Confession: I started to text Kara today. I was thinking about something she said about parenting with kindness, and I wanted to tell her that I am exactly where she was in her journey when she said that. Almost immediately, I realized what I was doing. I tried to pull myself up by my bootstraps by thinking, Ha! That was weird. She would have chuckled. Anyway, back to cleaning the kitchen…

But I couldn’t get back to cleaning the kitchen. I was so shocked that after almost a year of not texting Kara, I would try. I was devastated that my text would disappear into thin air, never to be read by my friend. The tears fell as I grieved her all over again. For the millionth time.

Jill, Heather, and I have been discussing the release of And It Was Beautiful. How we want to celebrate, but how fresh the grief still feels to our hearts. We’ve decided to celebrate Kara style—by having a party, of course! For even though our hearts still ache with her absence, the joy we have knowing that she is cancer-free, whole, redeemed overwhelms the grief. And we know that our hurt is not the absence of goodness—our girl taught us that, didn’t she?

Today is the day—And It Was Beautiful releases today! We are excited to share the happiness of Kara’s final book with all of you. You, who have been loyal, supportive friends Kara hasn’t met yet, community that has enveloped us and each other, encouragers who want to spread the message of Kara’s heart—that God’s grace will always meet us, even in our hard, we metaphorically kneel with you today in gladness and hope and gratitude for the gift of Kara, the gift of community, the gift of grace.

*And It Was Beautiful can be purchased at any major book retailer.