How do we let go when holding on feels safer?

In this second conversation of our Summer Book Club series, Jennifer welcomes bestselling author Mary DeMuth to explore the freedom of surrender—and why surrender isn't about losing yourself but finding deeper healing, hope, and life with God. Together, they unpack how open hands create space for God's grace, Living Water, and lasting transformation.

Drawing from her books, The Freedom of Surrender and Restory Your Life and her own journey of healing from childhood trauma, Mary shares how God has rewritten her story and how He continues to invite each of us into freedom through surrender.

We talk about:

If you've ever wondered if your story is too broken for God to redeem, this conversation offers a hopeful reminder that his grace meets us in our surrender.

"The Lord uses the way He made you as an avenue for healing."

"An untold story never heals.”

"Lord, I can't. You can. Help.'"

🌿  Mary's books The Freedom of Surrender and Restory Your Life

🎶  Mary's go-to grace song, Gratitude by Brandon Lake

Website: marydemuth.com

Ep. 88 I Don't Have to Hold It All Together with Nichole Suvar

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👉🏼Living the Grace Life is the place where real grace meets real life. Host Jennifer Sakata helps bridge the gap between grace as a theological idea and lived practice in everyday moments of faith, encouraging listeners to experience forgiveness, freedom, and trust that they then extend to others.

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Do you live overwhelmed, rushed, and stretched thin by anxiety? Do you struggle to let things go? What if there's a slower, more grace-filled way? According to author Nichole Suvar, there is. It begins by realizing you don't have to hold it all together.

This episode launches our Summer Book Club mini-series, The Grace of Surrender—three conversations centered on three formational books that invite us into deeper trust, open hands, and God's grace in the places where life feels a little undone.

Nichole shares her personal journey with anxiety, panic attacks, and the habits of control that often masquerade as peace. Together, we explore how surrender impacts both our spiritual lives and our physical well-being.

We talk about:

Surrender isn't about giving up—it's about loosening your grip and learning to trust God when life feels heavy.

If you struggle with letting things go, listen in for real grace, open hands, more grace.

"Controlling my environment felt like it helped quiet the anxiety. But it really just shoved it down further."

"We need to take our overwhelm to the Lord first—even if it's just to say, 'This is too much. I can't hold all of this.”

"God's answer, everytime, is this: 'I never asked you to hold it all together.'"

🌿  Nichole's book I Don't Have to Hold It All Together

🎶  Nichole's go-to grace song, Be Thou My Vision by Keith and Krysten Getty

Website: livewithintent.org

Ep. 76 Grace for the Anxious Soul with Becky Keife

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👉🏼Living the Grace Life is the place where real grace meets real life. Host Jennifer Sakata helps bridge the gap between grace as a theological idea and lived practice in everyday moments of faith, encouraging listeners to experience forgiveness, freedom, and trust that they then extend to others.

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When forgiveness feels impossible, where do you turn? What happens when the people who should have protected you are the ones who caused the deepest wounds?

In this deeply honest conversation, Johanna Henderson shares her story of discovering that she had been abused as a child and the long road God led her on toward healing, identity, and forgiveness. Together, we talk about the complexity of trauma, the weight of unforgiveness, and the grace of a God who restores what feels beyond repair.

⚠️ This episode includes discussion of physical and sexual abuse. If this is part of your story, please listen at your own pace and with care for yourself. You are not alone.

In our conversation, we explore:

If you or someone you know is walking through the difficult process of healing from trauma, this conversation is a reminder that God meets us with compassion, patience, and grace—even when forgiveness feels impossible.

"I had to know how much God loved me before He could take me to the darkness."

"God wants to take you somewhere—not to hurt you, but to bring healing and restoration. To redeem you for His Glory.”

"Sometimes, it's just saying the words: Help me, Lord."

Isaiah 43:2 – God's abiding presence

🌿  Bessel Van Der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score

🎶  Johanna's go-to grace song My Redeemer Lives by Nicole C. Mullen

Website: JourneywithMaker

Ep. 35 Where Grace Intersects with Sexual Trauma with Nancy Manassero

🎁 My FREE gift to you: Prayers That Change Us

👉🏼Living the Grace Life is the place where real grace meets real life. Host Jennifer Sakata helps bridge the gap between grace as a theological idea and lived practice in everyday moments of faith, encouraging listeners to experience forgiveness, freedom, and trust that they then extend to others.

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What if spiritual growth isn’t about trying harder—but about training in grace?

In this conversation with Kyle Waid, we explore the difference between effort-driven performance and grace-shaped formation. So often we find ourselves praying the same prayers, repeating the same patterns, and still feeling stuck. Trying harder leaves us frustrated. Grace invites us into a different way.

Kyle Waid, Lead Pastor of New Circle Church in Lexington, KY, joins us to talk about spiritual formation, growth through seasons of change, and what it looks like to “put in the reps” of grace. Using the metaphor of marathon training, we discuss how setbacks, rhythms, inward journeys, and steady practices shape us over time.

In our conversation, we explore:

If you’re weary of striving and longing for sustainable spiritual growth, this conversation offers encouragement and practical next steps.

"You don't try to be Christlike—you train."

"This is what pleases God—when you're dependent on Him and his grace to grace you in your weakness.”

"The whole idea with grace is do what you can. Let God do what you can't."

Matthew 5:1-12 – The Beatitudes

🌿  Henri Nouwen's The Return of the Prodigal Son

🎶  Kyle's go-to grace song Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord 

Website: newcircle.church

Ep. 50 Five Grace Takeaways that Still Stick with Jennifer Sakata

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👉🏼Living the Grace Life is the place where real grace meets real life. Host Jennifer Sakata helps bridge the gap between grace as a theological idea and lived practice in everyday moments of faith, encouraging listeners to experience forgiveness, freedom, and trust that they then extend to others.

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In Grateful for COVID, Evelyn Sherwood shares how her COVID diagnosis led to the discovery of lung embolisms and ultimately cancer—an unexpected sequence that reshaped her understanding of grace. What began in fear became a testimony of gratitude, not because illness is good, but because it revealed something that needed to be treated. Her story invites us to reconsider what it means to be Grateful for COVID in light of God’s redemptive work.

We explore how grace meets us in suffering and how lament can lead to deeper trust and peace.

In this conversation, we discuss:

If you’re navigating illness, diagnosis, or an unexpected storm, this episode will equip and encourage you to experience grace in the messy middle.

"Hard is hard but God is good."

"I [God] can do more in your surrender that you can do with all your striving.”

"Gather gratitude like a bouquet and give it to Jesus."

Hebrews 4:16 – Approach God with boldness to receive grace

🌿  Evelyn's The Pocket Full of Hope Series 

🎶  Evelyn's go-to grace song Goodness of God by Cece Winans + Always on Time by Elevation Worship

Website: evelynsherwood.com

Ep. 25 Divine Detour and Deepened Faith with Lori Ann Wood

🎁 My FREE gift to you: Prayers That Change Us

👉🏼Living the Grace Life is the place where real grace meets real life. Host Jennifer Sakata helps bridge the gap between grace as a theological idea and lived practice in everyday moments of faith, encouraging listeners to experience forgiveness, freedom, and trust that they then extend to others.

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Are you a check-the-box person—or someone who longs to slow down and be more intentional with God? In this episode, we explore the pursuit of holy leisure and how it becomes an invitation to grace when you struggle to sustain a meaningful rhythm of meeting with Him.

Author Cara Ray shares how the pursuit of holy leisure reshapes our understanding of rest, productivity, and presence with God. Drawing from her book, The Pursuit of Holy Leisure, she offers a vision for a Sabbath-shaped life that holds both deep spiritual connection and everyday responsibilities in tension—without striving or performance.

If you’ve ever felt stuck between doing more and desiring more of God, this conversation will help you move from performance to presence. Together, we unpack how the pursuit of holy leisure allows you to slow down, commune with God, and rediscover your identity through who He is—not what you do.

You’ll also hear how Cara’s journey was influenced by Richard Foster and his classic book Celebration of Discipline, and how spiritual practices can gently lead us into a life of abiding rather than achieving.

In this episode, we talk about:

When life feels out of balance, resting in God can seem out of reach. But the pursuit of holy leisure offers a better way—a grace-filled rhythm of slowing down, abiding deeply, and enjoying God in the middle of your everyday life.

"Ultimately, we make time for the things that are important to us."

"God's grace isn't part of the story; it's the thread woven throughout the Scriptures, beginning in the Garden and culminating in the Cross.”

"When we slow down, that is when our eyes open—when our hearts open and see there is grace."

Luke 10:38-42– The story of Martha and Mary

🌿  Cara's book Pursuit of Holy Leisure

🎶  Cara's go-to grace song Goodness of God by Cece Winans

Website: cara-ray.com

Ep. 70 Grace in the Story of Ruth with Mariel Davenport

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👉🏼Living the Grace Life is the place where real grace meets real life. Host Jennifer Sakata helps bridge the gap between grace as a theological idea and lived practice in everyday moments of faith, encouraging listeners to experience forgiveness, freedom, and trust that they then extend to others.

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“Lord, who are we drawing today?” It’s the question Jessica Claire Bond asked after her artwork went viral—and became the heartbeat behind her illustrated Bible study, A King Washes Feet. What started as a single image quickly grew into a powerful visual series capturing the tension we feel when a King stoops low to wash everyone’s feet.

In A King Washes Feet, Jessica Claire Bond invites us into the radical humility of Jesus—a humility that challenges our comfort and confronts our assumptions. It’s one thing to serve those we love or agree with. But what does it look like to follow Christ’s example when it means loving our enemies, extending grace to those we resist, or embracing people we don’t understand?

Through her thought-provoking illustrations, A King Washes Feet brings the Gospel to life in unexpected ways—pairing individuals like police officers and inmates, victims and offenders, political opposites, and unlikely neighbors. The message is both unsettling and deeply beautiful: Jesus doesn’t withhold His love based on our categories.

In our conversation, we explore the deeper meaning behind A King Washes Feet and how it calls us into a transformed way of living:

When we picture everyone sitting at the same table—enemies, strangers, and those who have hurt us—it can feel uncomfortable, even impossible. But A King Washes Feet reminds us of this truth, as Jessica puts it: "It's not about who's on the seat, but who's washing the feet." 

"The world is hungry for footwashing.”

"Our God knows a different kind of love. Our Jesus has firsthand experience extending love and giving grace to people who betray him in less than 12 hours."

“It's not about who's on the seat, but about Who's washing the feet."

John 13:1-17 – Jesus washes the disciples' feet and commands them to do likewise.

🌿  Jessica's book A King Washes Feet

🎶  Jessica's go-to grace song Center by Abbie Gamboa

Website: saltandgold.com.au

Ep. 36 Don't Hoard Your Healing with Nancy Manassero

🎁 My FREE gift to you: Prayers That Change Us

👉🏼Living the Grace Life is the place where real grace meets real life. Host Jennifer Sakata explores how God’s grace moves from theological idea to lived practice in everyday moments of faith, encouraging listeners to experience forgiveness, freedom, and trust that they then extend to others.

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What do you do when God makes a promise—but your reality doesn’t match it yet? In this episode, Shaped by God’s Promises, we step into the tension of waiting, when doubt creeps in, and control feels easier than trust. If you’ve ever found yourself striving, second-guessing, or trying to “make things happen” instead of resting in God’s timing, this conversation will lead you back to a faith that holds steady, even in the unknown.

What does it look like to be Shaped by God’s Promises when life doesn’t unfold the way you expected? In the space between what God has spoken and what you can see, faith can feel fragile—and waiting can feel long. But it’s in that tension that God is at work, shaping your heart, your trust, and your story.

When we can’t count on others—or even ourselves—it’s easy to tighten our grip and try to control the outcome. But self-reliance is a graceless substitute for faith, leaving us depleted and striving. Instead, God invites us into something deeper: a steady confidence in His promises, even when fulfillment feels far off.

In this episode of Living the Grace Life, I’m joined by author and Bible teacher Shannon Popkin to talk about what it means to be Shaped by God’s Promises through seasons of waiting. Drawing from the life of Sarah in Genesis, Shannon shares from her book and Bible study, revealing how God’s faithfulness meets us in the middle of doubt, unmet expectations, and self-reliance.

Together, we explore how God uses both the waiting and the fulfillment to form authentic faith—not manufactured effort or “fruit stapling,” but Spirit-grown transformation.

In today's conversation, we chat about:

If you’ve ever wrestled with control, doubt, or discouragement while waiting on God, this conversation will help you move from striving to surrender—and from fear to authentic, grace-rooted faith.

Because beneath every story—including yours—is a faithful God who keeps His promises, not because we deserve it, but because of His unchanging grace.

"Faith ends where self-reliance begins."

"Don't judge God's faithfulness to you based on what you're seeing in the here and now."

"Control says, 'It's all up to me.' Surrender says, 'It's all up to God.'"

"It's never too late to be shaped by God's promises.”

Hebrews 11 – The Great Hall of Faith

🌿  Shannon's FREE Printable - Pray the Promises

🎶  Shannon's go-to grace song I'll Wait for You by Shane and Shane

Website: shannonpopkin.com

Ep. 25 Divine Detour and Deepened Faith with Lori Ann Wood

🎁 My FREE gift to you: Prayers That Change Us

👉🏼Living the Grace Life is the place where real grace meets real life. Host Jennifer Sakata explores how God’s grace moves from theological idea to lived practice in everyday moments of faith, encouraging listeners to experience forgiveness, freedom, and trust.

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One in four women will have an abortion at some point in their lifetime. Yet so many silently wonder if healing after abortion is truly possible. If you’ve ever carried the weight of shame, regret, or unanswered questions, this conversation offers hope.

April is Abortion Recovery Awareness Month, and in this powerful episode, we answer with a resounding yes—healing is possible. Tonya Bailey Jones, retired Naval Officer and author of Pearls in the Pews, shares her deeply personal journey through multiple abortions, hidden shame, and her eventual path to freedom through God’s mercy and grace.

Together, we explore what it means to step out of hiding, get honest with God, and begin the process of true healing. Tonya offers a compassionate and honest look at the realities many women face, along with the grace that meets them there.

In this episode, you'll learn:

If you've ever stood at the corner of a hard decision—or carried one quietly ever since—you are not alone. There is grace for your story and hope for your healing.

"Your soul needs the grace of God, but you can't receive it while you keep condemning yourself.”

"The heart of an abortion-wounded woman is grieving and they often don't know it."

“If you can love the abortion-wounded woman to life, you'll love her to keeping the life of her baby."

Romans 8:1 – Living free from condemnation

🌿 Tonya's book Pearls in the Pews

🎶  Tonya's go-to grace song Thank You for the Blood by Charity Gayle

Website: tonyabjones.com

Ep. 61 Walking in Grace & Other People's Shoes with Neil Matthews

🎁 My FREE gift to you: Prayers That Change Us

👉🏼Living the Grace Life is the place where real grace meets real life. Host Jennifer Sakata explores how God’s grace moves from theological idea to lived practice in everyday moments of faith, encouraging listeners to experience forgiveness, freedom, and trust.

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Do you ever feel invisible—unseen behind the pile of laundry or overlooked in the boardroom? In this episode of Living the Grace Life, we’re asking a deeply personal question: what changes when you truly believe He knows your name? If you’ve ever wondered whether you’ve been forgotten, this conversation is a powerful reminder that you are fully seen, known, and loved by God.

Author and speaker Paige Allen joins us to talk about her book He Knows Your Name and what it means to live from a place of belonging instead of striving. With honesty, humor, and depth, Paige invites us to step out of hiding—from behind performance, expectations, or accomplishments—and into the freedom of being God’s beloved.

Together, we explore how identity rooted in grace reshapes the way we live, rest, and relate to others.

In our conversation, we explore:

Paige Allen is a pastor, speaker, and writer whose hilarious yet deeply vulnerable storytelling disarms listeners and creates space for truth to take root in the heart.

If you’ve ever struggled to find your place or questioned your worth, this conversation will gently remind you of what’s always been true: He knows your name.

"There's something profound about the Lord coming to us and saying, 'Hey, who are you?'”

"We still have to do things. But everything comes across differently when it's flowing from a place of security—that I'm his daughter or son."

“God just loves his kids so much that he comes after us, again and again."

Luke 8:43-48 – The Bleeding Woman receives healing

🌿  Chapter One of Paige's book He Knows Your Name

🎶  Paige's go-to grace song Love Note by Abbie Gamboa

Website: paigeallen.net

Ep. 30 Growing Secure Attachment with God with Summer Joy Gross

🎁 My FREE gift to you: Prayers That Change Us

👉🏼Living the Grace Life is the place where real grace meets real life. Host Jennifer Sakata explores how God’s grace moves from theological idea to lived practice in everyday moments of faith, encouraging listeners to experience forgiveness, freedom, and trust.

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