Learn more about your favorite Ambassador authors with our “Five Things” series. Author Cathy Harris wrote the amazing living testimony  “Created to Live.” Here are Cathy’s “five things”:

I love watching childbirth. Ever since I had my first daughter naturally 7 years ago, I have been in awe of the childbirth process. I love learning about natural childbirth as well as teaching it. I have been a childbirth educator for the past 6 ½ years. As much as I love teaching, nothing compares to attending and being part of a birth. I love watching mothers become strong empowered women. I love watching fathers comfort and coach their wives in gentleness and confidence. I love watching babies be born wide opened and ready to take in the world. About a year ago, I had a chance to catch a baby for a couple having a homebirth. Due to a very fast birth, the midwife was not able to make it to their home in time for the birth. I was forced and delighted to jump in as the acting midwife to catch their squishy and cute baby boy. A process that might be scary or even gross to many people, is fascinating to me. When my kids get older and leave the house, I might just attend births just for fun.

I homeschool my kids. Homeschooling started out as something I was terrified to do. Now it is a delight and privilege. Of course, it is also a huge challenge. There are days I think about putting my kids on the school bus, but our incredible homeschool community helps me work through the hard days. We are a part of a community called Classical Conversations. We actually “go to school” every Friday together. Each of my kids have their own class and teacher. I have been blessed (or perhaps I am the only crazy one in the bunch) to teach the 4 and 5 years olds. Much of my time on Fridays is helping these young ones memorize and absorb new information in the following subjects: history, math, geography, Latin, English, science, and fine arts. Bottom line is, I pretty much make a fool out of myself in front of a few moms and 8 kids every week. We dance, sing, march, and even roll out our new memory work. It is a ton of fun. Unless God changes our course, we plan to homeschool our kids through high school.

I love the arts. Singing, painting, and playing the piano were my past times. Before the days of snotty noses, diapers, homeschooling, and soccer fields, I spent most of my free time painting, playing the piano, or singing. I sang for several years on the church worship team and was a member of a few of the worship teams in the Atlanta International House of Prayer. I don’t get a chance to dabble in the arts all that much anymore. I guess you could say that home décor, chalk painting furniture, and writing have replaced the hobbies of the past. And, if I can sneak a ticket to a play or pop in a musical in the DVD player, I am a happy girl.

I am an introvert. Some people may find it strange for an author, speaker, and teacher to be an introvert. I love being around a lot of people, but I refuel in my alone time or with people who know me well. I would also much rather sit down with you and have deep conversation over coffee than mingle in a large crowd. I am not the life of the party at all. I actually tend to be very reflective, practical, and quiet. I am an ISTJ according to the Myers Briggs Personality Test. Funny enough this is the opposite from my husband in every way. I am an introverted (I) sensor (S) who logically thinks through everything (T) and loves discovering what is just (J) in every situation. Being spontaneous is a challenge. I make a list for everything that requires planning, and I have 4 white boards in our house that help me organize life. Some would say that I am boring, but I would say I am practical.

I love Missions. I love everything about missions. I love reading about it, supporting missionaries, and hearing about what God is doing all of the earth. I served as a missionary for 6 years before I got married through the United Methodist Missionary Society. Although I was not an overseas missionary, I was appointed as an associate director at the United Methodist Student Center (The Wesley Foundation) at the University of Georgia. I was also blessed with the opportunity to go on or lead college mission teams to Los Angeles, New York, Omaha, Guatemala, Scotland, and Israel. My husband and I also served as the Adventures in Missions Field Coordinators for a summer in Philadelphia. We hope as our kids get a bit older, we will be able to continue taking mission trips.