Viral Writer Pens New Book About Finding Holiness and Beauty in the Mundane Parts of Life

If we don't slow down and pay attention, life can happen in a flash right before our eyes. Often, we may be too busy looking ahead to the next opportunity or the next phase that we miss the beauty happening right in front of us. But author Kara Lawler is here to gently remind readers that life doesn't have to be lived on grand mountaintops for it to be meaningful. In fact, there is holiness in the small, everyday moments just waiting to be uncovered.

This is what Lawler tackles in her new book, Everywhere Holy: Seeing Beauty, Remembering Your Identity, and Finding God Right Where You Are. Everywhere Holy shows us how we can see God work, right where we are, in our ordinary routines, in the faces of our family and friends, and-especially-in nature.

"How can we even focus on beauty or God, with full lives and the current state of the world? Quite honestly, that's a struggle that has left me out of breath and on my knees," Lawler says. "But, by noticing beauty and looking for God all around, I believe we really can discover who we are and who God meant for us to be."

In Everywhere Holy, Lawler speaks to the hearts of those who find themselves stumbling and faltering and, sometimes, even falling, face down, in the midst of their chaotic schedules and weary attempts to be all that is expected of them. It's an invitation to view life as an adventure, to consider simple observation a form of prayer, and to embrace noticing beauty as a spiritual practice. In beautiful prose, Lawler describes the unique sacredness found in God's creation and offers fifteen inspiring insights for cultivating it day-to-day. She encourages readers to make this lifestyle change through the observance of small acts and, in so doing, they will discover a holy space that honors God and the lives they've been given-and will discover themselves and their unique place in the holy that is everywhere.

"My hope for readers is that they know God is everywhere, just waiting for them," Lawler shares. "And if they struggle with a formal church setting, that they remember he's right in the woods behind their house or in the face of someone on the bus in a loud city. Holy is all around if we only open our eyes to it."

Kara Lawler lives in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania with her husband, Mike, and their children, Matt and Maggie. She is the co-author of A Letter for Every Mother and has been published on various sites, including Today Parents, Huffington Post, and Parenting. One of her essays, To the Mom at the Water Park, was the third most viewed article on NBC's TODAY Parents in all of 2015. She also is the author behind the viral essay The Timeline of Hands, which was read by more than 23 million people and shared close to 250,000 times on Facebook alone. Kara holds a BA in English and a MA in education, and has been teaching high school English for close to two decades.

Find Kara on www.karalawler.com and on Facebook to follow to join her journey of identity, faith, friendship, marriage, and motherhood.

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