Movers: Kathryn Birkey

It seems that everyone has that person who is just slightly older but immensely cooler than them. Kathryn was one of those people for me growing up. We went to church together all my life. We were in the same small group during part of high school. And I think a bit of her story is worth sharing. Kathryn is admirable because she revels in God's grace. Then she shares it with others. I've been a recipient of that graciousness. After high school, Kathryn took a gap year and served in South Africa. (Personally, I believe gap years are underrated. I wish I had the balls to take one.) Now, she goes to college like a "normal" person. This summer, she started a little business called The Sweet Pea. I'd describe it to you myself but I'll let you read it in her own words. Simply written, Kathryn's words stopped me in my tracks and invited me on an adventure.

"What is the first thing we see when we open our eyes in the morning? What jumps into our minds and hearts as we take the blanket off and sit up to face a new day? Do we grab our iphones and check facebook and quickly numb ourselves for what’s ahead? 

This business has been birthed out of a simple decision I made for myself a few months ago. I knew that the second I opened my eyes each morning and pushed the snooze button on my little iphone 4s my mind and my heart would begin to be plagued with every worry, every weight, every chain that tries to cling to me. I needed truth and I needed it fast. 

So i sat down at my desk, grabbed my sketchpad and pen and wrote out these words: Christ has set you Free. 

I slapped some tape on the back, ripped it out of the notebook, and put it on my little college dorm room wall so it would be the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes each day. 

My soul thirsts for true words. Real bits of God’s voice to surround me. Something my eyes can gaze at and allow to fill my body with light. 

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body with be FULL OF LIGHT. [Matthew 6:22]

What do our eyes see? What do we fix our eyes on the moment we open them until the moment we close them? 

I am desperate for more life-giving truth in a world that sucks me dry. 

So here I am. A twenty-something college girl starting a blog and a business that is really the simplest thing I’ve ever done. Just writing some words on paper that give life to my soul and inviting you to put them on your walls, on your phones, on your desks in hopes that you will actually be set free by them. 

I just need more Jesus. every minute of every day I need more. 

Don’t you? "

I just bought one of Kathryn's prints. Here are a couple other ones that I really like.

I hope these words encouraged you and made you ponder. You can see more of Kathryn's artistic goodness here.

Share the love,

Taylor