One of my favorite sounds from my childhood is the whirr of Mamma’s sewing machine. It’s a sound that travels gently through the house, an undertone of life, a sound of safety and surety. Mamma loved to sew; she frequently made dresses for me and my sisters or Halloween costumes, costumes for plays we were in, drapes, napkins, tablecloths, doll clothes. You name it, she made it. And no matter where we lived (we moved around a lot!), she brought her sewing machine; the first time in a new house that I heard the whirr, I felt like I was home, and a contentment filled my heart.

As I prepared this week’s Kara’s Collection posts to be published, I realized how few we have left before we’re done with this beautiful, important work. It seems silly to type that—I mean, I am a part of the community that journeyed this with Kara. And I’ve read all of these posts a million times. Of course I knew that they would eventually come to an end, but somehow this week, it just hit me hard. Finishing posting her blogs will be the end of a chapter, putting even more distance between me and Alive Kara.

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.

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!