She Found Joy Podcast

Dear friends, today’s podcast might just be one of the most inspiring conversations I’ve ever had and I’m so excited to share it with you today.

We all have memories that stay with us from our childhood, whether it was trips to the ice cream stand with friends, boat rides with gramma and grandpa, or making cookies with mama. While the latter memories are certainly precious and etched into my mind, there’s something else I remember about growing up, and that was listening to Kimberly Ann Bonds on the radio. Every time my family was in the car we had Pulse.FM on the radio and we always looked forward to this wonderful woman being the host.

Finding Joy is a podcast dedicated to bringing you encouragement and inspiration in all of life’s moments — the good, bad and everything in-between.

Kimberly Ann is the epitome of positivity — one of those people who is truly beautiful from the inside out. I am so excited to share our conversation with you today because this woman is so inspiring!

In this episode, Kimberly Ann and I talk about:

• Her struggle with ADHD, drugs, an eating disorder and a suicide attempt.
• How she learned to surrender the pain, heartbreak and struggles of her childhood and early adult years in exchange for God’s peace, love and grace.
• Finding joy in surrender.
• Finding our true identity in Christ alone and choosing to pursue wisdom, faith, knowledge, grace and love above all.
• Imperfect progress and the redemption process.
• Her ministry through Kimberly Ann Ministries and the Heart 2 Heart daily devotional program.

Kimberly Ann encourages us to embrace surrender, hold fast to what is good and trust in the One who holds our lives in His hands.

How to Listen to the Finding Joy Podcast

You can listen to the podcast here on this blog, or by subscribing to the podcast through iTunes.

Subscribe to the iTunes podcast HERE.

Review this Podcast

By rating this podcast or writing a short review, you can help others find the Finding Joy podcast more easily! Click here to head over to iTunes and rate Finding Joy.

Friends, you are in for a special treat today because my guest for Finding Joy Episode 3 is the beautiful and talented Sarah Koontz.

In the course of a few weeks since recording this podcast, Sarah and I have become great friends — the kind of friends who spend more than an hour talking on the phone together — and I cannot tell you how much I cherish and love this woman! Today’s conversation certainly isn’t as long as some of our more recent talks, but it’s just as life-giving, as Sarah shares her story of seeking joy, health and contentment in the valleys of life.

Finding Joy is a podcast dedicated to bringing you encouragement and inspiration in all of life’s moments — the good, bad and everything in-between.

When she isn’t tending to her garden, family or friends, Sarah writes and inspires people to embrace the story God has inscribed on their hearts at GroundedAndSurrounded.com and SarahKoontz.com.

In this episode, Sarah and I talk about:

• Her battle with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue.
• How the valleys of life can add richness and wisdom to our lives, while changing our perception and finding joy in limitations.
• How a sacred retreat can help us recharge from the busyness of this world.
• How a small, simple life can be full of contentment and purpose.

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Hello friends, and welcome to Episode 2 of the Finding Joy podcast!

Finding Joy is a podcast dedicated to bringing you encouragement and inspiration in all of life’s moments — the good, bad and everything in-between.

Today’s episode features the lovely Taylor Kiser, who shares her journey toward healing from an eating disorder and how she is working on finding joy in Christ alone — not a perfect body.

Taylor is the lovely writer and photographer behind FoodFaithFitness.com — a blog dedicated to healthy recipes, exercise tips and faith inspiration. She has loved baking and cooking since she was a little girl, and her passion for food shines through every delicious recipe she posts.

In this episode, Taylor shares her story and talks about:

• Her hospitalization from anorexia at age 12
• Her journey with food since that hospitalization
• How social media impacts our self-esteem
• How our thoughts hold more power than we realize
• Her favorite recipe from her blog: Healthy Blueberry Cheesecake Oatmeal!

Taylor encourages us all to keep fighting the good fight (even if it feels like we aren’t making any progress in our struggles) and to give ourselves a lot of grace along the way.Read More

Happy Wednesday friends! And it’s a very happy day indeed because today marks the launch of Finding Joy: A podcast dedicated to bringing you encouragement and inspiration in all of life’s moments — the good, bad and everything in-between.

The podcast will run every other week, and you can subscribe to it via iTunes for free by clicking here!

The story behind Finding Joy

God’s been moving and shaking a lot of things up in my life lately, and most recently it’s my calling that’s transformed a little bit. You see, for all of my life I have been a writer — not a speaker. I have written thousands of stories and interviewed too many people to count, but I’ve never actually stood behind a podium or spoken to a crowd. I have plenty of stories to tell, but even though I’ve been feeling God calling me to start speaking, I’ve never had the courage to stand up and start talking. Until, by the grace of God, today. This podcast is my first brave step into the speaking world.

Many of you know I’m in the process of getting my first book published (still working on finding the right agent/publisher). And while I wait to hopefully one day get it published and speak to women about the book, in the meantime I’m going to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and start speaking in other ways — mainly through this podcast.

What started out as a blog series months ago has turned into something greater thanks to you and many nudges from the Lord. To those of you who asked me to add podcasts to the blog back in January’s reader survey: THANK YOU. If it weren’t for you, I might not have ever taken this leap of faith … because starting a podcast isn’t easy. In fact it’s a lot of work. But you have to start somewhere, right?

So keeping that in mind, I ask you to bear with me as I figure this whole podcasting thing out. The audio might not be 100% perfect, I might have forgotten to sign off in this first podcast, and there might be some bumps along the way, but the most important thing is that the message of Christ and joy will remain loud and clear.

Today’s Episode

In this first podcast, I’m speaking with author and speaker Michele Cushatt about her faith journey and how she continues to draw near to Jesus, even after experiencing divorce, parenting adopted children and facing the brink of death while battling cancer three times. How do you go about finding joy when life falls apart? Listen to our conversation to hear from Michele’s experience.

In this episode, Michele shares her story including:

• The difference between a formulaic and deep faith
• Relying on Christ to be the source of joy in all things, at all times
• Making room for rest and silence
• Coping with grief and pain

Michele encourages us to lean into God and community in the middle of our pain and suffering — all the while trusting that He is working all things together for our good.

Michele is an amazing woman of faith and I am so excited to introduce her to you today. She is also getting ready to launch a five-week experience called “Undone Life Together: A 5-Week Conversation About the Unexpected Life.” If you’re going through something right now and you feel alone like you have no one to talk to, I really want to encourage you to take part in this digital small group.

Review this Podcast

By rating this podcast or writing a short review, you can help others find the Finding Joy podcast more easily! Click here to head over to iTunes and rate Finding Joy.