Katie Davis Majors constantly battles with the need to be doing something. She is no small achiever, having now written three memoirs detailing her experience of moving from America to Uganda, setting up a school through founding Amazima Ministries and adopting 13 girls (13 is not a typo).
Her third book, Safe all Along, opens with Davis detailing a scary experience on the Nile river while holidaying with her family. As they swam, she and one of her daughters were caught in a strong current and separated. Davis was crying out to God, losing strength and worried that they would both be swept off a waterfall and drown: “as I type this story out, the whole thing really doesn’t sound like a good idea. But we are kind of an audacious group” (5).
They managed to make it to safety: Davis clung onto a tree branch and pulled herself to shore, while her daughter was rescued by fishermen. It was traumatic, but afterwards when she climbed to higher ground and saw the way the Nile bends back on itself, she realised there was no need for her alarm and that they were in fact safe all along. That is the theme of her latest memoir—how we need to trade our fears and anxieties for the security we can find in Jesus.
Safe All Along
Katie Davis Majors
As a missionary, wife, and mom of fifteen, Katie Davis Majors knows how hard it can be to receive God’s peace instead of giving in to fear and worry. Family emergencies, unexpected life-shifting events, and the busy rhythms of family life have at times left her reeling.
In Safe All Along, Katie offers reflections and stories from around the world and from her own kitchen table about her personal journey toward living from a place of surrendered trust. Every chapter leads us deep into Scripture as we learn what it looks like to break free from anxiety and take hold of peace.
The Need To Be Busy
When Davis and her family had to return to America, it was a brutal change of pace.
Really, the achiever in me already lives at this frantic pace on the inside, and living in a culture that affirms my desire to achieve and do and spin and run stirs up this tendency instead of mitigating it the way our often-slow pace of life in Uganda did. As Benji [her husband] and I talked it through, I realised that to me, slow equalled unproductive and rest equalled weakness. (178)
Davis identifies that we often feel the need to justify ourselves by being busy yet feel exhausted in an ongoing way. She challenges us to push away from defining ourselves by what we can accomplish: God is all powerful and we are not. We are not defined by our to-do list or our “done” list, but as unique children of God. Regardless of our capacities—and even when we fall apart—we are safe to rest in who Jesus is and what he has done for us.
To apply this she offers several suggestions. One standout piece of advice for me was her recommendation that we pray through our to-do lists (180). She also encourages us to push back against our mounting schedules and choose the better portion: time with the Lord in his word (Lk 10:41–42). Finally, an entire chapter is devoted to encouraging us to create space for rest rather than being task oriented. That might look like spending more time with our families—sometimes ignoring the pile of dishes or dirty laundry and instead playing a board game with our kids or going for a walk. This is good advice.
I enjoyed hearing the stories of Ugandan people and the precious moments Davis has with her many children. She loves big and loves deeply and shares her stories in a relatable way, gentling pointing us back to Jesus. Each chapter is short and ends with questions to prompt further reflection, such as, “What areas of your life feel just a little too precious, a little too fragile, to fully surrender to the Lord?” (29). Most busy Christian women—especially mums—would really benefit from reading this book.
Ultimately, Davis urges us to shift our focus from our to-do lists to the secure identity we already have in Jesus. Even when we stuff up or hide away in our busyness, we can draw near to Jesus because he makes us safe all along.
