Kara’s Collection: Oh, the heights and the depths...

Kara’s Collection: Oh, the heights and the depths...

from an article originally posted July 21, 2014...

My heart has been stirred once again by a book I read before Jason asked me to be his. I read it so many years ago when I was filled with ideas of what love should be, imaginings of marriage, and wistful daydreams of love. I read the love story of Sheldon and Davy and grew deep expectations and hope for what my love story would one day become. Now, as I return to the story new nearly 20 years later, I see how I have known love like theirs in many ways, but in different ways. And as I read his words, I am often thinking of my own love for Jesus, my Jason, and my littles. The love story that Jesus has developed in me.

Kara’s Collection: Living Beyond Feelings

Kara’s Collection: Living Beyond Feelings

from an article originally posted July 20, 2014...

I have a dear friend and I often wake to her texts that remind me she’s praying for me. It’s a lovely way to wake. She often will follow up with a question of how I’m feeling, and that text often makes me a little sad. I want to lie, but she is a friend that wants to hear the truth.

You see, I want to feel good. I want to say I’m great. I want to not feel like I feel today. So yesterday I braved a challenge to my dear friend. I asked her to begin to ask me how I’m living. I asked her to ask me how I’m capturing joy, embracing each moment, living—even when I feel like death. And certainly check in on how I’m feeling. That is loving. So loving. But for a mama that has loved her health, it’s hard to embrace this as my new story.

The Dreaded Pile

The Dreaded Pile

There’s a pile in our house that I cannot control, no matter how much time I invest. Even when I get to the bottom of the pile, the next hour or day it fills up again. It sounds like a great metaphor for the idols in our hearts, but it’s actually the dreaded ironing pile. You see, in Germany, a dryer is not an everyday appliance. In the States, a dryer is as important and normal as a refrigerator, but here it’s the exception to the rule. So while I do have a dryer (thank goodness!), it’s not as powerful as in the States and I have to iron all my husband’s work shirts, pants, jeans, and all our dresses for us girls. I’m sure others have a bigger pile than mine so I won’t compare, but for me the ironing is one of the chores I have a hard time getting a grip on.

Kara’s Collection: Determined

Kara’s Collection: Determined

from an article originally posted July 17, 2014...

Last night two different friends asked me how I was doing. I gave a limp reply but they are the friends that ask: REALLY Kara, how are you REALLY? A few things have happened this week that have changed my perspective a bit.

First, someone was coming to visit me for my birthday day, and they were asked, Oh, are you going to the hospital to see her? Then as I was planning a retreat for this fall, one woman said she expected to find me very sick. More than that, a lot of people have commented on the change of tone in this place, in my writing, in my perspective. Nothing negative, just a change. I would agree; where we once held a bit of confidence in a cure, we now hold onto something much different. Those words are reflected in this place.

Book Giveaway Winners

Book Giveaway Winners

Friends, this is a joyful but difficult post to write. Today we announce the winners of our Nancy Guthrie What Grieving People Wish You Knew About What Really Helps (and What Really Hurts) book giveaway. I’m so excited to share this book, but I am sad because I truly wish I could send a copy to everyone and anyone. We read through every single comment (and there were almost 200!!), and many tears were shed at your beautiful stories. If you have time, friends, I would encourage you to go back and read through the comments.