Sara Frankl aka Gitzen Girl

I have been thinking for the past few days of what to write as a tribute to someone who, for the past year that I have been following her blog, has been such an inspiration and encouragement to me in my Christian faith. I stumbled upon her blog by chance when I was reading some articles at (in)courage, a page where women share their stories of faith to encourage one another.

This person, Sara Frankl a.k.a Gitzen Girl (see the big orange button in the sidebar on the right of my blog? That's the link to her blog), passed away on Saturday night after many years of living with a painful progressive degenerative illness. She had to give up a job that she loved, and because of very severe allergies she could not venture out from her home or even open a window, and those who visited her had to be in the pink of health because even the slightest germ or virus was life-threatening to Sara.


Being confined to her little apartment with just a cute little dog for company, she started a blog and reached out to many people around the world through her computer, allowing herself to be used by God to love, encourage and lift up others instead of wallowing in self-pity. Her motto was simple yet powerful:

She had this wonderful gift of words and a wisdom far beyond her years, and as she shared her life story through her blog, many times I felt as if God spoke to me through her. I'd like to share something that she wrote 2 months back:

Life is meant to be shared. The good, the bad and the ugly... which I think is really just the good and the beautiful to Him, you know. Things are hard for us, bad for us, ugly to us, but to Him it’s all just the pattern of life that brings us closer to Him. And there is beauty in that.
The good, the bad and the ugly... God can see ahead to the beauty that comes from the ugly. He's knows the beauty in the ugly pain that we can’t yet see. Our perspective shifts when we trust that He will bring beauty from our pain. That He will carry us as we carry our burdens.
And we can be Christ to each other as we help each other carry those burdens.

When Sara was too ill to update her blog, one of her friends did it on her behalf and that was when we were all informed about her passing. I read with a heavy heart, yet at the same time I was glad that Sara had gone home to heaven and is now able to dance and sing like she used to...free from pain. Hundreds of people came for the funeral. Thousands more couldn't because of distance. That shows how much her life has made a difference.

Thank you, Sara. Yes, I too will CHOOSE JOY.

Here's a newspaper article about her and if you would like, go to her blog and read through what she has written. I'm sure you too will be encouraged and blessed.