Sometimes it’s enough to just show up
Two
friends share what friendship looks
like in the midst of difficult
circumstances
Bestselling
author Kara Tippetts and Jill Lynn Buteyn answer those questions
in the new book Just
Show Up: the Dance of Walking Through Suffering Together (David C Cook/ October
1, 2015/ISBN: 978-1434709530/$15.99). With grace and practical advice, the friends wrote
about what relationships look like in the midst of changing life seasons, loads
of laundry and even Tippetts’ battle with cancer, which she tragically lost on
March 22, 2015.
As
Tippetts walked the road of cancer, learning to receive offers of help from
friends — and the vulnerability that comes along with it — was sometimes an uncomfortable
journey for everyone involved. Yet, she discovered an astounding depth of
relationship with women who wanted to walk with her and her family, including
Buteyn, who became one of her closest friends. “We all have tough times, but there’s a beauty that
comes in doing the really hard stuff together,” Buteyn reveals. “When I look
back on my time with Kara, I see a lot of tears, prayers and pain, but I also
see grace and even peace. It was beautiful to walk with her, even though it
hurt so much. It still hurts. But I would choose her all over again.”
Buteyn
faced her own challenges as she reached out to Tippetts and her family.
Maintaining friendships can be difficult even on the best of days, and troubles
compound relational challenges. For Buteyn, it was hard at times to know what
to say or do, and there were moments when her words sounded awkward and hollow.
Along the way, though, Tippetts and Buteyn both discovered ways to meet each
other in the “hard.” The book offers insightful chapters full of wisdom about the
gift of silence, the art of receiving and the beauty of just showing up.
“Presence
is so important in suffering because sometimes that’s really all we have to
offer,” Buteyn admits. “We don’t have the right words or there isn’t anything
we can do to help. Sometimes it is just about being there.” In addition to sage
advice born from experience, Just Show Up
offers practical tips, such as what clichés to avoid, why it’s important to be
specific in your offers of help and how to avoid making your friend’s pain all
about you.
Whether
readers want to be present with someone going through a difficult time or find
inspiration for pursuing friendship in a new way, this eloquent book reveals
the power found in being present during the everyday as well as the terribly
hard — and reaching out to others, no matter what.
Advance Praise
“Kara
Tippetts changed my life and thousands of others’ lives because she was a rare,
singular voice who, when facing the end of her life here, had street cred to
speak about what really matters. Open these rich, radical pages and give
yourself the gift of friendship like you’ve always wanted and community like
you’ve only hoped for — before it’s too late to just show up.”
~ Ann Voskamp, author of One
Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
About the Authors
The late Kara Tippetts was the author of The Hardest Peace and blogged faithfully at mundanefaithfulness.com. Cancer was only a part of Tippett’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.
Learn more about the life of Kara
Tippetts at www.mundanefaithfulness.com or follow the site on Facebook (mundanefaithfulness).
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. Buteyn lives near
the beautiful Rocky Mountains with her husband and two children.
Learn more about Jill Lynn Buteyne and
Just Show Up at www.jill-lynn.com and on Facebook
(JillLynnAuthor), Pinterest (JillLynnAuthor), Instagram (JillLynnAuthor) and Twitter
(@JillLynnAuthor).
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