Good Friday Girl

Good Friday Girl

The lamenting of Lent feels like it has stretched past Easter for me this year. I spent a large part of Easter in tears, praying for my friend who miscarried another precious baby this past year, my friend whose brother gave his life in courageous service to our country just weeks ago, and my friend who delivered her beautiful stillborn daughter and cradled her perfect little body to say goodbye just days before. And I processed more of my own grief over my beloved Marmee, imagining her spending Easter with Jesus and Kara and Grandpa and my Mamma, her daughter. As time passes since Marmee’s death 9 months ago, I’m learning more about lamenting—grieving with hope—and it’s freed me to explore our relationship.

But show up we must...God never gets the address wrong

But show up we must...God never gets the address wrong

Oh, friends--I had to share this video with you! Rosaria Butterfield has written the most beautiful book on hospitality (The Gospel Comes with a House Key); I'm in the middle of it, and will be sharing some thoughts once I'm done; I'm so excited that when her publisher posted this clip on their website, I couldn't resist sharing it here! Be blessed!

Kara’s Collection: Coffee hope—a reminder

Kara’s Collection: Coffee hope—a reminder

from an article originally posted November 9, 2014…

Each day is a battle to see, a struggle to learn, a fight against the lies of hopelessness. Each day I wake, I remember my story, then I want to go back to sleep. But through each day, I see so much truth, hope, life, joy that I simply cannot check out of living and fighting for my moments. I enjoy the giggles of my littles, the pleadings for a sleepover, a new toy, a favorite dinner and I’m reminded of the giant little moments in each day. The kids each enter the room with their questions: Mama, did you see this Lego; Daddy what clothes should I wear for today’s weather? Lil bit just slides in next to my warmth until hunger carries her downstairs where Nanny Mickey will capture her with toast. Slowly, I will drink my coffee and read my Bible, and find the strength to get moving beyond my despair. Some days I begin the day faking it for the benefit of my children, and some days I move from my bed with genuine strength and hope for the day. Each day has some mercy to make the moving possible.

Kara’s Collection: Speak Truth, Put Away Falsehood

Kara’s Collection: Speak Truth, Put Away Falsehood

from an article originally posted November 6, 2014…

I have been reading through Ephesians. It’s stunning, overwhelming, full of great insight, and a lot of confronting—beautiful confronting of speech and living honestly... My mouth is often my weakness. My words can be sharp, my words can portray false strength, my words can simply hurt. Words, words, words are my struggle when I’m feeling badly. My words are a struggle when I’m feeling weak and sick. Ephesians shines such beautiful light on my struggle with speech. And this morning, this verse showed me my struggle to honestly share, in words, my struggle with cancer. I want to pretend my results are different. I want to fake at strength so everyone else can stop feeling anxious.

Kara’s Collection: “You go and do likewise”

Kara’s Collection: “You go and do likewise”

from an article originally posted November 3, 2014…

There was a man trying to justify himself to Jesus.... Isn’t that all of us? Justify. Jesus justify us. And that is exactly what the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has done. It has justified our living, given value to our hurting, and walked with us through our suffering. But a gentleman was struggling with how he should love, what love looked like. The man in Luke 10 came to Jesus, but I love what it says—he came trying to justify himself. I see so much of that in my own response to Brittany, in the response from our culture. We want to reconcile, to understand, to wrap our minds around all that is broken. And we simply can’t. We feel the brokenness of loss, the devastation of disease, and we long to understand all that is circling our minds. We want simple answers, simple harsh responses to those who might disagree with us—no matter where we sit on this issue. We are all hurting. We are all wrestling with the meaning of our breaths, our moments, our suffering, our living.