“Sometimes,” said the horse. “Sometimes what?” asked the Boy. “Sometimes just getting up and carrying on is brave and magnificent.”

—From The Boy, The Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Makesy

Welcome back to Soulful 7 Conversations! This is a very special, life-affirming— holy conversation. Today I would like to introduce you to someone who has profoundly changed my life. She has reshaped my heart and taught me what it really looks like to hold fast to hope when the impossible happens.

Two years ago, Katy Dieckhaus, her husband Mike, and their daughter Eleanor lost their beautiful daughter and sister Evelyn in the unfathomable school shooting at The Covenant School. I love this family deeply. The last two years have been filled with scary brokenness and surprising beauty. We have wept, hugged, shared meals, walked in nature, prayed, laughed, and gratefully experienced God’s presence when it all felt too much to shoulder.

What I admire about Katy is her willingness to invite us into her vulnerability, when most of us would tuck in, shut out. In the thick of darkness and grief, I have watched her fervently look for God and signs of hope. And when the darkness looms heavy, she reaches out and allows us to help carry it with her. Katy embodies the scripture from Lamentations, “And this is what I shall tell my heart and so recover hope, the favors of Yahweh are not all passed. His kindnesses are not exhausted. They renew every morning.”

What I hope this conversation imparts is that although it is such a tender, and sometimes excruciating experience to be a human being in this broken world—the Miracle—is how love endures, prevails.

Love daily saves us.

Whatever season you find yourself in presently, even down the road when grief takes up residence in your heart, may this conversation nudge you to reach out, lean in, hold tightly to God’s hand, look for where the light is shining through the darkness. Believe God’s promise that you are never alone, and that God does have a plan to give you hope and a future.

I hope you will share this Soulful 7 Conversation with friends and family. 

If you would like to learn about Katy’s courageous work toward firearm safety and her mission to protect our children, please click here and visit, volunteer, donate to Voices for a Safer TN.

With love,

Farrell