The Inspiration Behind Choose Joy!

This beautiful soul is my sister Sara 'Gitz' Frankl. Her compelling story is told in the book Choose Joy: Finding Hope and Purpose When Life Hurts.

Imagine…being 22 years old, and having a car accident that flips your life and your future upside down.
Imagine…being in pain for 10 years from the accident with no answers as to why.

Imagine…learning after 10 years that you have a disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis, a disease that painfully fuses your joints together and makes your body immobile.

Imagine… being allergic to the medications that could help the pain and the progression of the disease, as you lose your gifts and talents one by one.

Imagine…your autoimmune system being so compromised that you can’t fight off infections, and illnesses and eventually become allergic to the air outside, leaving you confined to your home.

Imagine…the disease accelerating so rapidly that you are no longer able to work, you can’t walk without a walker and you can’t talk without wincing in pain.

Imagine...having your faith radically and dramatically changed in the midst of this nightmare.

Imagine... Instead of wallowing in self-pity, you decide to write a blog about your journey and the powerful ways God is at work in the midst of it, and that blog gets 2.5M hits, touching the lives of others as you teach them that no matter what, you can truly Choose Joy!

Imagine...God taking you home and saying well-done, good and faithful servant, at the tender age of 38.

Imagine... Leaving a legacy for years to come as you help people realize that the most important word in Choose Joy is not the word joy but the word CHOOSE!

Join the adventure of continuing Sara's legacy and spreading God's message of CHOOSE JOY!

Anything truly is possible with Him.

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The origin of the blog.

My name is Laura Pedersen. I have over 30 years of experience in Human Resources, Coaching, Culture Transformation, and Leadership Training and Development. In 2011 after losing my dad and sister, I found myself being called to continue the spirit-lead discipleship of my sister, Sara Frankl. Sara lived with chronic pain as a result of an autoimmune disease called ankylosing spondylitis and was eventually confined to her home before dying at the age of 38 years old. If anyone had reason to focus on the unfairness of life, it was Sara. Yet she accomplished something few can...she chose joy. After 3 1/2 years of walking a path through the publishing industry, my family and I were blessed by the release of Sara's book, co-authored by Mary Carver, Choose Joy: Finding Hope and Purpose When Life Hurts . The book is based on Sara's writings about her journey to discovering joy in the midst of life's tragedies. My journey and purpose n...

Choose Joy

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