Katherine Wolf was living an idyllic life as a model when she was 26-years-old. She married an amazing man and had a beautiful 6-month-old son. They were enjoying a peaceful life in a beach house in Malibu. However, that all changed after Katherine suddenly had a stroke.
It was April 2008 when Katherine was faced with the unthinkable. At 26 she was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation. This caused a stroke in her brain that led to loss of fine motor coordination, double vision, deafness, and facial paralysis.
Hope In The Midst Of Adversity
It was devastating news for Katherine and her family. But nevertheless, the unfortunate circumstance all the more brought their family closer to God. Katherine and Jay never blamed God but instead credited Him for sustaining them.
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In their second book, “Suffer Strong: How to Survive Anything by Redefining Everything”, the couple shared their journey of overcoming the “toughest moment they’ve faced in their lives.”
The Yearning Desire Of Katherine Wolf
Katherine and Jay explained in an interview with Faithwire that the fulfillment of hope does not always look or feel how we think it should.
She explained, “Hope may be the most important word in the human language. It’s the experience that keeps us persevering through an unsafe world to an unknown future. And yet we often hinge our whole life on a definition of hope that is more about what we really want to happen in our life, the positive outcomes we know are just out of our reach.”
“Then, if those don’t happen, we are undone, disenchanted, and in despair,” she added. “For us, realizing hope is not about a yearning for positive outcomes but about yearning for a relationship with the source of hope, Jesus, changes everything. The outcomes matter less than the process and that paradigm shift changes everything.”
Redefining Hope And Beauty
Today, Katherine is dedicated in redefining things and taking a stand in redefining hope and beauty as well. Especially when unexpected turns come into our lives.
“Either I’m going to crumble under my unmet expectations or I’m going to change how I view it all. If we know we can’t change the outcome, or even automatically wish or even pray away our circumstances, we can be encouraged knowing we can choose the story we tell ourselves,” she said.
Photo | Faithwire
Katherine also pointed out that we have the power to choose how to react in this life’s adversities. She learned this the hard way through her own experience. Particularly in the changes of her physical appearance due to her stroke.
“Like hope, longing for the beauty in life is a good longing, but it’s often made in our image, marred by our own issues,” she said. “Beauty is so complex in our humanity, and particularly in our modern-day, digital culture. The messages of how we should look and who should be valued are all around us, permeating our subconscious.”
Source: Faithwire |
Photos: Focus On The Family | Fresh Grounded Faith
