Wednesday, April 15, 2015

The Hardest Peace by Kara Tippetts

I first heard of Kara's story through a post on Facebook, leading me to her blog.  Here was a young mom, about my age, going through something I can't even imagine - battling terminal cancer.  I wanted to learn more about her journey and what she has learned through it.

This book gives glimpses into Kara's life in a very transparent and genuine way.  She expresses her heart clearly and urges the reader to apply the lessons she has learned to his/her own situation.  There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter to help with that.

One insight I appreciated was her discussion of Proverbs 1:33 which states "Whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."  Kara reminds us that it doesn't say God will remove the disaster, but he can remove the dread if we really sit and listen to Him.  She writes "The dread and fear are what so often steal our peace and leave us on the edges of our moments exhausted.  We meet the scary of life and forget to turn to God and listen and know His peace.  We scramble to control, fix, and protect from hard.  The imagined fears and worries often break us more than reality." I think we all need reminders like these...to slow down, listen, and trust God.

I did have a hard time grasping the time line of events Kara described in her story.  She does not use dates or many time frames to indicate a chronological order or how much time had elapsed between different stops on her journey. While I enjoyed the specific memories, it was difficult to see the whole picture.  It also took a while for me to get used to the way Kara sometimes uses adjectives as nouns. It would interrupt the flow of reading for me, until I realized it was just her style.  Pictures would have been a nice addition to the book as well.

Readers can learn more about Kara's story, and see pictures on her blog site: www.mundanefaithfulness.com.  I was saddened to read that she went to Heaven just a few weeks ago. (Not for her sake, but for those she left behind!) Now her loved ones are left with this beautiful keepsake, preserving her thoughts and encouraging words for generations to come.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from David C. Cook Publishers in exchange for an honest review.


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