5 minutes with Cate ...

Tell us a little about you

I am the youngest of 6 kids. If you are a child of my parents, you’re either a ‘man of the cloth’ or a mother. Except me. I’m neither.

I have been married to Jimmy for 10 years and we live in Manly, Sydney.

I am the Communications Manager for a Health Care Charity. Before that I was in Banking. I play guitar and sing. I take and edit photos. I love drinking whiskey and wine. I stare at the ocean a lot. I love food. I love coffee. I love a good design. I love shopping. I love people and parties. I am an all or nothing girl, but I am nothing without grace.

What's your favourite bible passage & why?

These verses are my go-to for those times when nothing in my world can explain where or who I am:

James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Psalm 42:7

Deep calls to deep

in the roar of your waterfalls;

all your waves and breakers

have swept over me.

How do you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus?

This question implies that I ‘do’ keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. I’ll be honest, I don’t. There are times when I am so caught up in what I want, what’s happening in my world, that I forget Him. I am ashamed to say it. But it’s true. I can tell you one thing though, in those times when I am journeying ‘alone’, in my own strength, I don’t get far. I don’t feel good. And my strength and successes are temporary. I am forever striving to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. I live near the Ocean. Sometimes it feels like my only life source. I’m obsessed with it. Everything about it. I stare at it. I swim in it. I take photos of it. Heck who knows, maybe i’ll give birth in it (ha. i’m not pregnant btw). The ocean mesmerises me and it makes me feel so small. So insignificant. And it makes the Creator seem so huge. The sea could swallow me up, but it doesn’t. It points me to the power and might of God. I listen to podcasts, I talk to God, I read the bible, I read books, I sing to him, I cry to him, sometimes I swear and ask him WHY WHY WHY. I am thirsty and my soul is longing. And I think that whenever we are thirsty for God, he gives us what we need.

What would you like the next generation of Christian women to know?

Follow Jesus not people.

So often the answer to all that turmoil within you is to open the bible and read. Just read. Any of it.

That being ‘you’, completely you, is far more captivating, than trying to be like anything else.

That marriage is freaking hard. That marriage and singleness both have their challenges. Being married is not ‘better’. Being single is not ‘better. And if you are married and you put ‘hope’ in your man, he will fail you. Time again. Focus on how you can love him rather than how he can love you. I tell you this with all my heart, in about the 3rd year of my marriage, I decided to just love the bejeezus out of him. I stopped worrying about how he could love me better. And I tell you, I have never been happier. And neither has he. Acts 20:35 (MSG) You’ll not likely go wrong here if you keep remembering that our Master said, ‘You’re far happier giving than getting.’

Our master is a genius.

What's one thing that you love about your local church?

One thing I love about my church is that it is full of really messed up people who need saving.

What did you learn about God at a time in your life you found hard?

He. Is. Completely. In. Control. And. I. Am. Not.

I might get back to you on this one. Kind of in the middle of ‘hard’ right now.

What are you passionate about?

I am passionate doing my own thing, not what others want me to do.

I am passionate about being the best I can be in every relationship in my life. Whether that’s with the local barista or with my mum.

I am passionate about living true to my soul. I am always searching into the depths of my being and learning to live with God in there. I don’t live with him in my head. He permeates all of me. He and I, we are like a tangled mess.

I am passionate about being real. I am an occasional over-sharer, but you wouldn’t believe the people that tell me they are grateful to me for saying some of the stuff that I say.

I am passionate about expressing my worship through music. I play the guitar and sing. I sing my sorrows, hurts, celebrations. Sometimes it’s much easier than speaking them.

I am passionate about the sea. It’s perfect.

I am passionate about the welfare of children. My family and I have been heavily involved in foster care since before I was born. I grew up with foster kids my entire life. I want to see attitudes at all levels of society change. I see it as my responsibility to be the voice for a child, who has none.

What do you enjoy doing when you rest?

I like to hear nothing but the sound of the sea. Find Cate on Instagram here - she takes beautiful photos of her journey and shares insightful reflections along the way.