.
We live in a world that itseems like 2020 came in and kind
of like, put this great, bigspotlight on the entire globe
and said, okay, I see you peoplerunning.
(12:28):
You're running from yourself,you're running from the internal
darkness that you'reexperiencing and you're using
this way of trying to escape andfill in the blank of what this
way would be for each individual.
But I said this before on othershows I think the incredible
(12:53):
blessing of 2020 and all of thatglobal pandemic environment was
really the blossoming ofacceptance that it's okay to be
not okay right, because everyonewas grieving.
(13:14):
Everyone was grieving something, whether it was loss of life,
loss of relationships,friendships.
People have moved to differentplaces.
People have had their entirelife turned upside down from
what they knew prior to thepandemic.
(13:37):
And it looks in all kinds ofways and I know, since I've been
doing this show, in all kindsof ways, and I know, since I've
been doing this show,addiction's gone up, suicide's
gone up.
The amount of hardship thatpeople are experiencing in the
world has just become so bigthat it's even hard to
conceptualize and put your armsaround it.
(14:00):
But this is where I feel likethis conversation is more
important than it's ever everbeen, that we are living in a
time where we are in spiritualwarfare of the basic things that
people know, with the innerknowing that they've been given
(14:24):
to be true, and kind of likewhat you were saying, katie,
about knowing who I am andknowing who I am not and
submitting to the lives.
Katie Orcho (14:38):
Mm-hmm.
Catherine Daniels (14:39):
So I feel like it's really important to
ask yourself everyone who'slistening what lie am I
believing right now, whetherit's about myself, a child, the
environment I'm living in oranything else that is profoundly
(15:04):
important to your life.
What lie is it that I'mbelieving right now To really go
back into a space of where'sthat coming from, and how do we
know if it's a lie?
How do we know if it's truth?
So, Katie, you had said acouple of times you've made some
bad decisions and you didn'tmake the best choices.
(15:27):
So let's, let's go into it alittle bit.
Give us an example of how youmade a bad decision or didn't
make a good choice, and let'skind of walk through this
together.
Katie Orcho (15:39):
Sure.
So, as I, as I told you, I wasborn and raised in a Christian
school, christian family,christian church.
Um, knew God, knew the rules,knew what to do, what not to do,
what I was not supposed to do.
Um, and as I said in thebeginning, I have a 14 year year
(16:03):
old and I became pregnant withhim after dating his father for
seven months.
I knew from the first time thatI was intimate with anybody,
that if I were to ever getpregnant, that I wanted that
baby, I wanted to raise my baby,and so I knew, when I found out
(16:29):
that I was pregnant outside ofbeing married, that my parents
wouldn't be happy, but that theywould, that I was blessed, um,
that they would support me and Iknow not everybody, even
closely, can relate sometimes tothat, but I was.
I was blessed knowing that myparents would support me and
(16:52):
support me as far as pushing meto be a good mother, not really
raising my child for me, butreally helping to make sure that
I was able to make the rightchoices and be self-sufficient
and work hard to raise him, youknow as as his mom, and so
(17:15):
knowing that having having sexand getting pregnant outside of
marriage wasn't the right choiceor wasn't the best thing.
Making the decision to raise myson was, and also knowing that
jumping into getting married tohis father just because I was
(17:36):
pregnant also took took a lot offighting, because that's a lot
of times.
That's what parents want foryou is to have that firm marital
support.
But our relationship wasn't,wasn't based on Christ and was
(17:58):
not, did not have a biblicalfoundation, and I knew that my
son deserved better anddifferent, and he deserved to be
raised, even if it was by oneparent, to know Jesus, and so
that was probably one of theharder decisions that I made,
but I know, even to this day,that it was the best decision
(18:21):
that I made the best decisionthat I made.
Catherine Daniels (18:30):
I appreciate that.
Did you ever really feelconvicted about what you
experienced?
I mean, there's people, there'speople that ask kinds you know
these kinds of questions aboutlike, what does that feel like
and how do I know that that'swhat I'm experiencing and how do
I move through it.
So I'm just arbitrarily askingyou these questions just to help
people who haven't, you know,found a direction for peace to
(18:55):
really understand, like, what itfeels like and what we go
through.
Katie Orcho (19:00):
Yeah.
So when I found out I waspregnant, I gave his father the
choice to either be 100% in or100% out, but that I had made
the decision to raise not justkeep the baby, but raise the
baby.
It wasn't something that we hadplanned, and so I gave him time
(19:29):
to decide and he decided hewanted to be all in and so we
moved in together because Iwanted to try and give my son,
or the baby because we didn'tknow he was a boy at the time I
wanted to try to give him asnormal of a, of a foundation,
with a mom and a dad in the samehousehold, raising him as I
(19:51):
could, while still learning whomy boyfriend was and learning if
he was really up up to the jobat that point to support me and
to support our son and to be theright kind of man that he now
needed to be for us andthroughout, throughout our
(20:17):
relationship.
We broke up when Zachary, rightbefore Zachary, turned one, and
it was extremely difficultbecause a lot of people a lot of
um, a lot of people that Irespected, a lot of friends,
told me to have an abortion.
I had aunts and uncles andcousins and people in the church
(20:40):
who are pushing me to getmarried, the church who are
pushing me to get married, and I, really I, I just somehow knew
deep deep within me that if Iwere to get married just for my,
just because I was pregnant,that that's not what marriage is
is about.
Yes, I made the choice to havesex and, yes, spiritually we
(21:01):
were married, but we weren'tlegally married and marriage to
me was more than just a paperand I really wanted to make sure
that, making that commitmentI'd be able to hopefully keep
for the rest of my life.
And I wasn't sure if his fatherwas marriage material, if his
(21:28):
father was marriage material.
Catherine Daniels (21:29):
So I waited and then we ended up breaking up
when Zachary was one.
That's a hard, hard thing to dowith a baby.
I mean I can't even imaginewhat you went through with that
kind of turmoil, because when wehave that attachment with a
couple and then you have a baby,I mean there's this invisible
(21:50):
string, soul ties, that connectsus all together and that's
really, really hard.
How is your son doing today?
He said he's 14.
Is he doing well?
Katie Orcho (22:03):
Yeah, yes, so my son recently.
Yeah, so we raised him in NewJersey and then we recently got
called down to South Carolina.
God moved us down.
After God called us down, meand my husband my now husband
(22:35):
moved down here and I did not atthat time have custody of
Zachary, and so I had tosurrender Zachary to God and
trust God, because he was theone telling me to move.
And so I surrendered Zachary,allowed him to stay in New
Jersey while I moved to SouthCarolina, and God honored that
(22:58):
obedience and in October, so wemoved in July and in October, um
, his father signed over custodyto me, so Zachary was then able
to move.
So it's been a transition forhim because you know, he was
separated from family and he wasraised for well now that 12
(23:22):
years with his dad right downthe road, and so it has been an
adjustment, but it truly, ittruly has been such a blessing,
with everything that Zachary hasis now able to do.
I'm now able to homeschool himand there's just been a huge
transition and it wouldn't havebeen able to take place without
(23:46):
that separation and that movingfrom New Jersey now to South
Carolina.
Catherine Daniels (23:52):
Wow.
Now what I heard you say isthat God had moved you.
So what happened that you wereled to South Carolina?
Like, how did God work throughyou to move you there?
Katie Orcho (24:12):
to move you there.
So my husband and I have beenmarried for three years and we
knew when we got engaged I knewthat I wanted to move to North
Carolina to be closer to aministry that I work with.
But I didn't know timing and itwas almost as if the night that
my husband proposed to me thatvery next day, I knew that in my
(24:37):
heart, I knew that New Jerseywas not home anymore and I knew
that God was beginning to uprootus to then prepare us for the
place that he had, that he'spreparing for us.
We did not know we were goingto move to South Carolina.
(24:59):
We just knew that we wanted tobe closer to the ministry in
North Carolina and began lookingfor housing.
And this was during the pandemic, and so the housing market was
just on fire.
You know there was.
You could place the house onthe market and within 12 hours
it would be sold.
So we prayed and we asked Godthat if we we put an offer on a
(25:24):
house, that if it was the housethat God had for us, that it
would go through.
And we ended up in SouthCarolina from the ministry yeah,
that's incredible.
Catherine Daniels (25:36):
We always hear about these God stories and
how they open up doors forpeople and lead people to places
that they never in theirwildest dreams would imagine
that they would go.
So it's really a beautifultestimony of how he works
through us and what he does withus to continue his work through
(26:00):
us for the greater good of thepeople of our communities.
And all of you know mankindreally, because everything that,
everything that we're doing toput ourselves out there on his
behalf, is for the greater good.
So it's really beautiful tohear your testimony and, and I
(26:21):
wonder, so I wonder, as far asyour, your journey in life and
this transition that you've made.
I've interviewed people thathave moved state to state,
country to country.
You know these long distancesand someone who doesn't live in
(26:42):
the US may not understand thatNew Jersey to South Carolina is
actually on the same coast andit's probably I don't know a 10
hour car ride, roughly speaking,give or take traffic and
whatever else.
But generally speaking, theclimate is a little bit
(27:09):
different.
You've got a differentenvironment, with, you know, the
climate being warmer.
You don't get the snow in thewinter, you don't have the four
seasons that you would have inNew Jersey.
So it looks and feels a littlebit different.
But with that move, how has itbeen as far as your transition?
(27:30):
Do you have family there?
Is there anybody there that youknow Like how is, how is all
this gone for you?
Katie Orcho (27:38):
So my biggest transition was that, that piece
of surrender, that piece ofknowing God called me, but also
knowing that if I had broughtZachary with me when I moved, I
would have gone to jail forkidnapping, because I did not.
You cannot move a child fromstate to state without the other
(27:59):
parent's permission.
Call to surrender was probablythe biggest and the most the
scariest decision that I've everhad to make, because I didn't
know.
I knew that God had given me myson as a gift, but I also knew
(28:24):
that God was asking me to givehim back to him, and so that was
the biggest transition for me,and of course I fought for him.
Of course, you know that was Iwasn't just giving him and then
running away, but I knew God hadsaid I will be your lawyer, I
(28:44):
will tell you how to fight thisbattle, but you are to surrender
him to me, not to the world,not to his father, but to me,
and you are to move if you wantto, because it's always an
invitation with God.
God never forces us to doanything.
And so I said, yes, god, I wantto be obedient.
And so I moved down, as I said,and I ended up getting custody
(29:09):
of my son and then a couplemonths later my parents moved
down to North Carolina.
So we're about an hour away,but you know, from living in New
Jersey, an hour really isn't.
It's a day trip, so very doable, and I feel like that's part of
(29:29):
the blessing that came from theobedience.
Catherine Daniels (29:33):
It's really beautiful how you've described
this, and I think it's one ofthe things that prevents people
from really tuning in andfollowing what God has put on
their heart, because we've gotthis fear factor, and the fear
factor is very, very real.
(29:55):
It's very real.
We've got a lot of anxiety thatgoes along with fear, because
we're looking at something inthe future.
We don't know what it's goingto look like or how it's shape
out to be, and people might callyou absolutely nuts, for just
you know listening to God anddoing this I mean, I'm sure
(30:17):
you've experienced that too.
Katie Orcho (30:19):
Oh yeah, I went to two separate lawyers and they
both told me that I was a veryirresponsible parent, that I
might as well kiss my songoodbye because I would never,
ever receive custody of him,that no court would ever favor
(30:40):
me moving him out of a statewhere he was born and raised and
away from family, and that Icould pretty much sign up, like
sign out a mortgage, for howmuch it would cost for me to
fight a losing battle?
Catherine Daniels (30:57):
Isn't that interesting?
Katie Orcho (30:59):
Yeah Two two separate lawyers.
So then I'll be your lawyer.
Catherine Daniels (31:05):
Right, right.
So is this the only time thatthis has happened in your life,
or has this happened before?
That it's given you confidenceto make such a big decision to
surrender?
Katie Orcho (31:21):
This is the first time.
This was the.
This was the first time havingto let go, that God was calling
me to let go of my son, you know, bringing him to school and my
son has special needs and soreally trusting that the
teachers are going to take goodcare of him and to to teach him
(31:42):
and to help him navigate andreally problem solve.
Bullying situations Like that'sone thing and that's a small
piece of surrender.
But especially being bulliedand kind of knowing that
struggle, just really trustingthe school, but never, never on
(32:02):
this scale.
Catherine Daniels (32:04):
So if we could, just for a moment, let's
walk through it a little bit,like when did you make that
decision to surrender?
Because I have a feeling thatthere was a moment in time where
you were just like okay, likeyou took that, that gasp of air,
(32:26):
and it was like okay, just likethe air in my lungs.
I don't see it, but I trust it.
I know it's in there.
It allows me to live andsurvive and breathe.
Something happened, whathappened?
Katie Orcho (32:41):
Um, I think I think the pivotal moment really was
the call of of God.
It was almost like God wasinviting me to serve him or to
serve him in ministry and towork in ministry or to have like
(33:05):
a normal job.
I was a massage therapist and Ihad a really successful business
and I loved, loved all myclients, loved working with them
and on them, and so I felt likeit was a fork in the road and
an invitation of God saying Iwill continue to bless your
massage business or we can takethis journey and this new
(33:33):
chapter of ministry if you'rewilling.
And I felt like it was thatdecision.
It wasn't a trick, it wasn't ayou know, if you choose massage
then it's going to burn andyou're not going to be obedient.
It was more or less.
Do you want to trust me and tosurrender and die to everything
(33:56):
and follow me into ministry, orwould you like to live
comfortably in, in what you know?
And honestly, looking back, itwas a really obvious decision
(34:17):
that I made quickly.
But now, looking back, I'm likeI made that.
It was very pivotal and very,very shifting and I don't know
if, what I know now, if I wouldhave made the same choice, but I
am glad that I, that I said yesto God.
Catherine Daniels (34:41):
So, by saying yes to God, how has it enriched
your life?
Katie Orcho (34:56):
enriched your life.
I feel like I live in acompletely different world.
So, from from New Jersey andrunning my own massage business
and being a single mom to now awife with two kids and being
able to homeschool my son, whichhas been a dream my entire life
, god has blessed me with theopportunity to have a coaching
(35:19):
business coaching women throughfaith and still allows me to do
massage here and there.
And so I think I think, bysaying yes, that deeper level of
trusting in God and especiallyin like the world that we live
(35:40):
in today whether it's scrollingthrough social media and seeing
one of those doomsday reels thatsuck you in and then make you
feel like the banks willcollapse or there's going to be
a war or somebody's going tokick down your front door and
just change your life thatdeeper trust and it's almost
(36:04):
like that whisper of peace ofGod saying just trust me.
Catherine Daniels (36:13):
I love that you're able to articulate it
that way, because I feel likethe world is experiencing some
of that.
I mean, we right now, as we'rehaving this conversation, we
have people overseas that are inwar torn countries.
We have people that are really,really struggling in a very
(36:39):
profound way and really not sureof a direction to turn, and I
think that's one of the thingsthat is pivotal about where we
are today is it's really rootedin where do you find your peace?
How do you find your peace?
(37:02):
Somebody is listening to usright now having this
conversation, and they have somuch doubt or fear or they're
saying, well, that's for you,that's not for me, or I've heard
about things like that, butthat would never happen to me.
You know, there's just all thisdoubt that happens for someone
(37:28):
who is in a space that hearsyour story but doesn't think
that it's for them.
What are your words for them?
Katie Orcho (37:42):
So, whether it's surrendering a child or
surrendering a piece of yourself, or stepping out of your
comfort zone, if God is callingyou to do it, there's a safety
net.
He's the safety net that'sgoing to catch you.
He's not going to let you fail.
(38:02):
He's not going to fail you.
He's not.
Things don't work out alwayshow we expect them to, but
there's a deeper sense ofaccomplishment or success in
what he provides, in that getstaken away that that God
(38:28):
intended to give us, but he alsopromises to redeem and restore
things in for his glory, and soit's not always how we hope or
want, but what God has for us isso much bigger and so much
better than what we could everhope or imagine.
Catherine Daniels (38:51):
And I always think that when we go through
our circumstances, how often itis really not even about us, but
it is to serve a greater good.
And I look at your situationand I think, wow, like you made
(39:11):
such a drastic move, changingyour life and doing what you did
, but it is for a greater good.
Is there any other situationsin your life that you can pull
upon that may also outline thatto someone who is lacking in
(39:32):
their faith?
Katie Orcho (39:38):
um, yeah, there's a lot, um, I think.
I think the biggest one wouldbe right out of high school, um,
in in high school I was bulliedbut I also had a huge blessing
of um modeling and that kind ofhelped me escape into another
(40:04):
world.
But that never really satiatedthat yearning of not knowing
myself, of not wanting to bealone or be in a quiet room with
myself.
I either had the radio on orhad a movie playing in the
background because I didn't wantto be alone with my own
(40:26):
thoughts, because the tapes ofthe lies would continue to play.
I mean being paid to takepictures because you look a
certain way, because you'requote, unquote, pretty, but then
not wanting to look in themirror.
I think that reallyunderstanding, understanding who
(40:46):
I was in Christ, is really whatsaved my life.
Because in those moments, thosethose long nights by yourself,
the darkness seems like it's allconsuming.
But all it really takes is,like that lit match, that one
(41:08):
little spark of Jesus, that onelittle spark of truth, to speak.
And then all of a sudden thenight is over and the sun is
rising and you have another dayand you have a little bit of
hope.
And, yes, depression followsyou into the daytime, but you're
(41:29):
almost able to see truthclearer when you have a
scripture verse that you canhold on to that you can hold on
to For someone who is in thatdarkness, what would be a
(41:50):
recommendation to help them withthat, bringing the light in?
I think, just speaking the nameof Jesus, I think just speaking
the name of Jesus, I thinkspeaking his name, and then
remembering that you're notalone and Jesus is still a
living and desires more thanever to have an intimate, close
(42:19):
relationship with us, because heknows us and he wants so badly
for us to know him.
And so, just calling out hisname, he will meet you in ways
that you can't even imagine.
Catherine Daniels (42:35):
For someone who's listening right now and
doesn't have a relationship withJesus, but feels like he is
there or present or trying toguide.
You know, because we know thatContinuously there's a seeking
(42:58):
out that happens Right.
Continuously there's a seekingout that happens right.
So did you feel that in yourlife, like there was this
continual knock on the door,like I'm here for you, katie,
like did you feel thatthroughout your life, or
something that you made aconscious decision to seek out
yourself?
Katie Orcho (43:28):
decision to seek out yourself.
I think, for me, I knew whoJesus was, but I still had this
huge empty void in my soul, eveneven though, you know, I
remember when I was little,going to Sunday school and
asking Jesus to live in my heart.
So I knew I was saved, but Istill had this void in my heart
and then in my life of it reallywas like just this huge
(43:52):
darkness that I felt carried meor came with me, and because of
that, that void, I felt dark too.
I felt like I was dark.
I felt like that's why I wasrejected.
I felt like that's why I wasbullied, because I have this
darkness and everybody could seeit, and it was at the point of
(44:17):
being so desperate to not feelthis darkness looming over me.
Where I I heard, I heard asermon, and it was that God is
always pursuing us and God isalways pursuing us, but that we
are created to yearn for Jesusuntil we have a relationship
(44:42):
with him.
And so the only way to fill avoid is to fill it with what
fits in it, and the only way tofill the void in our hearts is
with Jesus, and so, whether thatis drugs or sexual addictions
or hating yourself, that, thathate or that anger, or the drugs
(45:04):
or substances.
That's what we're trying to jaminto that huge hole and that
huge void that only Jesus fitsand fills.
And so it was.
Once I heard that I was, I wasso desperate, honestly, that I
was like all right, jesus, ifthis is the hole you're supposed
(45:24):
to fit, please fill it, becauseI can't continue with this
darkness, with this dark cloudover me day and day and night,
because I felt exposed to theworld and it was slow, it was
not, I did not have this, youknow, huge explosion of like.
(45:49):
Jesus just showed up in my room.
It was slow.
The next day I felt a littlebit better and I was like all
right, I don't, I don't want todie today.
All right, I don't want to dietoday, I'm able to get out of
bed.
Jesus filled a hole and it wasthat slow invitation of Jesus is
(46:09):
a gentleman and he doesn'tforce anything.
And so, inviting him into thatvoid and slowly him showing me.
Okay, I was filling it withjust playing on the radio
instead of reading my Bible orlistening to worship music and
wanting to hear and learn whoJesus is, and filling voids with
(46:35):
, with other things and justreally him showing all the
things that I was doing insteadof spending time and abiding in
him.
So it was this slow progressionof him, almost like
reintroducing himself to me andwooing me into that relationship
(46:56):
.
It was, it was gentle into thatrelationship.
Catherine Daniels (47:04):
It was, it was gentle, yeah, and I know for
myself.
I have a similar experience.
It's nothing is you know,coming crashing down and here
you go, and.
But I think the important partof it is understanding that the
voice that you're hearing is notyour own and that it is from
him, and recognizing anddifferentiating the voice, but
(47:28):
also trusting it and just fullysurrendering to it and knowing
that, as you stated, you're safe, you're okay, like he's's
always there, he's always goingto be.
That safety net for you and Ithink that's something that
people really are in hardshipwith today is just trusting.
(47:52):
There's it's, it's almost likeit's almost like there is this
want for being saved, but yoursavior can't save you if he's
not your lord right.
So it's like you have tosurrender and allow that to
(48:13):
happen and then build therelationship and, as you stated,
there's numerous ways to dothat.
You can do it through prayer,listening to worship music,
reading the bible.
There's so many different ways,but I think they.
The thing about therelationship is so important
(48:34):
because you need to have arelationship and deepen your
faith to really feel the peace.
Yeah, yeah, and as we weretalking offline before we
started, I was sharing that forsome people, they feel like
(48:54):
having that relationshiprequires a brick and mortar
building, but it's's not true.
It's it's not true at all, likeit's just about your soul, your
spirit, having a walk with yourLord.
That's what it's about, not thebuilding.
(49:18):
It's about the relationship,which doesn't require a building
, by the way.
Katie Orcho (49:27):
And it's just how that works right at the New
Testament and see where Jesusspent most of his time with his
disciples and where they learnedthe most from him was while
(49:47):
they were walking on the roadgoing to their next brick and
mortar synagogue to learn and towatch him teach, or to the next
town where he would heal peopleand just really spending time
with him in there every day.
And there's, there'sopportunity and blessing in the
(50:11):
brick and mortar, but thereneeds to be that understanding
that we're going there to meetwith Jesus and that anytime
there's people involved, peopleare not Jesus.
People are imperfect and we doour best to be like Jesus, but
we always fail, we always fallshort.
(50:32):
And so just keeping that openheart and understanding that
that people will fail us butJesus never will, and that the
intention is, is good but wecan't be perfect I think that
that is a reminder and to allowJesus to meet you while you're
doing the dishes or washingwashing your feet or brushing
(50:54):
your hair that that that's.
Catherine Daniels (50:57):
Those are that's the kind of relationship
Jesus wants those everyday,boring tasks of just sitting and
chatting with us and there'ssomething that's be said about
just being still and findingyour stillness, and what I mean
by that is that a lot of times,when you get messages from the
(51:22):
Holy Spirit, it will come whenyou're still.
So for some people that willcome during the night, when
they're sleeping, maybe even intheir twilight, as they're
starting to wake up to wake upsometimes right before they go
(51:46):
off into sleep, you know, asthey're getting restful and just
relaxing their body.
But for other people it couldcome through being still with
journaling Sometimes justjournaling the Holy Spirit will
come to you and give you amessage that is intended for you
to receive.
Or maybe it's intended forsomebody you know, maybe there's
(52:08):
something that someone you knowneeds to hear, and I know
that's happened for severalpeople that I'm acquainted with
and they've come to me and theysaid I have a message for you,
and I'm always intrigued by thatbecause I think how incredible
that is.
But the stillness is importantand in my own personal life I've
(52:33):
actually have prayed on what Ican do to be more still and I've
actually decided I'm going tocreate a garden.
So I'm in the process ofputting together a garden just
to be, and it'll be like its ownlittle nature room with a
(52:57):
beautiful bench and all theflowers and butterfly bushes and
all the things, just to providea little bit of nature in my
yard and provide stillness andquiet and remind me you know,
the presence of God is is therewith me as well.
So that's something I'm doingfor myself, because what I've
(53:19):
always found enjoyment with isfeeding the birds, because the
the menagerie of music that thebirds give in abundance reminds
you of the beautiful testimonyof God and his creatures.
But the interesting thing thatpeople forget is that those
(53:43):
birds are frequenting you, sothey know your routine, they
know you, they're familiar withyou and they'll have generations
of birds coming to the sameplace.
So it's important toacknowledge how we all interact
(54:03):
with each other and how we allhelp each other.
And of course, the Bible saysyou don't have to feed the birds
.
I'm aware of that, so don'tgive me any hate mail or
anything.
But I still enjoy having thebirds come to my my yard and
enjoy them.
(54:26):
And as I, as I talk aboutstillness, it's in the stillness
that I'm reminded that that'swhen we're fully surrendered.
That's when we're fullysurrendered and able to live in
such a way that we can undo theworldly world that we're living
(54:48):
in that is pulling us away frombeing with the Holy Spirit and
being in a biblical sense ofliving your life with peace.
Being in a biblical sense ofliving your life with peace,
because this man-made world thathas undone that peace is what's
creating the void, and that'sthe part that people need to see
(55:13):
, is that that void reallydoesn't have to be there.
And, as you beautifully stated,katie, fill the void.
Fill that void, give away andsurrender the things that are
creating that hardship for youanxiety, depression, whatever it
(55:33):
may be, fear.
Get rid of the enemy's lies andundo it.
So with that, I have one lastquestion to ask, katie.
If I were to pick up your earthangel feather off the ground
(55:53):
and you had a message for theworld, what would it be?
Katie Orcho (55:58):
I think my message would be to remember that when
first, life is a blessing and soyou were created intentionally,
and that your life is a gift,but then also to remember that
we're all here and we all havethe opportunity to bless each
(56:18):
other or to hurt each other, andto really be able to remember
to speak truth and love overeach other, because, I mean, the
whole point of of of being hereis to be able to love each
other like Christ loved us.
Catherine Daniels (56:39):
That's a beautiful message and it's
definitely necessary and neededin this moment of time.
So, thank you, thank you, thankyou, thank you, my friend, I
appreciate you, I appreciate youcoming on to the show and just
so grateful, and God bless youwith all of your ministry and
(57:01):
everything that you're doing,you and your family.
Katie Orcho (57:05):
Thank you so much.
It was such a blessing to behere and I appreciate the time
that you've given me.
Catherine Daniels (57:10):
Absolutely and for all of my listeners,
this is Catherine Daniels withRetreat, to Peace, inviting you
to live your authentic life.
thank you.
Welcome to Retreat to Peace.
I'm so glad you found us.
My name is Catherine Daniels,and one thing we know is nothing
is permanent except our souls,and as we travel through one
another's countries and wecreate a bridge as one people
living in this one world, Iinvite you to listen to our
(00:34):
signature talk today and hearall about the special, unique
possibilities that you may haveas you journey through your own
life.
We welcome you to go tohttps:// c atherinedaniels.
(01:03):
com to learn, get comfortableand cozy up as we dive in to our
signature talk today.
Hi everyone, and welcome backto Retreat to Peace.
(01:27):
This is Catherine Daniels, andI have a very special guest
today, my dear friend Katie.
Katie Orocho, how are you today.
Katie Orcho (01:37):
I'm so good.
Thank you so much for having meon today.
Catherine Daniels (01:41):
I'm so excited to have you on, and we
actually both are in the UnitedStates, and I am excited because
we're winding down out ofsummer, going into fall, and
winter and winter.
We don't want to talk aboutwinter, but we are going to
appreciate these long sunny daysthat God's given us and just
(02:03):
take it for all it's worth.
So, everyone around the worldthat's listening, I have this
beautiful soul that I want tointroduce you to.
So, katie, can you tell us alittle bit about yourself?
Katie Orcho (02:15):
Sure, so I am so excited to be able to be here
today.
I am a mom of two.
I have a 14 year old and a twoyear old.
I used to be a massagetherapist and now I feel called
(02:36):
into coaching specifically womenand walking them through the
traumas or the storms of theirlives and really focusing them
towards what God is calling theminto their promised land.
Catherine Daniels (02:54):
That's really incredible and I am in love
with everything that you'redoing because I feel like
there's so many people that needthis and obviously you and I
are very much aligned, you know,as far as this work that we're
doing, because we're bothpassionate about helping people
(03:14):
and getting them aligned.
Katie, as far as your personalstory, can you share a little
bit about what led you to whatit is that you're doing today?
Katie Orcho (03:26):
Have always grown.
I grew up knowing Jesus.
I was adopted at six weeks oldand I knew from my first memory
that I was adopted, but notadopted from abandonment but
really adopted into love.
Being adopted was never a badthing.
(03:47):
It was just, you know, mybiological parents couldn't
raise me and so they chose togive me a life with parents who
could and who wanted childrenbut couldn't have biological.
And so through that and beingraised in a Christian church, I
always knew God and a Christianschool always knew him, but he
(04:11):
didn't.
Really it wasn't a closerelationship with God.
I knew he was, I knew God wasGod, but he it wasn't personal
to me and so not having a closewalk with him.
Through elementary school andmiddle and high school I was
bullied a lot and just wentthrough a lot in my own life and
(04:33):
my own walk and making not thebest choices, heartbreak or each
bad decision that although thisis bad, somehow, some way I'm
going to use this to helpsomebody in the future and I
(04:53):
feel like that's where.
That's where I am.
That is why God is calling meto step up and use my testimony
to help women walk through theirtrials.
Catherine Daniels (05:06):
You talked about when you were young that
you were bullied, and how oldwere you when that started?
Katie Orcho (05:15):
Elementary school is really when it started, and I
think that was a way for liesto come in about who I am and
who I'm not Not understanding.
Who God created me to be andwho he says I am is really where
that foothold was created toconvince me that I'm stupid or
(05:41):
that I'm ugly, or that I don'thave a purpose, or that I was a
mistake or unwanted and all ofthat is lies.
Life is a blessing.
Every person's life isintentional and I think that is
a really important thing toremember.
Catherine Daniels (06:06):
I think that is a really important thing to
remember.
I know when I was a little girl, I was bullied as well.
One of the things that Iexperienced is people not
understanding my circumstancesbecause I was living with my
grandparents.
I was living with mygrandparents, so it made me an
(06:30):
outlier, because you don't haveparents like where's your mom
and dad and you know why are youliving with your grandparents,
and it literally separated mefrom other people in school and,
unknowingly, I really didn'tunderstand what would be
attached to it, like the shamethat I would feel or the
(06:50):
rejection that I would feel, theloneliness that I would feel,
and there were so many otherhurdles that I was experiencing
in my own life that it made itvery difficult for me just to go
to school and feel like I wassafe, like I was okay, and I
(07:10):
wondered is that something thatyou felt as well when you were
going through your experience inschool?
Katie Orcho (07:19):
Oh, absolutely Luckily, my experience of being
bullied was only verbal and notphysical in school, but there
very much was this dread.
Every morning I would sit infront of the door crying,
begging my mom to let me go tothe public school or to
(07:42):
homeschool me or to let me havea mental health day just to
avoid or to go late to make theday shorter.
Catherine Daniels (07:50):
And it's difficult for a parent that has
a child in that situation,because part of them would like
to keep their child home or makethe necessary arrangements, but
then it's at the compromise ofthe education you know for the
child and then also the otherthings that go along with it,
(08:13):
because now you're actuallycreating another situation where
the parent is helping to make agreater divide.
If you were to go back to thatpoint in time in your life and
tell your little girl a piece ofadvice, what would that advice
be?
Katie Orcho (08:33):
Honestly, I don't think it would be specifically
advice as much as really needingand knowing that I would have
thrived or survived a little bitbetter, knowing scripture of
what scripture says, whoscripture says I am as a
(08:55):
daughter of God, and reallybeing able to speak truth over
the lies and really solidifyingmy identity and who I was
created to be, and being able tohold on to something, something
so steadfast as opposed toreally being able to say you
(09:21):
know it's going to get better orbecause those, those messages
are good.
But I think with scripture it'sso unshakable that being able
to have known Bible verses thatI could hold on to that would
have carried me a little bitsteadier.
Carried me a little bitsteadier.
Catherine Daniels (09:45):
And as far as the scripture piece of it, is
there a particular scripturethat you gravitated to?
Because what's coming to meright now is that someone's
listening to the show andthey've lost their foothold in
their faith, right, or maybethey didn't have their faith or
(10:09):
found their faith, but they'reseeking for something and
they're looking for peace, butthey just haven't found it yet.
So is there something thatintuitively, as a little girl
like you, would have gravitatedto, that really gave you that
(10:31):
reassurance that all of the liesthat were being told to you, to
jump that hurdle of feeling allof those things, to being in a
place where you felt safe, andyou felt safe with the Lord?
Katie Orcho (10:54):
So my life verse is the one in Jeremiah 29, where I
know the plans I have for you,declares the Lord plans to
prosper you and give you hopefor a better future.
And it's knowing in the bad,knowing at rock bottom, that God
(11:20):
maybe didn't, he didn't put methere, but that he has a plan
for me from rock bottom to thenprosper me and to give me hope
for a better future.
I think just knowing, even as alittle girl, that God has a
(11:41):
plan for a better future foreveryone, that that would have
really, that would have given mehope and that would have really
helped me maybe understand thatit will get better, it can get
(12:04):
better, it can get better.
Catherine Daniels (12:07):
I think right now we live in a world that is
in spiritual warfare.
We live in a world that itseems like 2020 came in and kind
of like, put this great, bigspotlight on the entire globe
and said, okay, I see you peoplerunning.
(12:28):
You're running from yourself,you're running from the internal
darkness that you'reexperiencing and you're using
this way of trying to escape andfill in the blank of what this
way would be for each individual.
But I said this before on othershows I think the incredible
(12:53):
blessing of 2020 and all of thatglobal pandemic environment was
really the blossoming ofacceptance that it's okay to be
not okay right, because everyonewas grieving.
(13:14):
Everyone was grieving something, whether it was loss of life,
loss of relationships,friendships.
People have moved to differentplaces.
People have had their entirelife turned upside down from
what they knew prior to thepandemic.
(13:37):
And it looks in all kinds ofways and I know, since I've been
doing this show, in all kindsof ways, and I know, since I've
been doing this show,addiction's gone up, suicide's
gone up.
The amount of hardship thatpeople are experiencing in the
world has just become so bigthat it's even hard to
conceptualize and put your armsaround it.
(14:00):
But this is where I feel likethis conversation is more
important than it's ever everbeen, that we are living in a
time where we are in spiritualwarfare of the basic things that
people know, with the innerknowing that they've been given
(14:24):
to be true, and kind of likewhat you were saying, katie,
about knowing who I am andknowing who I am not and
submitting to the lives.
Katie Orcho (14:38):
Mm-hmm.
Catherine Daniels (14:39):
So I feel like it's really important to
ask yourself everyone who'slistening what lie am I
believing right now, whetherit's about myself, a child, the
environment I'm living in oranything else that is profoundly
(15:04):
important to your life.
What lie is it that I'mbelieving right now To really go
back into a space of where'sthat coming from, and how do we
know if it's a lie?
How do we know if it's truth?
So, Katie, you had said acouple of times you've made some
bad decisions and you didn'tmake the best choices.
(15:27):
So let's, let's go into it alittle bit.
Give us an example of how youmade a bad decision or didn't
make a good choice, and let'skind of walk through this
together.
Katie Orcho (15:39):
Sure.
So, as I, as I told you, I wasborn and raised in a Christian
school, christian family,christian church.
Um, knew God, knew the rules,knew what to do, what not to do,
what I was not supposed to do.
Um, and as I said in thebeginning, I have a 14 year year
(16:03):
old and I became pregnant withhim after dating his father for
seven months.
I knew from the first time thatI was intimate with anybody,
that if I were to ever getpregnant, that I wanted that
baby, I wanted to raise my baby,and so I knew, when I found out
(16:29):
that I was pregnant outside ofbeing married, that my parents
wouldn't be happy, but that theywould, that I was blessed, um,
that they would support me and Iknow not everybody, even
closely, can relate sometimes tothat, but I was.
I was blessed knowing that myparents would support me and
(16:52):
support me as far as pushing meto be a good mother, not really
raising my child for me, butreally helping to make sure that
I was able to make the rightchoices and be self-sufficient
and work hard to raise him, youknow as as his mom, and so
(17:15):
knowing that having having sexand getting pregnant outside of
marriage wasn't the right choiceor wasn't the best thing.
Making the decision to raise myson was, and also knowing that
jumping into getting married tohis father just because I was
(17:36):
pregnant also took took a lot offighting, because that's a lot
of times.
That's what parents want foryou is to have that firm marital
support.
But our relationship wasn't,wasn't based on Christ and was
(17:58):
not, did not have a biblicalfoundation, and I knew that my
son deserved better anddifferent, and he deserved to be
raised, even if it was by oneparent, to know Jesus, and so
that was probably one of theharder decisions that I made,
but I know, even to this day,that it was the best decision
(18:21):
that I made the best decisionthat I made.
Catherine Daniels (18:30):
I appreciate that.
Did you ever really feelconvicted about what you
experienced?
I mean, there's people, there'speople that ask kinds you know
these kinds of questions aboutlike, what does that feel like
and how do I know that that'swhat I'm experiencing and how do
I move through it.
So I'm just arbitrarily askingyou these questions just to help
people who haven't, you know,found a direction for peace to
(18:55):
really understand, like, what itfeels like and what we go
through.
Katie Orcho (19:00):
Yeah.
So when I found out I waspregnant, I gave his father the
choice to either be 100% in or100% out, but that I had made
the decision to raise not justkeep the baby, but raise the
baby.
It wasn't something that we hadplanned, and so I gave him time
(19:29):
to decide and he decided hewanted to be all in and so we
moved in together because Iwanted to try and give my son,
or the baby because we didn'tknow he was a boy at the time I
wanted to try to give him asnormal of a, of a foundation,
with a mom and a dad in the samehousehold, raising him as I
(19:51):
could, while still learning whomy boyfriend was and learning if
he was really up up to the jobat that point to support me and
to support our son and to be theright kind of man that he now
needed to be for us andthroughout, throughout our
(20:17):
relationship.
We broke up when Zachary, rightbefore Zachary, turned one, and
it was extremely difficultbecause a lot of people a lot of
um, a lot of people that Irespected, a lot of friends,
told me to have an abortion.
I had aunts and uncles andcousins and people in the church
(20:40):
who are pushing me to getmarried, the church who are
pushing me to get married, and I, really I, I just somehow knew
deep deep within me that if Iwere to get married just for my,
just because I was pregnant,that that's not what marriage is
is about.
Yes, I made the choice to havesex and, yes, spiritually we
(21:01):
were married, but we weren'tlegally married and marriage to
me was more than just a paperand I really wanted to make sure
that, making that commitmentI'd be able to hopefully keep
for the rest of my life.
And I wasn't sure if his fatherwas marriage material, if his
(21:28):
father was marriage material.
Catherine Daniels (21:29):
So I waited and then we ended up breaking up
when Zachary was one.
That's a hard, hard thing to dowith a baby.
I mean I can't even imaginewhat you went through with that
kind of turmoil, because when wehave that attachment with a
couple and then you have a baby,I mean there's this invisible
(21:50):
string, soul ties, that connectsus all together and that's
really, really hard.
How is your son doing today?
He said he's 14.
Is he doing well?
Katie Orcho (22:03):
Yeah, yes, so my son recently.
Yeah, so we raised him in NewJersey and then we recently got
called down to South Carolina.
God moved us down.
After God called us down, meand my husband my now husband
(22:35):
moved down here and I did not atthat time have custody of
Zachary, and so I had tosurrender Zachary to God and
trust God, because he was theone telling me to move.
And so I surrendered Zachary,allowed him to stay in New
Jersey while I moved to SouthCarolina, and God honored that
(22:58):
obedience and in October, so wemoved in July and in October, um
, his father signed over custodyto me, so Zachary was then able
to move.
So it's been a transition forhim because you know, he was
separated from family and he wasraised for well now that 12
(23:22):
years with his dad right downthe road, and so it has been an
adjustment, but it truly, ittruly has been such a blessing,
with everything that Zachary hasis now able to do.
I'm now able to homeschool himand there's just been a huge
transition and it wouldn't havebeen able to take place without
(23:46):
that separation and that movingfrom New Jersey now to South
Carolina.
Catherine Daniels (23:52):
Wow.
Now what I heard you say isthat God had moved you.
So what happened that you wereled to South Carolina?
Like, how did God work throughyou to move you there?
Katie Orcho (24:12):
to move you there.
So my husband and I have beenmarried for three years and we
knew when we got engaged I knewthat I wanted to move to North
Carolina to be closer to aministry that I work with.
But I didn't know timing and itwas almost as if the night that
my husband proposed to me thatvery next day, I knew that in my
(24:37):
heart, I knew that New Jerseywas not home anymore and I knew
that God was beginning to uprootus to then prepare us for the
place that he had, that he'spreparing for us.
We did not know we were goingto move to South Carolina.
(24:59):
We just knew that we wanted tobe closer to the ministry in
North Carolina and began lookingfor housing.
And this was during the pandemic, and so the housing market was
just on fire.
You know there was.
You could place the house onthe market and within 12 hours
it would be sold.
So we prayed and we asked Godthat if we we put an offer on a
(25:24):
house, that if it was the housethat God had for us, that it
would go through.
And we ended up in SouthCarolina from the ministry yeah,
that's incredible.
Catherine Daniels (25:36):
We always hear about these God stories and
how they open up doors forpeople and lead people to places
that they never in theirwildest dreams would imagine
that they would go.
So it's really a beautifultestimony of how he works
through us and what he does withus to continue his work through
(26:00):
us for the greater good of thepeople of our communities.
And all of you know mankindreally, because everything that,
everything that we're doing toput ourselves out there on his
behalf, is for the greater good.
So it's really beautiful tohear your testimony and, and I
(26:21):
wonder, so I wonder, as far asyour, your journey in life and
this transition that you've made.
I've interviewed people thathave moved state to state,
country to country.
You know these long distancesand someone who doesn't live in
(26:42):
the US may not understand thatNew Jersey to South Carolina is
actually on the same coast andit's probably I don't know a 10
hour car ride, roughly speaking,give or take traffic and
whatever else.
But generally speaking, theclimate is a little bit
(27:09):
different.
You've got a differentenvironment, with, you know, the
climate being warmer.
You don't get the snow in thewinter, you don't have the four
seasons that you would have inNew Jersey.
So it looks and feels a littlebit different.
But with that move, how has itbeen as far as your transition?
(27:30):
Do you have family there?
Is there anybody there that youknow Like how is, how is all
this gone for you?
Katie Orcho (27:38):
So my biggest transition was that, that piece
of surrender, that piece ofknowing God called me, but also
knowing that if I had broughtZachary with me when I moved, I
would have gone to jail forkidnapping, because I did not.
You cannot move a child fromstate to state without the other
(27:59):
parent's permission.
Call to surrender was probablythe biggest and the most the
scariest decision that I've everhad to make, because I didn't
know.
I knew that God had given me myson as a gift, but I also knew
(28:24):
that God was asking me to givehim back to him, and so that was
the biggest transition for me,and of course I fought for him.
Of course, you know that was Iwasn't just giving him and then
running away, but I knew God hadsaid I will be your lawyer, I
(28:44):
will tell you how to fight thisbattle, but you are to surrender
him to me, not to the world,not to his father, but to me,
and you are to move if you wantto, because it's always an
invitation with God.
God never forces us to doanything.
And so I said, yes, god, I wantto be obedient.
And so I moved down, as I said,and I ended up getting custody
(29:09):
of my son and then a couplemonths later my parents moved
down to North Carolina.
So we're about an hour away,but you know, from living in New
Jersey, an hour really isn't.
It's a day trip, so very doable, and I feel like that's part of
(29:29):
the blessing that came from theobedience.
Catherine Daniels (29:33):
It's really beautiful how you've described
this, and I think it's one ofthe things that prevents people
from really tuning in andfollowing what God has put on
their heart, because we've gotthis fear factor, and the fear
factor is very, very real.
(29:55):
It's very real.
We've got a lot of anxiety thatgoes along with fear, because
we're looking at something inthe future.
We don't know what it's goingto look like or how it's shape
out to be, and people might callyou absolutely nuts, for just
you know listening to God anddoing this I mean, I'm sure
(30:17):
you've experienced that too.
Katie Orcho (30:19):
Oh yeah, I went to two separate lawyers and they
both told me that I was a veryirresponsible parent, that I
might as well kiss my songoodbye because I would never,
ever receive custody of him,that no court would ever favor
(30:40):
me moving him out of a statewhere he was born and raised and
away from family, and that Icould pretty much sign up, like
sign out a mortgage, for howmuch it would cost for me to
fight a losing battle?
Catherine Daniels (30:57):
Isn't that interesting?
Katie Orcho (30:59):
Yeah Two two separate lawyers.
So then I'll be your lawyer.
Catherine Daniels (31:05):
Right, right.
So is this the only time thatthis has happened in your life,
or has this happened before?
That it's given you confidenceto make such a big decision to
surrender?
Katie Orcho (31:21):
This is the first time.
This was the.
This was the first time havingto let go, that God was calling
me to let go of my son, you know, bringing him to school and my
son has special needs and soreally trusting that the
teachers are going to take goodcare of him and to to teach him
(31:42):
and to help him navigate andreally problem solve.
Bullying situations Like that'sone thing and that's a small
piece of surrender.
But especially being bulliedand kind of knowing that
struggle, just really trustingthe school, but never, never on
(32:02):
this scale.
Catherine Daniels (32:04):
So if we could, just for a moment, let's
walk through it a little bit,like when did you make that
decision to surrender?
Because I have a feeling thatthere was a moment in time where
you were just like okay, likeyou took that, that gasp of air,
(32:26):
and it was like okay, just likethe air in my lungs.
I don't see it, but I trust it.
I know it's in there.
It allows me to live andsurvive and breathe.
Something happened, whathappened?
Katie Orcho (32:41):
Um, I think I think the pivotal moment really was
the call of of God.
It was almost like God wasinviting me to serve him or to
serve him in ministry and towork in ministry or to have like
(33:05):
a normal job.
I was a massage therapist and Ihad a really successful business
and I loved, loved all myclients, loved working with them
and on them, and so I felt likeit was a fork in the road and
an invitation of God saying Iwill continue to bless your
massage business or we can takethis journey and this new
(33:33):
chapter of ministry if you'rewilling.
And I felt like it was thatdecision.
It wasn't a trick, it wasn't ayou know, if you choose massage
then it's going to burn andyou're not going to be obedient.
It was more or less.
Do you want to trust me and tosurrender and die to everything
(33:56):
and follow me into ministry, orwould you like to live
comfortably in, in what you know?
And honestly, looking back, itwas a really obvious decision
(34:17):
that I made quickly.
But now, looking back, I'm likeI made that.
It was very pivotal and very,very shifting and I don't know
if, what I know now, if I wouldhave made the same choice, but I
am glad that I, that I said yesto God.
Catherine Daniels (34:41):
So, by saying yes to God, how has it enriched
your life?
Katie Orcho (34:56):
enriched your life.
I feel like I live in acompletely different world.
So, from from New Jersey andrunning my own massage business
and being a single mom to now awife with two kids and being
able to homeschool my son, whichhas been a dream my entire life
, god has blessed me with theopportunity to have a coaching
(35:19):
business coaching women throughfaith and still allows me to do
massage here and there.
And so I think I think, bysaying yes, that deeper level of
trusting in God and especiallyin like the world that we live
(35:40):
in today whether it's scrollingthrough social media and seeing
one of those doomsday reels thatsuck you in and then make you
feel like the banks willcollapse or there's going to be
a war or somebody's going tokick down your front door and
just change your life thatdeeper trust and it's almost
(36:04):
like that whisper of peace ofGod saying just trust me.
Catherine Daniels (36:13):
I love that you're able to articulate it
that way, because I feel likethe world is experiencing some
of that.
I mean, we right now, as we'rehaving this conversation, we
have people overseas that are inwar torn countries.
We have people that are really,really struggling in a very
(36:39):
profound way and really not sureof a direction to turn, and I
think that's one of the thingsthat is pivotal about where we
are today is it's really rootedin where do you find your peace?
How do you find your peace?
(37:02):
Somebody is listening to usright now having this
conversation, and they have somuch doubt or fear or they're
saying, well, that's for you,that's not for me, or I've heard
about things like that, butthat would never happen to me.
You know, there's just all thisdoubt that happens for someone
(37:28):
who is in a space that hearsyour story but doesn't think
that it's for them.
What are your words for them?
Katie Orcho (37:42):
So, whether it's surrendering a child or
surrendering a piece of yourself, or stepping out of your
comfort zone, if God is callingyou to do it, there's a safety
net.
He's the safety net that'sgoing to catch you.
He's not going to let you fail.
(38:02):
He's not going to fail you.
He's not.
Things don't work out alwayshow we expect them to, but
there's a deeper sense ofaccomplishment or success in
what he provides, in that getstaken away that that God
(38:28):
intended to give us, but he alsopromises to redeem and restore
things in for his glory, and soit's not always how we hope or
want, but what God has for us isso much bigger and so much
better than what we could everhope or imagine.
Catherine Daniels (38:51):
And I always think that when we go through
our circumstances, how often itis really not even about us, but
it is to serve a greater good.
And I look at your situationand I think, wow, like you made
(39:11):
such a drastic move, changingyour life and doing what you did
, but it is for a greater good.
Is there any other situationsin your life that you can pull
upon that may also outline thatto someone who is lacking in
(39:32):
their faith?
Katie Orcho (39:38):
um, yeah, there's a lot, um, I think.
I think the biggest one wouldbe right out of high school, um,
in in high school I was bulliedbut I also had a huge blessing
of um modeling and that kind ofhelped me escape into another
(40:04):
world.
But that never really satiatedthat yearning of not knowing
myself, of not wanting to bealone or be in a quiet room with
myself.
I either had the radio on orhad a movie playing in the
background because I didn't wantto be alone with my own
(40:26):
thoughts, because the tapes ofthe lies would continue to play.
I mean being paid to takepictures because you look a
certain way, because you'requote, unquote, pretty, but then
not wanting to look in themirror.
I think that reallyunderstanding, understanding who
(40:46):
I was in Christ, is really whatsaved my life.
Because in those moments, thosethose long nights by yourself,
the darkness seems like it's allconsuming.
But all it really takes is,like that lit match, that one
(41:08):
little spark of Jesus, that onelittle spark of truth, to speak.
And then all of a sudden thenight is over and the sun is
rising and you have another dayand you have a little bit of
hope.
And, yes, depression followsyou into the daytime, but you're
(41:29):
almost able to see truthclearer when you have a
scripture verse that you canhold on to that you can hold on
to For someone who is in thatdarkness, what would be a
(41:50):
recommendation to help them withthat, bringing the light in?
I think, just speaking the nameof Jesus, I think just speaking
the name of Jesus, I thinkspeaking his name, and then
remembering that you're notalone and Jesus is still a
living and desires more thanever to have an intimate, close
(42:19):
relationship with us, because heknows us and he wants so badly
for us to know him.
And so, just calling out hisname, he will meet you in ways
that you can't even imagine.
Catherine Daniels (42:35):
For someone who's listening right now and
doesn't have a relationship withJesus, but feels like he is
there or present or trying toguide.
You know, because we know thatContinuously there's a seeking
(42:58):
out that happens Right.
Continuously there's a seekingout that happens right.
So did you feel that in yourlife, like there was this
continual knock on the door,like I'm here for you, katie,
like did you feel thatthroughout your life, or
something that you made aconscious decision to seek out
yourself?
Katie Orcho (43:28):
decision to seek out yourself.
I think, for me, I knew whoJesus was, but I still had this
huge empty void in my soul, eveneven though, you know, I
remember when I was little,going to Sunday school and
asking Jesus to live in my heart.
So I knew I was saved, but Istill had this void in my heart
and then in my life of it reallywas like just this huge
(43:52):
darkness that I felt carried meor came with me, and because of
that, that void, I felt dark too.
I felt like I was dark.
I felt like that's why I wasrejected.
I felt like that's why I wasbullied, because I have this
darkness and everybody could seeit, and it was at the point of
(44:17):
being so desperate to not feelthis darkness looming over me.
Where I I heard, I heard asermon, and it was that God is
always pursuing us and God isalways pursuing us, but that we
are created to yearn for Jesusuntil we have a relationship
(44:42):
with him.
And so the only way to fill avoid is to fill it with what
fits in it, and the only way tofill the void in our hearts is
with Jesus, and so, whether thatis drugs or sexual addictions
or hating yourself, that, thathate or that anger, or the drugs
(45:04):
or substances.
That's what we're trying to jaminto that huge hole and that
huge void that only Jesus fitsand fills.
And so it was.
Once I heard that I was, I wasso desperate, honestly, that I
was like all right, jesus, ifthis is the hole you're supposed
(45:24):
to fit, please fill it, becauseI can't continue with this
darkness, with this dark cloudover me day and day and night,
because I felt exposed to theworld and it was slow, it was
not, I did not have this, youknow, huge explosion of like.
(45:49):
Jesus just showed up in my room.
It was slow.
The next day I felt a littlebit better and I was like all
right, I don't, I don't want todie today.
All right, I don't want to dietoday, I'm able to get out of
bed.
Jesus filled a hole and it wasthat slow invitation of Jesus is
(46:09):
a gentleman and he doesn'tforce anything.
And so, inviting him into thatvoid and slowly him showing me.
Okay, I was filling it withjust playing on the radio
instead of reading my Bible orlistening to worship music and
wanting to hear and learn whoJesus is, and filling voids with
(46:35):
, with other things and justreally him showing all the
things that I was doing insteadof spending time and abiding in
him.
So it was this slow progressionof him, almost like
reintroducing himself to me andwooing me into that relationship
(46:56):
.
It was, it was gentle into thatrelationship.
Catherine Daniels (47:04):
It was, it was gentle, yeah, and I know for
myself.
I have a similar experience.
It's nothing is you know,coming crashing down and here
you go, and.
But I think the important partof it is understanding that the
voice that you're hearing is notyour own and that it is from
him, and recognizing anddifferentiating the voice, but
(47:28):
also trusting it and just fullysurrendering to it and knowing
that, as you stated, you're safe, you're okay, like he's's
always there, he's always goingto be.
That safety net for you and Ithink that's something that
people really are in hardshipwith today is just trusting.
(47:52):
There's it's, it's almost likeit's almost like there is this
want for being saved, but yoursavior can't save you if he's
not your lord right.
So it's like you have tosurrender and allow that to
(48:13):
happen and then build therelationship and, as you stated,
there's numerous ways to dothat.
You can do it through prayer,listening to worship music,
reading the bible.
There's so many different ways,but I think they.
The thing about therelationship is so important
(48:34):
because you need to have arelationship and deepen your
faith to really feel the peace.
Yeah, yeah, and as we weretalking offline before we
started, I was sharing that forsome people, they feel like
(48:54):
having that relationshiprequires a brick and mortar
building, but it's's not true.
It's it's not true at all, likeit's just about your soul, your
spirit, having a walk with yourLord.
That's what it's about, not thebuilding.
(49:18):
It's about the relationship,which doesn't require a building
, by the way.
Katie Orcho (49:27):
And it's just how that works right at the New
Testament and see where Jesusspent most of his time with his
disciples and where they learnedthe most from him was while
(49:47):
they were walking on the roadgoing to their next brick and
mortar synagogue to learn and towatch him teach, or to the next
town where he would heal peopleand just really spending time
with him in there every day.
And there's, there'sopportunity and blessing in the
(50:11):
brick and mortar, but thereneeds to be that understanding
that we're going there to meetwith Jesus and that anytime
there's people involved, peopleare not Jesus.
People are imperfect and we doour best to be like Jesus, but
we always fail, we always fallshort.
(50:32):
And so just keeping that openheart and understanding that
that people will fail us butJesus never will, and that the
intention is, is good but wecan't be perfect I think that
that is a reminder and to allowJesus to meet you while you're
doing the dishes or washingwashing your feet or brushing
(50:54):
your hair that that that's.
Catherine Daniels (50:57):
Those are that's the kind of relationship
Jesus wants those everyday,boring tasks of just sitting and
chatting with us and there'ssomething that's be said about
just being still and findingyour stillness, and what I mean
by that is that a lot of times,when you get messages from the
(51:22):
Holy Spirit, it will come whenyou're still.
So for some people that willcome during the night, when
they're sleeping, maybe even intheir twilight, as they're
starting to wake up to wake upsometimes right before they go
(51:46):
off into sleep, you know, asthey're getting restful and just
relaxing their body.
But for other people it couldcome through being still with
journaling Sometimes justjournaling the Holy Spirit will
come to you and give you amessage that is intended for you
to receive.
Or maybe it's intended forsomebody you know, maybe there's
(52:08):
something that someone you knowneeds to hear, and I know
that's happened for severalpeople that I'm acquainted with
and they've come to me and theysaid I have a message for you,
and I'm always intrigued by thatbecause I think how incredible
that is.
But the stillness is importantand in my own personal life I've
(52:33):
actually have prayed on what Ican do to be more still and I've
actually decided I'm going tocreate a garden.
So I'm in the process ofputting together a garden just
to be, and it'll be like its ownlittle nature room with a
(52:57):
beautiful bench and all theflowers and butterfly bushes and
all the things, just to providea little bit of nature in my
yard and provide stillness andquiet and remind me you know,
the presence of God is is therewith me as well.
So that's something I'm doingfor myself, because what I've
(53:19):
always found enjoyment with isfeeding the birds, because the
the menagerie of music that thebirds give in abundance reminds
you of the beautiful testimonyof God and his creatures.
But the interesting thing thatpeople forget is that those
(53:43):
birds are frequenting you, sothey know your routine, they
know you, they're familiar withyou and they'll have generations
of birds coming to the sameplace.
So it's important toacknowledge how we all interact
(54:03):
with each other and how we allhelp each other.
And of course, the Bible saysyou don't have to feed the birds
.
I'm aware of that, so don'tgive me any hate mail or
anything.
But I still enjoy having thebirds come to my my yard and
enjoy them.
(54:26):
And as I, as I talk aboutstillness, it's in the stillness
that I'm reminded that that'swhen we're fully surrendered.
That's when we're fullysurrendered and able to live in
such a way that we can undo theworldly world that we're living
(54:48):
in that is pulling us away frombeing with the Holy Spirit and
being in a biblical sense ofliving your life with peace.
Being in a biblical sense ofliving your life with peace,
because this man-made world thathas undone that peace is what's
creating the void, and that'sthe part that people need to see
(55:13):
, is that that void reallydoesn't have to be there.
And, as you beautifully stated,katie, fill the void.
Fill that void, give away andsurrender the things that are
creating that hardship for youanxiety, depression, whatever it
(55:33):
may be, fear.
Get rid of the enemy's lies andundo it.
So with that, I have one lastquestion to ask, katie.
If I were to pick up your earthangel feather off the ground
(55:53):
and you had a message for theworld, what would it be?
Katie Orcho (55:58):
I think my message would be to remember that when
first, life is a blessing and soyou were created intentionally,
and that your life is a gift,but then also to remember that
we're all here and we all havethe opportunity to bless each
(56:18):
other or to hurt each other, andto really be able to remember
to speak truth and love overeach other, because, I mean, the
whole point of of of being hereis to be able to love each
other like Christ loved us.
Catherine Daniels (56:39):
That's a beautiful message and it's
definitely necessary and neededin this moment of time.
So, thank you, thank you, thankyou, thank you, my friend, I
appreciate you, I appreciate youcoming on to the show and just
so grateful, and God bless youwith all of your ministry and
(57:01):
everything that you're doing,you and your family.
Katie Orcho (57:05):
Thank you so much.
It was such a blessing to behere and I appreciate the time
that you've given me.
Catherine Daniels (57:10):
Absolutely and for all of my listeners,
this is Catherine Daniels withRetreat, to Peace, inviting you
to live your authentic life.
thank you.
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