Summary:
Faith and Resilience: Katie shares her journey of infertility, foster care, and unexpected pregnancy. She discusses how her faith was tested and ultimately strengthened through these trials. Her story highlights the importance of maintaining faith in God, even when circumstances seem insurmountable.
Infertility and Foster Care: The conversation delves into Katie’s struggle with infertility and how she and her husband embraced foster care. Her experience underscores the emotional and spiritual challenges involved in letting go of personal desires and aligning them with their purpose according to God’s plan for their life.
Unexpected Blessings: Despite having made peace with not having biological children, Katie’s unexpected pregnancy brought both joy and new challenges. She shows us how life can take unexpected turns and the importance of being open to God’s plans.
Medical Crisis and Faith: Katie faced a life-threatening situation after childbirth, leading to an emergency hysterectomy and her newborn would need a last ditch effort to save him. Her unwavering faith, even in the face of potential loss, demonstrates profound trust in God’s goodness and plan.
Community and Support: The role of community and the church is emphasized as a vital source of support and prayer during difficult times. Katie’s talks about how being part of a faith community can provide strength and encouragement.
God’s Presence in Suffering: Katie reflects on the presence of God during her darkest times, finding comfort in knowing that God understands human suffering and pain. She experienced first hand that in God you can find peace and strength through faith, even when faced with trauma and loss.
Transformation Through Trials: The conversation highlights the transformative power of trials, as Katie learns to appreciate God for who He is, not just for the blessings He provides. This insight is a profound reminder of the deeper spiritual growth that can occur through adversity.
Podcast Intro:
My guest Katie Jones is quite inspiring and her story had me holding my breath and fighting back tears. Life is often a tapestry of unexpected events and trials that test our resilience and faith and Katie has that in common with many of us.
Early in her marriage, she and her husband discovered they were not able to conceive and the doctors could not give them an answer as to why they could not. Katie struggled with God about wanting to be a mom. As she and her husband try to discern God’s leading He opens their hearts to fostering children. Despite the challenges that come with fostering children they fall in love with the kids and the beauty in breakthroughs and progress in the children’s healing journey. As they walk out their fostering journey with the Lord, they shifted their desires to align with what they believed were God’s plans for them, no biological children but rather the blessing of foster children. Her story takes a dramatic turn when she unexpectedly becomes pregnant.
This news was hard to wrap her mind around and is initially met with disbelief but that soon turned to joy, and Katie and her husband began to let themselves be excited about having a biological child. But their joy and happiness were severely tested at the birth of her sweet baby boy. Within hours both Katie and their newborn Malachi were being monitored for serious problems. Within a day or two they are both diagnosed with sepsis and things began to quickly and drastically change for them both.
Katie had to make a life or death decision that would prevent her from having any future children and Malachi would endure a last ditch effort that involved cutting into both the carotid and the jugular arteries, a high-risk procedure that would prevent any further use of those two arteries in the future.
One of the more profound moments, for me during our conversation was when she shares how she was praying with her husband, their family, church family and those who have supported them in the last couple of days. They’re praying together as Malachi is preparing to go in for this procedure, what they call an ECHMO procedure and she verbally takes a stance by telling God out loud, God if you take his life, I still trust you. That was yet another place in our conversation where I had to fight back tears because she stands in faith knowing that her one and only son is at risk during a medical procedure and that she has no future opportunity to have biological children.
Katie’s story is an incredible testament to resilience, faith, and the power of community. She emphasizes the importance of the church’s support and the way God is working through the church as a global community of believers. Her experience underscores the belief that while God does not promise an easy life, His gives us the beauty of HIs presence and His faithfulness and that offers us comfort, peace and hope in the darkest of times.
Listen in to Katie’s message of who the God of the Holy Bible is in the midst of loss and uncertainty and may your faith be encouraged for greater intimacy with Jesus.
Live Loved and Thrive!
Sherrie Pilk
Here’s where you can find Katie when she’s not playing with Malachi:
My online financial school – https://redeemingyourfinances.com
Free Gospel-Centered Budget Planner – https://kingdomimpactworkshops.com/budget-planner-optin
Youtube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/@KatieFiolaJones
Bio
Katie Fiola Jones embodies a passion for empowering individuals to manage their money in alignment with their faith. As a youth pastor’s wife, mom, foster mom, a graduate of Colorado Christian University, avid traveler, real estate investor, and Certified Christian Financial Counselor, Katie’s diverse experiences have shaped her understanding of the intersection between faith and finances. She is the visionary behind Redeeming Your Finances, an online school for believers to learn how to manage their money using skills that are rooted in the Gospel.
Additional Episodes and/or Blogs on this topic:
Living in Uncertainty, with Angie Baughman: https://alifeofthrive.com/2024/02/28/uncertainty/
The Uncertainty of Life – Choroidal Melanoma (Eye Cancer), with Suzanne Stines: https://alifeofthrive.com/2023/08/16/the-uncertainty-of-life-cordial-melanoma-eye-cancer-with-suzanne-stines/
Hope in the Midst of Chronic Illness, with Sara Willoughby: https://alifeofthrive.com/2025/01/01/hope-in-the-midst-of-chronic-illness-with-sara-willoughby/
