More From Kim Harms

“Much in life can bring deep sadness. But God is good and the giver of good things.”

That statement was true when I wrote today’s devotional a few years ago, and it is still true today. God is a giver of good things, and those nights with a bunch of teenagers around my kitchen table remain one of the good things in my life.

But they are far from the only good thing.

In the time between writing today’s meditation and the present, God blessed me with a wonderful literary agent and provided an amazing publishing house as well. Then, after much research, many interviews, and long hours of writing and editing, my first book was released this fall. It is about navigating the world of mastectomies and breast reconstruction and can be found in bookstores all over the United States and pretty much anywhere you can buy books online.

It is an absolute dream come true, but it was a dream sewn in heartache. I would have never asked for breast cancer, and I hope and pray that it never invades my body again. But my experience with breast cancer was the springboard to allowing me to create a resource for other women going through the same thing, as well as for the people who love them. Over the course of writing the book, I had the opportunity to meet and interview a lot of women I am now forever connected to because of our shared experience with breast cancer and the life-altering surgeries that go with it. Since the book was released, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and talk with many more women who have read my words and found encouragement.

Some days I wonder if my life would be easier if I would have just moved on and left breast cancer in my past. I’m confident it would be less emotionally and psychologically taxing not to think about breast cancer all the time. It’s hard to remain so intimately connected to a world where people live in fear and pain and are forced to face their own mortality. But it is also beautiful. There is a depth of beauty that cannot be achieved in a life of ease. It can only be found through pain. I’ve been blessed with lifelong friends because of cancer. I’ve grown more intimate with my husband because we know that we are not promised tomorrow. I love my children even more than I did before, understanding that life is a vapor. I wouldn’t change the hand the Lord has dealt me. I will take the pain and I will trust in the God’s plan because I know that in all things God works for the good of those who love and serve him (see Rom. 8:28). And I will live with my eyes wide open, seeking the good gifts that come out of hard things.

If you want to connect with me beyond The Upper Room, feel free to contact me through my website, kimharms.net or on Instagram @kimharmslifereconstructed.