If you’re in the middle of something hard… you’re not alone.

Faith-rooted encouragement, practical cancer support, and honest hope for the hard seasons life doesn't prepare us for.

Kim Vander Poel reading a magazine and drinking tea

I need hope.

Honest stories, prayers, and faith-rooted encouragement for the middle of hard things.

woman with a lap blanket holding a cup of coffee

I'm walking through cancer or survivorship.

Practical resources, lived experience, and support for a road no one quite prepares you for.

A wooden tray on a table with folded light green clothing, a small bottle of facial oil, a white towel, and a beige vase with pink flowers.

Someone I love is hurting.

Thoughtful ways to show up when you don't know what to say, do, or give.

Now AVAILABLE: Faces of Cancer

Cancer has more than one face.

There is the diagnosis.

And then there is everything that comes with it — fear, grief, anger, loneliness, guilt, vulnerability, faith, family, identity, and hope.

Faces of Cancer is a faith-rooted companion for the emotional road no treatment plan can map.

Shop Books & Gifts

Words for the Journey — Core Set — Printed Card Set
$18.00

For any hard season

When the words are hard to find, these cards offer truth to hold onto.

Words for the Journey — Core Set includes 12 beautifully printed prayer and Scripture cards created for the heart of any hard season. Whether you are walking through fear, waiting, exhaustion, uncertainty, or the need for courage, this set was designed to bring comfort, hope, and steady encouragement.

Each card is printed on quality cardstock and mailed to you, ready to use, display, tuck into a Bible, place beside a hospital bed, or give to someone who needs a tangible reminder that they are not alone.

This core collection is the foundation of the full Words for the Journey series and can be used on its own or alongside the add-on sets.

This printed set includes:

12 Prayer + Scripture cards
1 cover card
1 insert card
Printed 4x6 card format
Packaged with care and mailed to you

Card themes included:

  • When Fear Won’t Let Go

  • When Strength Runs Out

  • Walking the Valley

  • An Unknown Future

  • Just the Next Step

  • Bone-Tired

  • Asking for Healing

  • Courage for Today

  • Worry in Waves

  • When You Can’t See Why

  • When Joy Feels Impossible

  • Held No Matter What

Details:

Physical printed card set
Cards will be mailed to you
No printing required
Designed as 4x6 cards
Also available as a digital download

A gentle companion for hard days and a beautiful, ready-to-give encouragement gift.

Prayer Shawl + Faces of Cancer Encouragement Gift Set
$46.00

A thoughtful gift for someone walking through cancer and needing both comfort and honest encouragement.

The Wrapped in Hope + Faces of Cancer Gift Set pairs a soft prayer shawl with Faces of Cancer: The Emotions No One Prepares You For, and the God Who Meets You There.

The shawl offers something tangible to wrap around your shoulders during treatment, appointments, rest, or quiet moments. The book offers words for the emotional and spiritual side of cancer — the fear, grief, anger, loneliness, vulnerability, and uncertainty that can be difficult to explain.

Together, they create a meaningful gift that says:

You are seen.
You are loved.
You are not walking alone.

This gift set includes one Wrapped in Hope Prayer Shawl, one copy of Faces of Cancer, a prayer + Scripture card, a “What Is a Prayer Shawl?” card, a handwritten Hope Lives Now note, and gift-ready packaging.

Wrapped in Hope Prayer Shawl
$32.00

Sometimes comfort comes in something as simple as being wrapped up and reminded that you are not alone.

The Wrapped in Hope Prayer Shawl was created as a tangible reminder of God's presence in the middle of hard seasons.

Years ago, during one of my own difficult seasons, I found myself reaching for an old shawl when I was scared, lonely, or overwhelmed. I would wrap it around my shoulders — sometimes even over my head — and that simple act reminded me of being held by God.

The shawl didn't change what I was facing. But it gave me something tangible to reach for when I needed comfort.

That experience is the heart behind these prayer shawls.

Each shawl is thoughtfully prepared as a gift of encouragement and includes a Hope Lives Now prayer card with Scripture, a card explaining the meaning of a prayer shawl, and a personal handwritten note.

Use it during treatment, appointments, prayer, rest, difficult nights, or anytime you need a simple reminder:

You are seen. You are loved. And you are not walking this road alone.

What's included

  • One soft prayer shawl

  • Hope Lives Now Wrapped in Hope prayer + Scripture card

  • “What Is a Prayer Shawl?” explanation card

  • Handwritten encouragement card

  • Gift-ready Hope Lives Now packaging

Please note: The shawl itself does not hold special spiritual power. It is simply a tangible reminder of prayer, comfort, and God's presence in the middle of a hard season.

When cancer changes everything, knowing the next step helps.

There is a medical plan for treating cancer.

But there are a hundred other questions nobody thinks to answer.

What do I take to treatment? How do I prepare for surgery? How do I handle the fear?
What happens when treatment ends and everyone expects life to go back to normal?

Hope Lives Now offers practical resources shaped by lived experience
for diagnosis, treatment, recovery, and survivorship.

When you want to help, but don't know how.

You don't need perfect words or an elaborate gift to show someone they matter. Sometimes the most meaningful thing you can do is
remind them they haven't been forgotten.

Whether you're putting together a Hope Basket, creating a Blue Bag, or looking for a thoughtful gift, we're here to help you find a meaningful way to show you care.

Hope Baskets

Thoughtful care for someone walking through a hard season.

"I was stunned to receive the package — filled with love, warm wishes, and endless gifts..." — CJ

Blue Bags

Small gifts opened one day at a time — tangible reminders that someone is thinking of you.

Free help when you need a next step.

Practical guides, checklists, prayers, and resources for cancer, caregiving, survivorship, and hard seasons.

kim vanderpoel sitting on the floor with a pillow and her bible, popcorn

Hi, I’m Kim.

Writer, cancer survivor, former nurse, wife, mom, grandmother — and someone who has spent a lot of years learning that hope isn't always something you feel right away.

Sometimes it's something you reach for before your feelings catch up.

Through cancer, chronic illness, loss, rebuilding, and ordinary life, one thing has remained:

God is the anchor.
Hope is the thread.

Hope Lives Now grew from the things I needed in my own hard seasons — honest words, practical help, faith without easy answers, and people willing to stay in the middle with me.

If that's where you are, I'll meet you there.

Hope Moves Forward.

Every Hope Lives Now purchase is part of something bigger.

Through Hope Forward, 10% of Hope Lives Now profits is set aside to help provide Hope Baskets, Blue Bags, and other tangible expressions of care for people walking through cancer and hard seasons.

Because hope was never meant to stop with us.

From the Blog: Notes in the Middle

Faith in real life — even in the middle of hard things.