S11.BONUS | Finding God’s Goodness After Suicide and Loss with Joy Johnson
In this bonus episode of Affirming Truths, Carla sits down with Christian life coach and podcast host Joy Johnson to share a powerful testimony of loss, resilience, and the goodness of God.
Joy opens up about losing her mother, grandmother, and brother to suicide—and how generational trauma shaped her early years. With raw honesty and deep faith, she shares how God brought restoration, equipped her to break unhealthy emotional patterns, and led her to create the Joyful Fit Life community, where women of faith find clarity, consistency, and Christ-centered support.
If you’ve ever wondered how to see God’s goodness in the middle of heartbreak, this episode will encourage you to hold onto hope, embrace healing, and choose joy.
Did you know that Carla is a Christian Mental Health coach?
See if working with her is what you need in your current season.
Book a discovery call today!
3 Key Takeaways from This Episode
Generational trauma can be broken — You are not destined to repeat the patterns of your past; God equips you to build a new legacy.
Healing requires intention — Overcoming lies and unhealthy patterns means rewiring your core beliefs to align with God’s truth.
God’s goodness is in the details — From small daily moments to life-changing restoration, the Lord is present and faithful
🔗 Want to Go Deeper?
Bio: Joy Johnson is the founder of The Joyful Fit Life and host of The Journey to Becoming Podcast. She has helped hundreds of women of faith step out of survival mode and into the abundant life God created them for. Known for her heart, authenticity, and Christ-centered approach, Joy guides women in building clarity, consistency, and confidence through practical systems, community, and faith-based encouragement.
Get a FREE month in The Joyful Fit Life community!: https://joyful-fit-life.mn.co
Connect With Carla:
Foundations to Healing—-> https://www.carlaarges.com/foundations-of-healing
Inquire about 1:1 coaching ---> Book a FREE Discovery call
Come hangout on IG with me @carlaarges
Check out the blog
Resources:
5 Steps to Building Resiliency
Affirming Truths Facebook Community
5 Tips for Overcoming a Negative Body Image
Who You Say I Am Biblical Affirmation Cards
TRANSCRIPT
Carla: [00:00:00] Hello friends. Welcome to this special episode of Affirming Truth. It's special because I have a special guest. Now, before I dive into that, I just wanna give a trigger warning. You know, we, we talk about trauma, we talk about hard stuff on this podcast, and today we are gonna walk through a story of trauma and also triumph.
But we're going to be talking about suicide and. The pain and, and things related to that. So I just want to give you a heads up if that is something that is tender to you or if you have little ears around that maybe you don't wanna have this conversation with them yet, what that means. Um, just be aware that we are.
Going there, um, with Grace and with God. Um, so with that being said, I'd love to introduce you guys to my new friend, joy. Joy Johnson is a Christian life coach. She's host of the Journey to Becoming [00:01:00] Podcast. She's founder of the Joyful Fit Life community, and she is an incredibly busy wife and mother of two with all the activities and going back to school and all the things.
Welcome, joy. Thank you so much for being here,
Joy: Carla. Thank you so much for having me. It's truly an honor and I'm super excited for this conversation.
Carla: You know, it's funny that you say you're super excited about this conversation. That gives me great hope to the testimony that's going to come because we don't often hear excited and suicide in the same, in the same line, right and right.
No, of course. And I can relate to that because of, you know, the traumas I walk through. You know, it is a joy to share what God's done in them. But before we can talk about how God's touched your life through tragedy, we kind of have to share your story. Um, yeah. About very two close family [00:02:00] members, their struggles, that outcome, and how you've navigated that all.
And I don't wanna tell the story for you, so I'm just gonna turn it over to you. Yeah. To share a little bit about. What the backstory is of God working in your life in this area?
Joy: Yes, absolutely. So, let's see. Christmas evening, 1991. I was six years old. Christmas as a 6-year-old is a time in your life where.
It is like the best day of your life, right? Yeah. You're like anticipating Christmas morning and it's like, oh, we're gonna go here. Go there, I'm gonna open presents. And um, it was in the evening time. We were at my grandmother's house and I remember I was in the bathroom and I hear my dad calling my name and like, like, I remember this so vividly.
Um, I, he, he's like calling my name and I'm like, man, I'm gonna have to, we're gonna have to leave right now. You know, I didn't wanna leave. And I come out and I'm like walking down the hallway [00:03:00] into the living room and I just like kind of pan and I see everybody's faces and there's just like a blink, a blink.
You know, blank stare on their face. And um, that was when my dad told me that my mom wasn't coming home. And at six years old, you don't really understand what that means. Yeah. My mom told me she loved me. She told me she was never gonna leave me and my mom, she took her life on Christmas. Night. Um, again, when I was six years old, I was the oldest of three.
And so I had a three-year-old brother and a four month old. So she had dealt with, um, she had postpartum depression. And this was early nineties. Right. So this was not, it was not, um, I would say is not as well advocated and even like spoken about Yeah. As it's now. Um, and especially in the church. Um. At six years old, I don't have that many memories of my mom [00:04:00] without, without people telling me, right?
Yes, they're telling me memories or I'm seeing pictures. Um, and what I was told and what I remember, and honestly what I choose to remember too, is that she did love Jesus. And, um, you know, she loved worshiping, she loved her devotion time. And then of course, as, as. Time went on. As I became older, the way that it was communicated to me was that my mom had a chemical imbalance, like she was sick.
And I, I, I think when it comes to, like, I wanna say this, when it comes to loss and it comes to suicide, when. When like, I'm so grateful for the way that it was presented to me, because I believe that there could have been a lot of anger and, and, uh, like this is again, this is like from my perspective and my story.
Yeah. Um, and so I believe that the way that it was [00:05:00] communicated, the words that were used, I had, I wasn't mad at her. I, I missed her. I was sad, like, of course. Yeah. You know, um, and I didn't realize it at that time, but I began to grow up with a lack mentality, right. Because I, like, I didn't have a mom and thank you Jesus, for my dad and my aunts and my grandmas.
Like, I think at one point my dad had four sisters. My mom had two sisters at one point. Like some point in my life, all of my aunts had lived with us. Like they have all, they just, you know, it takes a village. They all rallied around us. Um, but I remember, you know, this is Christmas break and I'm coming back to school and I went to a small private school.
And of course the whole, the whole school knows like my mom passed away and. I remember this. It was probably a boy, I, I can't say for sure. No, no, no. It was a boy. It doesn't matter. But I remember, um, he said, you know, if your dad dies, [00:06:00] you are gonna have to go to an orphanage. And they have gross food there.
And I laughed like the things that I ruled forever. Remember that. Statement. Right. And you know, even when people learned, you know, um, even in fourth grade, I remember someone saying, just talk about her mom. That's her weak spot. And so growing up without right, like again, thank you Jesus. Like I grew up in a Christian home.
I know that, I knew that Jesus loved me. I asked him into my heart when I was in first grade, when I was six years old. Um, but also dealing with that lack mentality. And so. Fast forward, like this is kind of a long story. Um, actually before I fast forward, I also want to mention that it was also my grandmother that took her life.
I never got to meet her. So this is three generations. So my mom's mom, um, my mom, and then my brother. And so my brother, he was that four month old baby. He was that [00:07:00] four month old baby. And he had gotten into, um, after graduating in high school into like the rave scene and experimented with drug use. And so he, um, three days before my husband and I got married, he took his life and I was now 26.
So fast forward 20 years later. Um. Obviously I have so many memories of him. It was so much more vivid. And, and I think like for me it was, I want to escape what is wrong with my family. Like, I am so embarrassed. Like there were, it was so different than of course hearing about my mom. Um, I was on my way to pick up my wedding dress that day and I, my dad was like, you need to come home.
And so. Processing that, calling wedding vendors and hearing their response. Um, the wedding vendor was like, what a [00:08:00] selfish thing for your brother to do. And you know, we give grace to people, but sometimes like that is not, that is not like what you wanna hear and that like. I feel like that's kind of an ignorant statement too, because if you really, truly understood mental health and you understood like this is in their, in, in people's mind who are dealing with suicide, suicidal ideation, depressive, they're, they're feeling like their, their family, their world like would be so much better off with without them, unfortunately.
Right. That's a thought.
Carla: Yeah. I often like to say. You know, when we're talking about suicide, I have an an uncle who died by suicide, and that's how I frame it. He died by suicide. He didn't commit suicide. This is not a blame thing. He died by suicide. I mean, we are programmed when we are health. The well for self preservation.
Mm-hmm. Like our brain is wired to protect us at all costs. So to be able to go and do [00:09:00] something, uh, like that is indicative of a system that's not working properly. Mm-hmm. Um, and there needs to be compassion and love towards that, right?
Joy: Absolutely. So. So, yeah, so that happened three days before my wedding.
And I, I look at it as, okay, one of the most important days in your life is like Christmas when you're a child, right? And then as you're an adult, your wedding day. And I remember, you know, my husband, my husband. Now we're actually celebrating 14 years of marriage. This, this month. Congratulations. Yeah.
Thank you. And, um. You know, him being by my side. Um, of course my dad. I, I think also like, like my, of course my heartbreaking for myself, but also to see my dad like. You know, this was, this was sec a second time for [00:10:00] him. And, um, it, you know, he had attempted like a week before, so it was like, it was just a lot.
There's a lot going on. Um, and just even questioning, dad, do I still get married? Like, do I still go on my honeymoon? Like what do I do? Like, am I selfish for wanting, you know, to get married? Like, am I selfish for wanting to celebrate? My husband and I dated for 10 years and engaged for a year and a half.
Like this was a long time, you know, in the making. And so, um, I had my wedding, I had my wedding day, and, you know, some family members who are not believers probably looked at me like I was a crazy person and, you know, um, but God's grace was all over it. I did not shed one tear. Um, you know, God just, he sustained me, he carried me.
And, um, and I, I really believe it's like. The, the scripture, Genesis 50 20, you know, you what you meant for harm. Like devil, you are trying this again. We know the devil has [00:11:00] no new tricks, you know? Right. And it's like, no, you like what the enemy meant for harm God, you turned it around for good, but for the saving of many lives.
And I, I think that. Through the hardship, through the, the, the shame that I felt like the embarrassment, all the, all the feelings being, you know, like, oh shoot, I like, was I a good enough sister? Should I have been there for him more? Or like, how come, like, like with my mom, like not, I never felt like she did it because she didn't love me, but.
I didn't un I can't understand that. And especially now being a mom, you know, she was, she was 32 when she took her life. And I've out parented my mom, I've outlived my mom. Um, I've, I've been a, I've been a mom longer than I had, had a mom, right? It's like, these are things, like, this isn't quote unquote supposed to happen.
Like this isn't a normal life. Uh, but in, in all of those things. I have been able to speak [00:12:00] life to women. I've been able to, you know, it is, it is, um, speaking, like the reason why I said I was excited is because being able to share my story and my testimony and encourage, like, even if it's just one person, this has been something that's been in my heart, like since junior high I've been speaking about the loss of my mom and, um, and really this like also like.
It, it now like is a perfect marriage and what I get to do on a daily basis and speaking life and encourage, which, um, I grew up also being a little ashamed of my name, like how I, I'm embarrassed of my name. Like, what do you mean? Your name is Joy, but you have such, you've experienced such, such deep loss and that's the, um.
That's the, the restoration. Right. That's what God can only bring Jewel 2 25. I will restore to you the years. That's the restoration in my life. Mm-hmm. Even with my name, like this is who he has called me. The enemy wants to call [00:13:00] me and my family. Right. Um, depressed. He wants to call us a, you know, this generational stronghold, this is who you are.
And even family members also. Hey, I, I think. I, I'm, I'm have, like, are you okay? Like someone reach out, like, I feel like you're depressed right now. And, and I'm not, like, I'm not saying like anything negative against depression, um, in terms of like, no, no, I didn't have that. Like I genuinely have not had depression, however.
What, um, what took place in my life was I developed a lot of unhealthy emotional patterns. And what I mean by that, right, and I believe, I could be wrong, but I believe it's a term called, um, it's called, uh, like trans transgenerational trauma and how it, like a affects like the, the loss of my mom and my brother and even, you know, uh, the stronghold, right?
We know it's so, so spiritual, but it doesn't, it's not like. Only depression [00:14:00] is what I'm going to experience. No, I experience the, the unhealthy emotional patterns of people pleasing of creating false narratives of thinking like I, it's like always me, that some that had done something wrong. Mm-hmm. Right.
Is that making sense? Yeah. And so, um, you know, faulty thinking or, uh, over-functioning, all of these things had been a result of my, my poor thinking or my, um, even like my poverty mindset, right? My, my fixed mindset. And those are the things that I have had to overcome.
Carla: Yeah, and that's often how trauma shows up, right?
It forms core beliefs within us that are not based on what God says about us, but we have these core beliefs and these fears that, you know, in your case, maybe someone else is going to leave or, uh, maybe you feel on some level of responsibility, and so you have to earn and [00:15:00] make sure everyone's good.
These are those core belief lies that we have to rewire and rewrite to align with what God says. And it takes intention and consistency. It doesn't just happen. Healing doesn't just happen. Let me ask you this and you know, I wanna ask it in the most sensitive way, but do you. Have fear over the future of your children when you talk about this being three generations mm-hmm.
And your children are the fourth?
Joy: I would say. I would say yes and no. Um, can it be both?
Carla: Absolutely. Yeah.
Joy: I think, I think for me in, um, in terms of yes, there is a, there's a fear and even like with my daughter, um, my daughter is. She's 11. And so she just had, um, she just went away for [00:16:00] camp and she just experienced the Holy Spirit for the very first time.
And he touched her life in such a beautiful way. And, um, you know, as, as I, I was there one of the nights and then I got a video one night. And as the pastor was praying over her, praying over her mind, praying over her thoughts, you right. And, and like that fear was like, oh shoot, is something going on that I don't know about?
Like, is she battling something? Um, and at the same time I'm like, oh no, in Jesus' name it is broken. And, um, like there's, there's been so many things. There's been so many. Um, there's been just moments in my home, you know, feeling the Holy Spirit and just, um. Just filling his presence. There's been moments at moments at like at church or at conferences when I've just had visions of just like every little remnant of depression just leaving my home, you know, where like, um, God has just been, I [00:17:00] believe, like, just very in the details and in showing me.
Um, and I also believe that. I believe that I'm, I'm equipped in a different way than my mom was. And not saying that it's better, but I've, because I'm doing the work, I like to think of myself and I even like call the women that I get to work with trailblazers. And when you're a trailblazer, you're somebody that goes first in your family.
You're somebody that goes first and you have to fight and cut against the brush. And you know, if you're thinking about a trail that you've been on, it's. It's been traveled before, but the person that pioneer, the person who goes first is the one who's willing to say, Hey, I'll go first. And I will work through the pain.
I will sub submit and surrender to God. And I will have, and I will, um, I will do things that maybe hasn't been done before. And culture will tell me that this is the lot that I've been cast in life, that this is, you know, on both sides of my family there has been [00:18:00] mental issues. Right. And, um. And so it's, it's like culture and also some families like, oh, it would, it makes sense for you to follow in suit and, you know, follow in the footsteps, dot, dot, dot.
But, um, I, I believe, I believe that. There is, um, there's gonna be no premature death. There is gonna be no, no depression, no fear, no anxiety. And we know scripture, right? We know two Timothy one, seven that God hasn't given us a spirit of fear. We know that we can renew our mind daily. We know that there is in Romans eight, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.
And I believe that it's, it's not only, um. It's, it's not only like me that gets to go first. It's, I'm paving a new way for my children. Mm-hmm. And they get to go further than me. And God has a, an amazing call on their life. They, you know, and so that is what I, I choose to clinging onto that, that what [00:19:00] anchors not only me, but and my husband.
And, um, and, and really also like, it, it, it gives us like. A, a heightened sense of awareness. Right. And I've hadn't been able to have conversations with my daughter, um, you know, about her mindset and about things that she's journaled about. And, and even, even just this year, I don't know that they fully understand.
What suicide means. And so they did ask me, um, we were in the car and they, they did ask me, but what does that mean? And we had the conversation and they just got really quiet, you know, and it like, I could cry. Right now it's heavy
because like my daughter, you know, just like seeing her like process it.
And she's heard me share my testimony so many times, but it's different when you can process it and you, like you begin. She just has [00:20:00] barely begun to understand. Mm-hmm. And so, um. Yeah, it's at the same time, it's so beautiful because I'm getting to have something, experience
Joy: something as a mom with my children that I never had, even as a child.
So like I, I'd say like my motherhood is like healing. So many different layers because it's healing like my inner child, but it's also like I get to experience it times two. I get to experience it as like little joy, but then as like a mom as well.
Carla: Yeah. Oh, that's beautiful. Um, it, it's, it's so hard to talk to our kids about these things.
Yeah. Um, you know, I remember myself, I have bipolar and borderline and, you know, have a suicide attempt in my history and, you know, when I was trying to get healthy and trying to get stable and not showing up for my son [00:21:00] in the way that I would want to and having those conversations with him. It's, it's hard, right?
It's hard to see their little minds try to process that and what that means. Yeah. Um, how do you see the goodness of God at work in your life now?
Joy: Ugh. So many ways. So many ways. I think one of the things I love about God is that he is such an intentional and relational God. And even in the midst, like.
Even in the midst of, I go back to that restoration even in the midst the month before, um, we lost my brother, you know, I'm preparing for my wedding and. I, I listened to the song that I was gonna walk down. I picked like all the songs. I was like so specific when you're, when you've been dating slash engaged, like 11 and a half year.
I had some time to [00:22:00] think about what I would want. And so I remember as I was driving it, like the month before, every single time as I was driving to work, I would play the song that I was walking down the aisle to, and I would just, I would like try to practice smiling, but I would burst into tears. Every single time just burst into tears and then walking down the aisle, the, that day, you know, not crying any tears.
I'm like. I choose to believe that that was God in those details. And I like, I didn't even know why I was crying. Like, yes, I'm crying 'cause I'm like in anticipation of the day and like looking forward to it and everything. But I'm like, God, you're so good. Like he is in every single detail. He's in the detail of my children's smile.
He's in the detail of um, just things that have been prophesied over our lives. And, and it's, it's a choice. Like one of the things, like one of the phrases I continue to hear. Especially right [00:23:00] now in the season of my life is like, our response is everything. Our response is everything. And so I am, and it says in the, in the word, like, we have to choose joy.
The joy of the Lord is our strength. And I know that that sounds corny, even me saying that, 'cause that is my name. But I remember even, um, I was sharing with my pastor, she's like, I was telling her, I'm like, oh, after, after my brother, I'm like, man. Everyone's saying like, you're so strong. You're so strong.
And like, I don't want to be strong. I don't feel strong. And she told me, she said, joy, there's a difference between being strong and having strength. And the joy of the Lord is your strength. And I, I choose to believe that. I choose to believe that, um, that even, you know, there's so many scriptures where you know the Lord, he, God keeps our tears in a bottle.
My dad used to tell me that all the time and, and John 1633, and in this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world and it's [00:24:00] truly. Clinging to those scriptures and letting that anchor my soul and my spirit, even in the midst of the deep loss, even in the midst of deep pain and, and really.
There, you know, there's a difference between being able to reflect on the goodness of God and then ruminate on the things of the past. And I, I, I, I have, I have ruminated before and that doesn't ever take me to a place that God wants us to go. Right? Rumination, it can keep us stuck. It can keep us stuck in that pattern.
Okay. If I would've gone with my mom to do this, then sh maybe she wouldn't have gone here and then she wouldn't have done this. And or if I would've, you know, been there to answer my brother's phone call or maybe if this and this and this and that just takes us down such a, a road that can lead to nowhere, a dead end road.
And, and being able to reflect on the goodness of God. Even when, even if, right. Because like again, John 1633, it says, you will, [00:25:00] you will have troubles. But take heart. 'cause I have overcome the world. And so if we are, if we are believers and we truly take God's word as the living, breathing word of God, and we know that he's the same yesterday, today, and forever, he gives us the hope, right?
He gives us the future, he gives us a future. Um, and it's beyond our comprehension. And so I, I think that my faith is such a driving force in. In my future in allowing like, like I don't, I don't want to know what it's like to not be able to trust in him, even if I don't see it. Right. Even when it hurts so bad.
Carla: Yeah. What would you say to the woman listening who's like, joy, I want to have that joy, but. This, this trial that God said I would have feels very hard, and I'm having [00:26:00] trouble seeing the goodness of God, how I'm having trouble using joy. His joy is my strength. Mm-hmm. What encouragement or advice would you give them?
Joy: First, I would tell you that you're not alone. You're not because. The enemy would love to isolate you and to make you think that you are the only one. Um, I think he, he would also want to silence you. And so I think it's even for that person to admit that that's where they are. That's very brave. That's very brave of them.
Um, and I would, I would encourage them to start small. Like I said, I love to see God in the details of life. I love, even this morning I dropped off my kids and sometimes I like to just look up. I love hiking. I love, um, Sedona, Arizona is one of the most glorious, beautiful places in the world. And their hiking is just, [00:27:00] the hiking there is just so beautiful and, um.
You know, even like if you're on vacation or you're somewhere where you can take in God's beauty, right? It's so, it's so amazing. But what happens when you're in the mundane of life and, uh, I was dropping off my kids. I pulled in my driveway and I just looked up and I looked into the sky. And sometimes in the mundane of life, we are looking down.
Like, we're looking down or we're looking like we don't look up, you know, we don't, we don't look at that sunset or that sunrise, and we are, we're not looking up and we can get so focused on, on, um, on our situation, but our God is so much bigger. He is so much greater, and he has those plans and even so practicing gratitude in the smallest.
Things, right? Gratitude is such a great way to change your mindset. Yeah. Um, to starting small. And then I would, I would encourage that person to let someone in. To let someone in [00:28:00] and, and to, to, you know, like we want to be. Held accountable. You know, that phrase, like, wanna be held accountable. And yeah. A lot of that times that comes with, you know, wanting to be a better version of ourselves.
I, I like to say we're on our journey to becoming all that God has created us to be. Um, and you know, we say, yeah, I wanna be held accountable in dot, dot, dot. Right. And getting better. Yeah. Changing my mindset and really when. When you're inviting someone in, you're asking them, and you're gonna be honest and vulnerable.
You're saying like, Hey, will you hold my heart for me or hold my heart with me? Right. I think like that's like what we're doing right now, right. In this like, um, in this space and like I'm, I'm sharing a piece of my heart with you. That's why I can, you know, be vulnerable and share and shed some tears. And there's beauty and there's um, there's trust when you can.
Allow somebody to, to hold you, to hold that [00:29:00] piece of your heart and God, and and above all else, God wants to hold you. Yeah. And he is holding you.
Carla: Yeah. I love that. You know, and. I know for me sometimes it's been this temptation to ask why? Why the hard stuff, why this? And learning to reorient my heart and my vision and my questions to who?
Who still has me, who still loves me? Who is still preparing away, who is using this to refine me? Because he wastes nothing. He wastes nothing. So. Do you wanna tell us a little bit about your Joyful Fit Life community before we go? Because that sounds like a really cool place to be. It's, it's
Joy: an amazing place to be.
This is the joyful Fit Life community is a, is a place where women of faith, they find clarity. Um. Clarity, consistency, and community. And I believe that, [00:30:00] like I said, we're all on our journey to becoming. And this is really, um, it's accountability and discipleship in a beautiful way, in an online space. And I help women design a vision for their life.
With God at the center, and this is not, I'm not saying anything against it, but this is not creating a vision board, right? Yeah. We've all cut out, you know, those magazine clippings and stuff and you know, we, we put those things and the, they, they, um. They promote motivation, right? And it's like something that you can visually see.
And then we know in the Bible and it says, without a vision, the people will perish. In. In Proverbs and Habakkuk, it says to write the vision down and make it plain. And I say write the vision with God at the center because at the end of the day, and this is the hardest. Part is that we get to go like this and we get to submit our vision to him with our hands open and our heart open and say, God.
Does this align with what you have [00:31:00] for my life? And so we plan in quarters focusing on our faith, on our relationships, on our wellness, and really, uh, we call it contribution, but it's really our purpose. It is really how we're contributing to our family, our community, those around us. Um, there's some women too that have that entrepreneurial spirit, um, and also like that are, are working in contribution in terms of like finances and getting, you know, getting a budget together.
And so we create goals and systems, daily systems that we do and. We build community. And so we have community calls, prayer calls, and accountability all within, inside the joyful fit life community. I love that. How would a woman get involved with that? Yeah, so I'd love to. So what I do is, um, I have a free trial so you can hop in and for the month of September, I usually do a two week trial for the month of September.
I don't know when this is gonna air. Um, hopefully soon. [00:32:00] Um, but we're doing, I'll air
Carla: in September just for this. Okay.
Joy: Yes, all month. The whole month for free. Like I, I believe in this community so strongly. This type of planning has a framework I like to call it. Um, this type of framework has not just changed my life.
It's changed my husband's life. It's changed how we parent. It's changed how literally we wake up. And how we show up every single day. And guess what? It's not these big things. It's like these small things that we can shift.
Carla: Yeah. So
Joy: I would love to, we'll get that link to you and then Yeah, would love to have you guys jump
Carla: in.
So check that out in the show notes. It will be there for you. And I really encourage you guys check out Joy's community, um, and be blessed by it. Is there anything that you want to leave us with?
Joy: Um, I would just. I just wanna remind you, whoever's listening right now and whoever is like in the midst of a battle, don't give up.
[00:33:00] Don't give up. You're, you are worth it. Your life is worth it. You matter. You matter so much. And you know, a scripture that comes to mind is, um, Galatians six, nine, and it says, you know, let's not grow tired. Or weary in doing well for at the proper time, we will reap the harvest if we do not give up. And I wanna couple that or, or include that.
Like if you're tired, guess what Scripture says, are you tired? Are you, are you, are you, um, worn out? And this is in Matthew 1128 and 30, and he says, are you one of the versions? I think it's the message. It says, are you burned out? Right. Come away with me and I will show you the rhythms of grace and I, and, and he says, I will teach you and I will show you how to do this freely and lightly.
You know, and it's more commonly said like, come to me, all you who are weary and burden, and I will give you rest for my [00:34:00] Y is easy and my burden is light. But the message version, it, it, it just, it changes the words a little bit. And, um. Even in, even in the heart, even in the, like, I wanna give up. You're not alone and you're worth it and you matter.
Carla: Amen. Thank you so much for being here, joy, for sharing your story, for encouraging our hearts, um, to look for the goodness of God and find joy even in the hard time. We appreciate you being here. Thank you so much.