Thank you to Moms Affiliate for sponsoring today’s conversation. I was provided a copy of this book to facilitate my review, but all opinions are absolutely my own.

I’ve been reading a life-changing  book called The Hardest Peace and I want to tell you about it because I know it will encourage and uplift you, like it has me.  The Hardest Peace inspires readers to live and love bigger and better, with more of God and less of self.  Although written by a mom of four with stage IV cancer, this book is a must read for each and every one of us. Author Kara Tippetts’ example of learning to truly live in the midst of terminal illness inspires and teaches us how to show big love to others and embrace every moment – even our moments of suffering.  You see, Kara believes there is extraordinary beauty and grace to be found in our moments of greatest need and desperation.  It’s this hardest peace she has found – and this peace is captivating and contagious as we follow along with her journey, through all it’s highs and lows.

Indeed, I’ve been so taken with her story that I’ve laughed and cried along with her as I read her book twice through already and poured over her blog entries.  I’ve soaked up the blessed beauty in all that she has to say and I’m oh so better for it.  I’ll never forget her and all that I learned from her, and in the meantime it will be my privilege to pray her through her remaining days of treatment, alongside thousands of others who have grown to love this precious woman and her sweet family.

Kara has a beautiful way of drawing you in and offering up her story to encourage you to reflect on your own life story.  Her struggles lend perspective and her attitude of gratitude provides huge inspiration!  You walk away from her writing feeling like you’ve just had the very best heart to heart with a good friend and you don’t want to say goodbye – yet you know you are changed for the better.  The rich testimony of God’s grace in every moment, including the hard, is precious and prevalent throughout this book.  Kara models love and courage and hope and real and hard and abundant life in a way that will simply bless your socks off 😉

One of the many, many, many things I loved about this amazing book is the way Kara weaved quotes and scriptures throughout her own life-giving words.  I am a quote person, yes – but her use of the gorgeous truths in the scripture and quotes she chose pulled together her teachings and drove her points home that much more.  I want to leave you with a few of my favorite quotes straight from Kara herself and then ask you to go read the book.  Cannot recommend it highly enough!

“Before cancer, I would have said I was on the journey of seeking grace, but in truth I was manufacturing my own faith.  If I found a need, I did my best to meet it.  My going, doing, loving was my faith, not my nearness to Jesus.  In my mind I knew my efforts weren’t the substance of my faith, but my practice betrayed me.  Stripped of my ability, I saw Jesus in a new and profound way.”

“Cancer showed me the gift and strength of weakness, that in the place of utter inability, Jesus was able.”

“We are not the Author of our story. We are the characters.”

“Sometimes the hardest peace to find is the peace in saying goodbye and leaving the work of justice and reconciliation to Jesus.”

Kara also writes of the hardest peace she has discovered on her blog, Mundane Faithfulness.  Find her there, buy her book and be so blessed!