Living Bravely: Guest Post at Radically Broken

I’m so honored to be guest posting today in my sweet new friend (and fellow Aggie and For the Love launch team member) Claire Mummert’s Living Bravely series at Radically Broken:

I never thought I would write about my stepmother on a blog dedicated to my mother.

To be honest, Karen and I got off on the wrong foot.  I met her in July 2010, when I was experiencing a painful pregnancy that ultimately resulted in miscarriage.

In the midst of managing my mother’s care through a very stressful time in her Alzheimer’s disease, I saw Karen’s presence as an intrusion in my family and thought her joyful exuberance was insincere.  I was angry at my dad for “moving on” while my mom was still alive and even angrier that he took his girlfriend to “meet” my mom in the nursing home.

I didn’t really get to know Karen until after my mom passed in June 2013.  Her joyful exuberance turned out to be genuine.

And as I got to know Karen, it became clear that she cared deeply about other people.  She was enamored with my children and jumped at the chance to babysit them, whenever I asked and she was physically able.

But while I was finally seeing Karen’s big heart for Jesus and His people, colon cancer was working, behind the scenes, to stop that heart from beating.

Read more.