Living the Grace Life

Ep. 04 Grace Prayer | Your Real Self through God's Eyes

Have you ever considered what God thinks about you? Many of us shrink back with a well-documented ledger of outbursts over chores left undone, the hustle while struggling to slow down, or comparisons that leave us paralyzed.
We project onto God a summary of our daily wins and losses. There's pain in how we think God sees us, especially when we're in the thick of it.  
This week's Grace Prayer episode unearths Psalm 139, highlighting God's intimate knowledge and unconditional love for us. God's perception of us is not based on our behavior or performance but on His unwavering presence and favored thoughts about us.
This is grace. Grace for you. Grace for them.
Read Psalm 139 here.
Connect with Jennifer Sakata:
Website | Instagram | Facebook

Ep. 03 Real Conversations about Anxiety and Grace | with Caris Snider

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by the pressures in your life, you thought you were having a heart attack? As if elephants were sitting on your chest? That's the way my guest today describes the weight of anxiety in our daily lives.
In this Living the Grace Life episode, I welcome guest Caris Snider, a speaker, author, and certified life coach whose honesty and vulnerability help us share our own. Caris is as real as they get. But it wasn't always that way for her. She struggled for a long time to take off the facade and allow God's grace to work in her real life.
 
From Caris:
"About 13 years ago, anxiety and depression almost took my life. I was wearing this weight on the inside, but on the outside, no one knew it. No one knew I was struggling. No one knew I didn't 'have it all together' because it appeared as though I did.
My husband and I were leading worship at a church. I was working out of my home, a successful business. And my daughter, two at the time, was living her best toddler life. 
It all appeared great, but all of a sudden, out of nowhere, my heart would just be beating out of my chest where it felt like this herd of elephants was stomping up and down."
Caris shares her story of anxiety, depression, miscarriage, and finding hope through God's grace.
In our conversation, you'll receive practical tips on how to:
Untangle lies nurtured by anxiety
Make the journey from 'What If?' to 'What Is!' 
Find 'your people' and build community that helps you walk through anxiety and into grace 
Practice anxiety blockers such as gratitude, grounding, body movement, getting enough water and sleep, and getting outside as ways to welcome grace and offer it, to yourself and to others
So much more...including an introduction to Cooper Hashbrown!
Listeners will find an abundance of forgiveness and hope in Caris's honest and vulnerable storytelling, as well as actionable steps on embracing God's grace in everyday life.
Quotes from Caris Snider:
God wants to comfort us, but He can't comfort us if we're pulling away.
We need to be intentional with what thoughts come in. They don't all have to stay. You get to be the boss of your brain.
We want to move out of what if and move into what is. Be where your feet are.
 
Key Scriptures from our conversation:
Psalm 34:4 I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.
Philippians 4:8 And now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you have learned and received from me–everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the Godof peace will be with you.
Galatians 6:2 Share each other's burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.
 
Resources Mentioned:
Caris' Website including all her FREEBIES
Caris Snider's books
Caris on Instagram and Facebook
Show Notes: here
Connect with Jennifer:
Website | Instagram | Facebook

Ep. 02 Real Grace for Your Real Life, From Sunday to Everyday

Have you ever wished you could take your words back but know you can't? Like toothpaste out of the tube, words can't be put back in. Regret creeps in while grace waits for an invitation. 
We've heard about grace and we know we need it, but what is grace, really? What does it sound like in the overwhelm of a busy and doing more life? What does grace look like when you're in the middle of a hard conversation or some impossible situation? Maybe your baby won't go back to sleep and you're exhausted. Or perhaps you're the mom in Target and your toddler is having a tantrum because they have more energy than you do. Did your friend just really say that out loud? Do you ignore it, pretending it didn't just wallop you?
What is grace then? We know grace is the better way. But let's be honest. Sometimes, grace is hard to come by.
Too often, grace is more like a side dish we hear about on Sundays, but not the nourishment that restores connection and rebuilds relationships on Mondays. Grace is like that muffled Charlie Brown Narrator that has something important to speak about who we're becoming, but it gets drowned out in the movements of ordinary everyday life.
If this resonates with you, you're not alone.
Here at Living the Grace Life, we invite God to help us replace the overwhelm of doing more and living less with a slower pace that nurtures God's grace in our ordinary, everyday lives.
God's grace for you.God's grace for them.
 
Quotes from the episode:
Like toothpaste out of the tube, right? Words can't be put back in. The damage was done.
I knew I should have been more gracious. I knew it. You know it. We all know it. Grace is the better way. But sometimes, grace is hard to come by.
Grace is that muffled voice that has something important to say about who we're becoming, but it gets drowned out in the movements of everyday life.
Receive your place as a beloved daughter or son, slowed and softened, nurtured by God's real grace into your ordinary, everyday, real life.
 
Show Notes: jennifersakata.com/living-the-grace-life/
Connect with Jennifer:
Website | Instagram | Facebook

Ep. 01 Sneak Peek

Welcome to the corner of real grace for your real life. Join Jennifer Sakata and special guests to navigate forgiveness, belonging, and empowerment as faithful expressions of God’s generous grace. 
But what is God’s grace? What is it not? What does grace look and sound like amid a busy and full-plated life?
Through stories, authentic conversations, and biblical teaching, Jennifer helps bridge the gap between what we think about grace and how we live with it. Each episode helps shift our understanding of grace from a Sunday morning concept to an everyday lived experience. God’s grace is that forward movement that restores connection and rebuilds relationships.
Living the Grace Life is a solo and interview podcast committed to transformation, helping you replace the overwhelm of doing more and living less with a slower pace that nurtures God’s real grace in your real life. 
Grace for you. Grace for them.
Listen in now and let’s grace this life!
Connect with Jennifer Sakata at www.jennifersakata.com