Originally published Monday, 23 March 2015.
She made it.
Precious Kara Tippetts, wife of Jason and mother of four, made it home yesterday.
She got her “well done, good and faithful servant.” She got her crown of life.
Kara fought the good fight. Her battle is over.
And she won.
She scaled the mountain of The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life’s Hard .. and now she knows eternal peace. There is no more hard for her.
She didn’t cower away and crouch down to shield herself from the ugly pain of suffering. She held her candle high, standing firm on the sturdy hill of sufficient grace, and she let it shine. For Him.
Though outwardly she wasted away, inwardly she was renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16). She did not lose hope.
She suffered. And she died with dignity. Much like the One she worshiped here, and worships now.
Kara’s life impacted more than she will ever know. For good. For God.
Her suffering has ended. For all who loved her, it will begin in a whole new way.
Our hearts are broken … but she is whole.
She is whole, and she is His.
Kara finished the race exactly three years and six months (to the very day) that my mom crossed the finish line. Both were ushered home through Hospice care; both won their battles against breast cancer.
And on both occasions, when I heard the news, my first reaction was one of relief.
Not relief that they were gone, no. But a blanket of relief at the awareness that nothing more could happen to them. Nothing more could go wrong.
Relief. It's not an emotion typically associated with grief.
But they’re safe now.
Safe in the arms of Jesus.
And it hurts, for us. It burns deep within, an ache that matches no other. Yet there is a sweet relief in knowing our Savior — the only One who can grant that peace that passes understanding.
Our God is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3). And “just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ” (2 Cor. 1:5).
Let’s not forget that part.
Yes, it hurts. The grief is far too real. But comfort abounds for those who are held by Him.
Related posts: The Hardest Peace, On Dying with Dignity, & Why I’m Grieving for Someone I’ve Never Met
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