Why is it so hard to take our own advice? Joy here and this hit me last night when I was sharing advice with my younger brother. He is 17 and desperately wants to get his drivers license! He said, “Joy, if I can’t get my license I’ll just die!” He has failed the test twice already! In his mind he will never pass the test and his life is over! I tried to share… … Continue reading →

Who’s The Better Christian?

I just read this great article from Jim Daly on The Christian Post talking about how, as believers we need to get passed the mentality that the only way to serve God completely is to go into the ministry. Serving God isn’t a race where those in full-time ministry get a head start or run faster towards some eternal reward. TobyMac or Chris Tomlin aren’t “working harder or doing better” at being more Christian than… … Continue reading →

Gossip Is a Spiritual Issue

Gossip Is a Spiritual IssueIt has always seemed like gossip is a small sin, one that doesn’t really count. THAT IS NOT TRUE. Joy here and I have always struggled with gossip. It’s so easy to fall into the habit of saying things about people that you would never say to their face. As a Christian woman, I should be building others up and encouraging them. This world is hard enough on all of us,… … Continue reading →

Joy here! I fulfilled a lifelong dream this weekend by actually SWIMMING WITH DOLPHINS! I have had that at the top of my bucket list for years! It happened in the wild while I was at the beach with some friends! After showing Carlos this photo, he says this doesn’t count as actually “swimming with dolphins!” I’m in the water and so is the dolphin!!What do you think? Can I check this off my bucket… … Continue reading →

Examine Your Life From a Different Perspective

Examine Your Life From a Different PerspectiveJoy here, this video really opened my eyes to 4 different questions we should ask ourselves. I still can’t get the final question off my mind. “If my life were a movie, would I cheer?” My first thought was YES, but that surprised me. I’m in a rough season of life and have not been doing a lot of cheering. Thinking about viewing my life as someone on the… … Continue reading →

“The Mercy Tree” by Lacey Sturm of Flyleaf

“The Mercy Tree” by Lacey Sturm of FlyleafJoy here: I stumbled upon an old Billy Graham Crusade on TV last night. I never watch these, but for some reason I was drawn to it. As I listened to Billy’s sermon and heard about the lives that were changed I was truly moved. This song came on by Lacey Sturm from Flyleaf. She shared her story of how God has changed her life and how much… … Continue reading →

How often do we act like children running into the street? Have you ever had a child run out in front of your car? It’s a terrifying experience. Joy here and it happened to me this weekend. I was looking for a parking space when little girl ran in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes as her mother reached out, grabbed her, and pulled her back to the side of the road… … Continue reading →

Today was the day that I lost all my pride… Joy here and yes that’s me in a sandwich board looking about 3 ft tall. I made a bet with Carlos that whoever won our NCAA tournament bracket competition would get to choose what the loser wore on a sandwich board sign for the day. I said this because I thought I would WIN! I always win….except this year! My bracket tanked and Carlos kicked… … Continue reading →

What do you think? The other day I was eating out with my family when I looked over and saw a family getting up to leave. As they did the Dad left clearly more than half of his plate there on the table as they all walked off. Next to that table were 4 other guys having a good time enjoying their meals when one of them gets up, walks over to the half eaten… … Continue reading →

Being an adult is so much harder than I ever expected!Why didn’t anyone warn me about this? Joy here, and for some reason I thought that the older you became the more wisdom you suddenly gained. So far this had not happened for me… I am in the process of trying to understand my taxes, my healthcare, and whatever a 401K is, while everyone else seems to just get this stuff. One of my friends… … Continue reading →