Joy Right Here

Overwhelmed yet? Done with the hoopla of the New Year? It's time to B R E A T H E! We are standing in the invitation of a lifetime. . .more life experienced with God! I hope this episode gives you a beautiful idea of what you're year could be. And I hope it equips you with the freedom to RUN WITH IT! 

Happy New Year. 

There is so much more.

In the spring, I shared this on Instagram, 

Little Roxanne looks soo much like her billy goat dad! I've even nicknamed her NJ (Nigel Junior) She's got his wild spirit. She holds her own, is super smart, and SOMETIMES she will show a SPLATTERING of affection (just like Nigel😂). After Nigel died, I hoped one of the goat kids would look just like him. I think I even prayed it. And so came Roxanne. It may just be a goat, but I believe God delights in watching us enjoy what He's created. God knew I'd feel an extra measure of His care when Roxanne came out looking like Nigel. God is in the details. All the good & perfect gifts. . . every single, tiny one is from God. Never doubt it and don't ever deny it! Yeah, it's a goat, but it's also a display of God's love! So here's a small, yet profound question. . .➡️ What display of God's love are you blind to right now?❤  

And I'll be honest I was hesitant to share that and here's why + what I've learned about God's good gifts to me. Podcast will return JANUARY 2020!

You want a good holiday season, but you’re a human holding tough things. So how can you–and all of us–enjoy the holidays? Here’s 7 practical tips I believe will help all of us live the holidays fully and without regret. I think you'll be AMAZED at the unplanned, candid, meaningful moments you’ll get to enjoy when you implement these 7 things!

My goal for A Pygmy’s Life for Me was (and is!) to bring clarity and truth to anyone feeling small, misunderstood, or isolated. And God has brought that goal to fruition. Meeting it in ways I never could. Yes, this book is my personal history (some fiction added, of course!), but it also holds the anthem of freedom for all of us. We are not defined by how we began. God's grace has permeated every corner of our life. And we are free! (Order HERE or search on Amazon)

A Pygmy's Life for Me is the very beginning discovery of tenacious joy and full freedom. You can finish the last chapter of the book and know your story is far from over. And God's story in us is always stunning, always good, and always full of better and best and healing and hope. Let's recount a 5 of my favorite things that have happened since the book released last November! PS: The reader mentioned in #5 "Telling Her Story" was the daughter who received the book for Christmas. HOW COOL IS THAT?!

It's NOT TOO LATE!

Begin that creative project, learn that new thing, become an artist of sorts, enjoy the fall season, or press into the gift(s) you never expected to be yours this year! I'm learning there are gifts given directly to us and gifts we can experience if only we choose to be a part of them! So here's a story about my snapdragons that began so woefully and then bloomed so vibrantly at the perfect time. They're a lot like us. This is just the episode we need to begin our holidays well.

On Monday, we see Maryn reconcile with the overwhelming reality of 30 years and the possibility that it may very well be her story too. We see Aneta grieve and be given the gift of a sunset that looks just like her. Perhaps the most triumphant moment of all is hearing Maryn speak to the Light-Maker for the first time in many, many years. 

Chapter 11 will find Maryn more at peace than ever before but soon met with the meadow of her past. To see the meadow is beautiful and hard. It's a comforting scene and yet a call to courage. 

One of my favorite moments in Chapter 11 is Maryn's honesty, "My sob-like words are more an admission of how I feel rather than a request for help, but I wait, heart sinking fast, knowing my cry was enough."

Take a screenshot and share what you loved most about our first audio-book series, Where Maryn Goes! Tag me (@sierrafedorkoblog) in the photo. Love, love, LOVED having this adventure with you!

The Joy Right Here Podcast will return November 11th!🎙💛

This is our last week of Where Maryn Goes and I have loved having this adventure with you! I trust that you have seen yourself in these words, that you can find your heart in Maryn, Aneta, or Stella. We still have two days and, my oh my, they are full to the brim. Last week, we saw more deeply into Aneta. . .a small hint of the vast heartache she has endured. Chapters 9 & 10 will delve into the aftereffects of Aneta's pain and will, in turn, reveal comfort + light to Maryn.

I love Maryn's reflection in Chapter 10--"I breathe in slowly and try to process this wildly hard, delicate, and lovely day. Yes, life-eyes see life well, but I didn’t know it meant I would see heartbreaking things like this. How can I explain the sadness and the hope combined? How can I put into words the terror and the triumph?". 

Take a screenshot when you listen and share your favorite part of Chapters 9 & 10. Tag me in your photo @sierrafedorkoblog. Can't wait to hear what you love most about these very full chapters!

Maryn and Aneta have just pulled Stella from the Ocean and are helping her stay alive. While neither Maryn nor Aneta can rescue Stella from Ocean like the Light-Maker can, they are able to take part by helping her to Peace. . . by giving her the company she needs in this wide expanse of terror and pain. (May we be like Aneta, always eager to help others to the Great Rescue!)

But today is a new adventure! We find Maryn examining her new life-eyes and beginning to understand what it means to make space and that Ocean is a good teacher of how to do so. Aneta is left in a horrifying state of mind and life as we wrap up Chapter 8.

See ya next Monday for Chapters 9-10!

Where Maryn Goes is back for another week of adventure, reawakening, and healing! We left off with Maryn having just experienced the waves of grief. We left her with a new dress made of orange flowers and tentative hope slung about her. We see her welcoming the life she would not choose and we hear her confiding in Aneta about the grief so personal and terrifying to her. A favorite part of Chapter 6 reads like this: " 'Ocean feels like forever, but I’ve seen some good things happen in the span of forever.' I can hardly believe these are the words leaving my mouth that harbors so many screams, so many angry, bitter cries. But here I am. And here is Ocean. And it’s true. . .I’ve seen good things out here."

May the words that sound like allegorical fiction sing truth and hope to your weary soul on this Tuesday!

I hope Thursday finds you well. Got more laundry to fold? A second cup of coffee to drink? Get ready for an adventure. May you find yourself in the words you hear and know you're not alone. Chapter 4 brings us a simple, painful, yet comforting truth: "The waves of grief are unique and terrifying, but the way of grief has been a place for both of us."