Tag Archives: Kara Tippetts

#BookReview: And It Was Beautiful by Kara Tippetts

8 Mar

and it was beautiful

And It Was Beautiful by Kara Tippetts

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1QVAvgz

How do you live out extravagant love in the everyday moments? How do you celebrate grace when your life turns out differently than the one you dreamed?

Kara Tippetts discovered how to find joy in the small moments of life. She learned how to hold tight to hope even while battling intense physical and emotional pain. And she lived out the truth that God can redeem any story.

In her final book, Kara offers gentle reflections on living and dying well. She invites us to cultivate soft hearts even when we face great disappointment. Her ideas for living are hard-won, wrestled with in the crucible of family, illness, and faith. And her constant reminder is that whether we are in the midst of dark days or mundane moments Jesus is always there, life is surprisingly beautiful, and God is forever good.

 

Quote- And It Was Beautiful

My thoughts:

It’s hard to find words to describe the love and grace Kara Tippetts shared. After reading her first book, The Hardest Peace, I followed Kara’s journey of living and dying with cancer. Her words made me laugh, they made me cry, and they left a deep and lasting impression.

And It Was Beautiful is Kara Tippetts’ final book and a compilation of her writings and blog posts.  “The entries are arranged according to “acts” like the acts in a play. The acts do not represent a strict chronology, but they do follow the arc of her story. This approach may seem very basic, but Kara would have approved heartily. She liked the simple and the mundane, believing that it was in the ordinary that she saw the beautiful.”

The title, And It Was Beautiful, is a perfect summation of this reflective memoir. Kara Tippetts’ story is filled with heartbreaking and breathtaking beauty! 

 

Kara Tippetts

Kara Tippetts was the author of The Hardest Peace and the co-author of Just Show Up. She blogged faithfully at mundanefaithfulness.com. Since her death in March 2015, her husband, Jason, has been parenting their four children and leading the church the couple founded in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

 

 

 

and it was beautiful

Click here to read what other Litfuse reviewers are saying about And It Was Beautiful.  My thanks to Litfuse Publicity for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.  All thoughts expressed are my own.

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Review: Just Show Up | Tried and True Friendship Giveaway

14 Oct

Just Show Up

Just Show Up by Kara Tippetts and Jill Lynn Buteyn

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1Guvl0N

Kara Tippetts’s story was not a story of disease, although she lost her battle with terminal cancer.

It was not a story of saying goodbye, although she was intentional in her time with her husband and four children. Kara’s story was one of seeing God in the hard and in the good. It was one of finding grace in the everyday. And it was one of knowing “God with us” through fierce and beautiful friendship.

In Just Show Up, Kara and her close friend, Jill Lynn Buteyn, write about what friendship looks like in the midst of changing life seasons, loads of laundry, and even cancer. Whether you are eager to be present to someone going through a difficult time or simply want inspiration for pursuing friends in a new way, this eloquent and practical book explores the gift of silence, the art of receiving, and what it means to just show up.

Just Show Up graphic

My thoughts:

“When we show up for one another, we invade each other in love and become witnesses to the truth that trials and sickness and pain are not the whole story. There’s more, so much more.”

Last year, I was privileged to read and review Kara Tippett’s book The Hardest Peace. It is a breathtaking book, and her words stirred my emotions and touched me in ways I never imagined. If you have not read The Hardest Peace, I urge you to do so!

After reading that book and following Kara’s story through her blog, I knew Just Show Up would be a must read. Co-authored with her good friend Jill Lynn Buteyn, this special book shares “the dance of walking through suffering together”.

Kara and Jill share, openly and honestly, their friendship and finding peace and grace in the midst of life’s hard. Walking with someone through suffering is a gift that can change lives. Just Show Up shares both sides of the journey, the giving and the receiving of this precious gift. Not only do Kara and Jill share the value of showing up for each other, they also share tangible ways we can show up for those around us who are struggling or suffering.

Heartfelt and hopeful, Just Show Up is a beautiful book! I encourage you to read it, savor it, and commit to just show up!

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All thoughts expressed are my own.

Landing page:
http://litfusegroup.com/author/tippettsbuteyn

 

Celebrate the gift of friendship with a Tried & True Friendship giveaway—a prize for you and for a friend!

just show up-400 

One grand prize winner will receive:

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on October 23rd. The winner will be announced October 26th on Jill’s blog.

Is one of your friends going through a tough time—maybe you need some encouragement? Stop by Kara and Jill’s author page, click on the reviews bar, and read through some bloggers’ stories of how their friends got them through suffering.

just show up-banner

Kara & Jill

The late Kara Tippetts was the author of “The Hardest Peace” and blogged faithfully at mundanefaithfulness.com. Cancer was only a part of Kara’s story. Her real fight was to truly live while facing a crushing reality. Since her death in March 2015, her husband, Jason, is parenting their four children and leading the church they founded in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Read Kara’s blog.

Jill Lynn Buteyn is the author of “Falling for Texas,” an inspirational novel, and a recipient of the ACFW Genesis Award for her fiction work. She has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Bethel University. Jill lives near the beautiful Rocky Mountains with her husband and two children.

Connect with Jill: website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

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The Hardest Peace- Review, GIVEAWAY, and Blogger Challenge

16 Oct

The Hardest Peace

The Hardest Peace by Kara Tippetts

Blog tour information and schedule: http://litfusegroup.com/author/ktippetts

 

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.

Purchase a copy: http://ow.ly/Cgo5s

 

Thoughts:

“This book is about a broken woman on the journey to know the hardest peace. Peace in the midst of hard.”

In The Hardest Peace, Kara Tippetts shares her powerful story and does so openly, honestly, and beautifully. Her words stirred my emotions and touched me in ways I never imagined. This is a breathtaking book! I encourage you to read it. You will be blessed; you will be changed.

#Hardest Peace

“In every season of our lives, we meet the hard edges of life we never expected.  The unexpected pain of life often leaves us only with the choice of how we will endure it.  We all have unexpected hard, but how do we face it?” 

I do not know the journey Kara walks with cancer, but I do know the unexpected and hard edges of life, as all of us do.  I have known unexpected and hard edges in my life, experienced them with others, and witnessed the hard in my community and the world around me.  I have hurt and grieved over things I cannot control.  I have nurtured fear and anguish, rather than seeking peace. 

In the midst of one of life’s hard edges, I read The Hardest Peace and Kara spoke words that I needed to hear.  Words that everyone needs to hear. 

“This is a book for all of us, because all of us face the hard edges of life, whether in marriage, parenting, pain, grief, singleness…brokenness of all shapes and sizes is warmly welcomed to the these pages.” 

I know that I am blessed beyond measure.  God is with me in every circumstance.  He answers my prayers, with His will and not my own.  I must choose to draw unto Him, seeking peace, in joy and in sorrow.    

“Hard is often the vehicle Jesus uses to meet us, point us to that peace, and teach us grace.” 

We do not know what tomorrow brings.  “We are not the Author of our story.  We are the characters.”  May our story tell of our love and life for Him. 

“My season of weakness has taught me the joy of receiving, the strength of brokenness, and the importance of looking for God in each moment.” 

How do you face the unexpected hard in your life? 

 

Kara TippettsAbout 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

 

 

 GIVEAWAY!

Thanks to Litfuse Publicity, I have one copy of The Hardest Peace to give away.  Please leave a comment, including your email address, to be entered.  This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and ends Thursday, October 23 at 11:59 p.m. CST.   

To earn additional entries, you may do the following:
◦ Let me know you follow my blog
◦ Sign up to follow my blog if you are not a follower
◦ Share this giveaway through Facebook, Twitter, your blog, or email

Be sure and leave a comment letting me know what you have done to earn additional entries.

 

Are you a blogger? Don’t miss this blogger challenge giveaway:

Kara Tippetts‘ brave and touching book, The Hardest Peace is launching with a blogger challenge. Celebrate with Kara by joining the #HardestPeace conversation and share how you are finding grace in the midst of the everyday and in life’s hard moments.

The Hardest Peace, Kara Tippetts

Share your stories of everyday grace in the midst of life’s difficulties and enter to win a #HardestPeace prize pack:

  • A book club pack (10 copies of The Hardest Peace for you and your small group!)
  • A handcrafted candle
  • Journal
  • Custom Etsy The Hardest Peace print and coffee mug

To enter to win, simply blog about your #HardestPeace story and then submit the link to your post via the link-up (or see link in the Rafflecopter below). Plus stop by others’ stories to leave encouragement and offer prayers as we all travel the journey of life together and discover that the hardest peace is often the most fulfilling peace.

Then follow Kara online (via the Rafflcopter) for additional entries into the giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

My thanks to Litfuse Publicity for the copies of The Hardest Peace.  I received these books in exchange for an honest review, which I have given. 

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