Friday, October 24, 2014

Book Review - The Hardest Peace

ABOUT THE BOOK:

A young mother battling cancer invites readers to embrace grace in every season of life.

Kara Tippetts knows the mundane but rich days of mothering four kids, the joy of watching her children grow.and the devastating reality of stage-four cancer.

In The Hardest Peace, she invites readers to see the grace of the everyday in all seasons of life and to live well even when the living is hard. As the thousands of readers of her blog know, Tippetts explores the hardest questions of life with rare beauty and honesty. Most of all, she draws them back to the God who is present, in the ordinary and the suffering, and shapes every life into the best story of all.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kara Tippetts and her husband, Jason, have four children and lead a church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Cancer is only part of Kara's story. Her real fight is to truly live while facing a crushing reality.
Find Kara online: website, Facebook, Twitter

MY REVIEW:

This book has affected me in so many ways and I can't put it or Kara out of my mind. Her faith and her strength will inspire you!

Kara is a young mom of four children who gets the diagnosis that we all fear - terminal cancer. She gets breast cancer and, while they thought she had it beat, it comes back with a vengeance. How does she reconcile this diagnosis with the loving God that she and her husband have so faithfully served? Her answers will amaze you and also grow your faith like nothing has before. 

I sat and read this book in two sittings and I intend on reading it again. To realize that this is her story, that the Author of her life, has chosen to allow this in her life and to see her faith and believe in God's grace through it all is truly humbling. I have been dealing with my own health issues (although nothing like Kara's!) and it gave me a new perspective of how my walk with the Lord should look and how He truly blesses us even in the hard places.

I love how Kara is so open and honest and shares her heart. She tells us that she has hard days where she doesn't want to leave this life and not see her children grow up. She shares about how hard the procedures have been but then she shares how God has been with her through it all and how she sees so much good that has come from this diagnosis. It's hard to realize that this amazing woman of God may not be with us much longer but she has made such an impact for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in her life!

At the end of each chapter, Kara invites us to answer the questions she poses that really make us take a good look at our outlook and our faith. These are very thought provoking questions that will make you truly take a good look at your thought processes and your faith. Here are a couple of examples of some questions that she would ask:

 · Who has God sent to walk with you through your pain? Has He asked you to walk with someone else in his or her journey?

 · When you pray for God to lift you out of fear and dread, do you truly believe He can and will? Why or why not? What is an example of when He did, and what is an example of when you felt He didn't? How did He show you His goodness in both answers?

I would love to have you share your thoughts on these questions in the comment section!

Although this book would be great for anyone struggling with cancer or other health issues, in my opinion it is a must read for all Christians (and especially non-Christians!) who want to see what it is to live out your life in faith and believe the in the grace of God even through the hard places in life. I highly recommend this book and give it 5 out of 5 stars. 

*This book was provided to me for my honest review by LitFuse Publicity Group



Blessings - Julie

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