You might recognize Becky because she's been on the podcast before (Episode #22 - Fighting for Joy with a Healthy Mindset). I wanted to have her back on now because over the course of the past year she and I have had so many rich conversations about ALL kinds of things and I wanted to share pieces of that with all of you. Today I asked her to share a "Top 5" list of ways that she is fighting for joy in this season of her life. I think you’ll love her wise perspective about things like identity, loving well, and seeking beauty. Becky is so tender to the things of the Lord and I know you'll be blessed by the way she ties everything back to her faith and her relationship with God.

My last episode was with Brooke Kyes, a young mom in her 20s, and today its a woman thriving in her 60s. Its such a privilege to bring you a wide range of perspectives. Each season of life brings its blessings and challenges and its so helpful to hear stories of how to fight for joy through it all! So today, soak in the words of my dear friend Becky. As always, if you find some encouragement in this episode, I would LOVE to hear from you. And, I always appreciate when you share the podcast with others. Its one of the best ways you can support my work and ministry. Thanks for listening!

**Today's episode is brought to you by Faithful Counseling, an amazing online Christian counseling service. I'm excited to offer my listeners 10% off at: faithfulcounseling.com/fightingforjoy. Quality counseling is a worthy investment and can be such a powerful tool in the fight for joy!

On this episode you'll get to hear my husband Eric and I have a live conversation with our dear friend Scott Jensen in our backyard with 6 tables full of friends from various seasons/parts of my life (30 different guests than the women who joined me last fall). It’s one thing to listen to a podcast episode by yourself, which I would guess is how most of us usually listen, I certainly do. Driving in the car, out on a walk, cooking dinner…usually alone and usually multitasking. But a night like this brought a group of women together to listen to the conversation WITH each other, in person, in real time. This allowed for some special interactions and discussions and the ability to soak things in a little more.
I know you will love hearing from Scott. He serves as the chaplain at our local hospital and we got to experience first-hand the important work that he does in our community when he was called in to comfort all four of the affected families in the emergency room on the night of the accident. We share some memories of that horrific night as well as how powerful it is when God brings comfort to his people THROUGH his people.

**Thank you for listening. Today's episode is sponsored by Faithful Counseling, an amazing online Christian counseling service. I'm excited to offer my listeners 10% off at: faithfulcounseling.com/fightingforjoy. Quality counseling is a worthy investment and can be such a powerful tool in the fight for joy!

Even if you can't relate to a health condition like celiac, I know this episode will still encourage you! We all face challenges and deal with things that can make us feel isolated, scared, discouraged or lonely. Different circumstances, but similar feelings of being "set apart". The only one. Not fitting in. Suffering quietly and alone. Justine's fight for joy will inspire you to keep persevering through your own difficulties and unique struggles.

*The Fighting for Joy Podcast is sponsored by Faithful Counseling, an online Christian counseling service. As a Fighting for Joy listener, you can receive 10% off at: faithfulcounseling.com/fightingforjoy. Quality counseling is a worthy investment and can be such a powerful tool in the fight for joy!

Even though LuAnn has experienced firsthand the brokenness of this world, she exudes an unbelievable amount of joy! LuAnn has one of the most beautiful and genuine smiles, her laugh is contagious, and she always seems to have a song in her heart. As we talk together on this episode today, you’ll quickly find out where her abundant joy comes from (spoiler alert: it comes from her deep love for Jesus!). God's work in her life has produced such beautiful fruit. Through many years of walking closely with Him, she has developed a sweet dependence on Him, she treasures His Word, trusts His promises, believes in the importance of staying in close community with other believers, and regarding our topic today, she has learned about the necessity, comfort, joy, and power of prayer. I hope as you listen you are spurred on in your own prayer life. Or maybe it will prompt you to start praying for the very first time. I love how practical LuAnn got and I think her insight will help and encourage you, as it did for me. And really, as we continue to talk through these many ways to fight for joy, I can’t think of many that top prayer!

*The Fighting for Joy Podcast is sponsored by Faithful Counseling, an online Christian counseling service that pairs you with a professional licensed therapist who will combine Biblical wisdom with their clinical expertise in mental health to help you address your unique situation. As a Fighting for Joy listener, you can receive 10% off at: faithfulcounseling.com/fightingforjoy. Quality counseling is a worthy investment and can be such a powerful tool in the fight for joy!

Cathy lives in Omaha, has 4 amazing kids, works at a local hospital, and has headed back to school. She is spinning a lot of plates in life right now but does it with grace and wisdom, aiming to just do "the next right thing". Over the past couple of years, she has grown to become a dear friend to me and I always walk away from our time together feeling encouraged, spurred on, and blessed. I'm sure you're going to feel the same way after hearing her insight today!

Whether it be more time in prayer, in the Bible, or in reflection and stillness, many of you have been quieting your soul and mind to focus on God’s character; His sovereignty, goodness, and consistency - focusing in on Who is in control when everything feels so out of control! When things feel different than what we are used to and plans, regulations, and even the understanding of this virus is constantly changing, there is great peace to be found in remembering that HE is unchanging. We can rejoice that God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. When we don’t know what, or even who to believe, we can experience real comfort and hope knowing that He can be counted on and fully trusted.

Again, thanks for participating! I absolutely loved doing this project together as a community. There is certainly not one way to persevere in joy through this crisis. As I’ve said throughout this series, my hope is that as we share various ideas and tools, we will all become better equipped to keep fighting, even with our different wirings and unique situations. I love how we can spur each other on and keep pressing through this season together with hope, with peace, with joy, and with one another.

Today you will hear Part 2: Fighting for Joy by Connecting with Self. Now, “self” does not merely mean self-care or time alone. It IS that, but not ONLY that. Connecting with self, for the purposes of this episode, will include everything from exercise, to finding routine, to cooking more, to gratitude, to crafts and projects around the house, and everything in between. My hope is that as we share the various things that are helping us during this time and the creative ways that we are fighting for joy, we will spur one another on. That as a community, we will keep fighting together, pressing on through these strange and often unsettling days with hope, with peace, with joy, and with one another.

Thankfully our Creator God knows just how broken this world is and He lovingly gives good things to this earth, and to us while we live here. There is real joy to be found through this common grace. There are practical tools to help us press on through daily life in the midst of hard circumstances. And that is what this special series will be all about!

There will be 3 episodes released this week:

Part 1: Fighting for Joy by Connecting with Others

Part 2: Fighting for Joy by Connecting with Self

Part 3: Fighting for Joy by Connecting with God

Today’s episode is Part 1. Whether it be through FaceTime, zoom calls, a slower pace at home with family, more dinners together around the table, praying for people, or finding ways to serve and help those in need, so many of you are finding joy in community and through connection with others.

My hope is that as we share the various ways that we each are fighting for joy, we will spur one another on. There is certainly not one way to persevere in joy through this crisis. So as we share and encourage one another, we will all become better equipped to keep fighting, even with our different wirings and unique situations. It was fun to do this together and I’m thankful that we can keep pressing on through this strange season with hope, with peace, with joy, and with one another!

Living in tight community with others through the ups and downs of life is something that we really value as a family. We have worked hard to create it and find our "tribe" wherever we have lived. But I have to say, when Jackson died, we understood it and experienced it on a whole new level. We were so blessed and helped by the amount of comfort, support, and encouragement that our community surrounded us with when we were absolutely overwhelmed with sorrow and pain. And, our strong community continues to be here for us in such meaningful and helpful ways as we continue to keep pressing forward in grief.

This brings me to my guest today, Jodi Nemec. Jodi is one of my best friends and her family is an important part of this strong community...an important part of our family's personal community. They are some of the people that we most closely live life with here in town. They value living in community with others just as deeply as we do, so its a blessing to have this conversation with her. I think you’ll love hearing her story of how their family changed some major aspects of their life in order to live more closely and more intentionally with others. We also try to give you a glimpse into what living in community together has looked like for our two families (both before and during our grief journey) as well as some practical ways that we hope you can further expand your circle, or deepen the one that you already have.

As you listen, I hope you are reminded that you aren’t meant to walk through life alone - that building a sense of community wherever you are is worth the hard work, the challenging times, and the long-term commitment. Don’t be discouraged if you don't feel like you are a part of a tight knit community yet…it’s not too late. You can start now! Even in the midst of social distancing there are ways to connect and create community. We even share a little bit about that towards the end of our conversation. I hope this episode reminds you, or begins to help you see, that BOTH in good times and bad, living in tight community, and being purposeful about being known and knowing others is such an important, practical, and life-giving tool in the fight for joy.

Becky is well-known for her amazing photography, but in our community, she is also known and admired for her strong faith, her creativity, her care for other women, her style, and the beautiful ways that she serves and loves people well. And, while she really does invest in our town and love this place, she’s also become quite an influencer on social media, inspiring women of all ages in all parts of the country with the wise perspective and beautiful insights that she shares.

On the episode today, Becky talks about transforming her thought life and how keeping a healthy mindset has been crucial in her personal fight for joy. She shares how she has learned to break negative thought patterns and cling to specific truths in God's Word when fear, worry, or negative thinking fill her mind. Along with mindset and perspective, we touch on a number of other interesting topics like simplifying, the mind/body connection, overworking, the blessings of Instagram, and the importance of daily practices. I know you will love hearing her heart today and I hope you are encouraged by our conversation.

I don’t think there is anyone who would argue that this world is not broken. There are so many hard things to deal with in this life…both big and small. But, I started this podcast to remind us all that there IS still hope to be found. Yes, the fight for joy can be hard-fought, but we can help one another keep fighting! Through our stories, we can point each other to the comfort, help, and peace of Christ, and encourage one another to keep pressing forward and keep moving towards God and His love - and today Jen does exactly that! I hope you are helped and encouraged by our special conversation.

Our goal in this first episode is not to fully or perfectly tell our story. In fact, there are a few details that we almost edited out because we remembered them differently. But, that is part of trauma...and part of going through grief together, but separately. So we didn't make any edits. With this podcast, I've decided that "done is better than perfect". Grief is messy...and this podcast will be messy at times as well.

I'm thankful that Eric agreed to be my first guest. He has believed in this project from the start and I seriously couldn't have gotten it started without him. So I'm excited for you to get to know him a little bit as we share our hearts and help you better understand the “why” behind this podcast.