It has been a while since I have added to the Warrior Wall but this week it was a must. Within two of my recent posts, I referred to the fact that I have been reading through a book entitled The Hardest Peace by Kara Tippetts. But to say that I simply read it is not completely the truth. I read it {in record time for me}, I nodded, I underlined, I sobbed, I ached. Then I re-read and did it all over again.
The news of her Homecoming posted on her blog, Mundane Faithfulness on Sunday was certainly not shocking. But the lack of shock does not make it less grievous. There is little that can lighten that kind of hard, the hard of leaving behind her husband and four “littles” {as she called them}. However, her perspective in the face of being forced to count her days with those she loved does make her story a triumphant one. The fact that she must be resting in the proud arms of Jesus free from all tears and suffering is the best win any of us could anticipate.
I know I am not alone in this, but Kara’s words have so deeply impacted me and left me changed. As I read her story, I could not help but put myself in her shoes. It was not hard to do. Many of the details of our stories are the same. What if my cancer story had been different? What if I am asked to walk through it all again with a different outcome next time? What if I face a different kind of hard that makes cancer seem like a walk in the park?
Kara’s life will always be yet another reminder that the hard may come {in fact, we are promised that it will}, but we have an opportunity to call it good. We trust that it will be good because we will experience His Presence in a new way. In her book, Kara speaks of her specific prayers that Grace would meet her family in a profound way when she was called home and that her essence, her words would live on for them long after she is gone. I think she was able to pray those prayers with unwavering faith because she was experiencing the Grace in her own suffering. And there is no doubt that her family will always hear Kara’s “voice”. She used it beautifully to testify of God’s goodness and point all Glory back to Him.
Please click to read her Letter to her Readers upon her death and view a beautiful slideshow of pictures of this courageous woman {May have difficulty if viewing from a mobile device.} Her memorial service is going to be streamed via webcast starting at 1:15 pm (MST) tomorrow, Saturday, March 28th, 2015.