Contact: Audra Jennings, Litfuse Publicity Group, 903-874-8363, audra@litfusegroup.com

SEATTLE, Oct. 2, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ -- Life can be a roller coaster, with unexpected twists and turns. But when things go wrong and you enter a freefall, how do you cling to grace in the midst of fear and disappointment? In The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life's Hard (David C Cook) Kara Tippetts challenges readers to trade anger for joy in the most challenging moments of life.

Tippetts knows the ordinary days of mothering four kids, the joy of watching her children grow. And the devastating reality of stage-four cancer. In The Hardest Peace, she doesn't offer answers for when living is hard but asks us to join her in moving away from fear and control and toward peace and grace. Most of all, she draws us back to the God who is with us, in the mundane and the suffering, and who shapes even our pain into beauty.

Tippetts looks at her life through the lens of the seasons found in Ecclesiastes chapter three. Chronicling her seasons of childhood hurt, love in marriage, heartbreak in ministry and devastation in illness, she asks this question: In the worst pains of life, is Jesus really Emmanuel: God with us?

"I never expected to be planning my funeral and fighting for my next breath in my 30s. This is my own testimony of what is broken and ugly being made right and redeemed. The brokenness of today causes us to look at hope for tomorrow."

Growing up in a strict home with a father prone to anger, Tippetts rebelled in her teens. After drugs, alcohol and men left her empty, she finally surrendered her life to Christ. However, her walk with the Lord continues to deepen and change. "Before cancer, I would have said I was on the journey of seeking grace, but in truth I was manufacturing my own faith. My going, doing, loving, was my faith, not my nearness to Jesus. In the depths of my illness, I was able to set aside my striving and look for God's presence in my suffering."

The Hardest Peace holds wisdom for all who have met the "hard edges" of life. Whether it's a marriage you didn't expect to fall apart, a job you thought you'd never lose or a rebellious child, everyone will come face to face with at least one of these moments.

Learn more about Tippetts at www.mundanefaithfulness.com.