About Jennifer

Welcome to the corner of REAL GRACE for your REAL LIFE

Do you ever feel like grace is more a good idea than a lived experience?

This is grace.Me too.

At a quick glance, I’ve got it all together–with an incredible husband and two amazing sons. True as it is about them, I’m more of a cracks and crevices kind of gal. I’m a preacher with a tattoo and a story that has lots of chips and breaks in it–then and now. 

Do the overwhelm and the busyness of this life parch your soul and run your patience dry?

Mine too.

And those words you wish you could take back but can’t?

Real grace in real life looks like the earthen vessels Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 4. They’re cracked and splintered, vulnerable to brokenness, and easily chipped. But inside you lives the treasure of Jesus, shining through our fractured and broken clay pot lives. Failure isn’t fatal. And forgiveness isn’t fleeting.

This is where you’ll hear God speak: ‘Come, be still, sit with me a bit, and we’ll work this out together. My grace is enough. And with me, you are enough too.’ (The Jennifer Sakata loose translation of 2 Corinthians 4:7-8!)

God’s grace grows amidst the mess. It’s where God does his best work.

If you’ve got it all together, I’m probably not your next speaker, but I’m genuinely glad you visited my site.

But, if you, like me, desire REAL GRACE in the everyday, ordinary moments of your REAL LIFE, then let’s talk.

Let’s be honest.
Let’s cry and let’s laugh.
Let’s pray and let’s be brave.
Let’s dare to live a kinder, gentler, more grace-filled way.

A little more about me (in case you just LOVE reading!)

I love Jesus. Jesus captured my heart in my teen years – life’s never been the same since. I love that Jesus is funny, kind, compassionate, and gentle while also truthful, strong, passionate, and deeply loving. C.S. Lewis once wrote, “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” This is grace. This is life with Jesus; it’s why I love Him.

I love words. My husband and kids would tell you I love LOTS of words. Words in all forms. Speaking, writing, journaling, singing, teaching, studying, and reading. Our words have the capacity to affirm hopes and celebrate the ordinary. But like those fragile clay pots Paul describes, words can cut, bruise, and tear down. Real life recognizes both. Real grace leads us to the truth of Proverbs 16:24: Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

I love people, even more than words! The best parts of my day are spent cultivating life with humans—even when our humanness shows up more weeds than harvest. The more, the merrier! I’m also deeply committed to tending the soul, coming alongside in the quiet corners of life as companions and friend through life’s best and worst offerings.

I love encouraging busy women to slow down and live real grace in their real lives. It’s an irony of ironies that I speak and write about slowing down. God chuckles lovingly to see His children be transformed by His grace, through His grace, and for His grace. To my younger self, I would say: hurry costs more than you think. Move over. Slow down, beloved. Grace grows best in the slow.

Why does any of this matter?

Because this is my heart for you, whether we work together or not. That together we slow down to receive God’s grace in order to give God’s grace–generously.

So, let’s live the grace-filled Way.
Let’s nourish real grace in our real lives.

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